Jarod- Exploring Visual Literature

The main work of non-fiction I read this week was "March: Book One," which follows the notable actions of Georgia congressman John Lewis, a man who struggled against racism his entire life because he was the "wrong color..." The narrative follows the early life and education of Mr. Lewis, showing his strong desire for education, partnership with Dr. King Jr, and his refusal to allow Jim Crow laws stand in the way of him making a successful life for himself. An inspiring journey that encourages those that literally watch the man grow from a boy giving speeches to chickens on a farm to hoards in big cities, (of people that is) John Lewis' story is one that I feel anyone thinking they have an excuse not to succeed should be intimately knowledgeable of. This comic and others like it further prove two points that I feel should be obvious by this point in my recording of these visual narratives; one, comics can inform ideas, histories, and more rather than just...

"The Jews are undoubtably a race, but they are not human." These chilling, horrifying words quoted by Adolph Hitler start off our retelling of WW2, perfectly introducing us into the world of death and misguided slaughter depicted further in. Many could initially confuse "Maus" with a children's story variant of the Jewish genocide during the Second World War; but the themes explored are just as adult as any other version. Based off of the real life experiences of one, Vladek Spiegelman and his son, the story shows life mostly outside of the infamous concentration camps but instead the hardships of a Nazi-controlled city. We see a relatively peaceful existence be taken over completely by the oppressive Nazi regime, as trigger happy brutes are given any excuse they want to imprison, enslave, torture and kill anyone with a jewish star. While perhaps not as graphically depicted in its violence as other comics, this one explores the psychological torment along with t...

For this week I read a collection of comics in the "Tijuana Bibles," collection, all of which focused on  comedic representations of sex. Showing both males and females getting "caught up in the heat of the moment," the comics show how idiotic people can act when they are getting frisky. From a man who wants to fornicate while flying a plane, (resulting in the couple falling to their deaths) to a female who whores herself out but neglects to collect any money, the comics show both genders acting idiotically in the pursuit of sexual satisfaction. One constant that I noticed throughout the comedic-centered interpretations was the disconnect these humans felt towards, sex, none of them saw it as an expression of love or loyalty, but rather a good to be traded or a service to be sold. While I personally don't agree with this interpretation of the act, the author(s) stance on how certain people may view sex is an interesting one; opening up multiple areas of intrigue...

Will Eisner’s approach to archetype is an interesting one, somewhat influenced by his religious background. Using his characters as a mouthpiece for his ideals, such as in his story of “A Life Force,” where our primary characters, one of which is a hobo, discuss how “they” perceive life and the human experience. In one particular scene I adore, the homeless man is sitting in an alleyway talking about the struggles that both a man and a cockroach must face; and relates this to the shared idea of survival that the sane human race collectively agrees on, regardless of personal ideals or religion. “It seems to be the only thing we can agree on!?!” Comparable to his energy filled discussions is his approach to art, especially the way he designs his characters and their expressions. Many of Eisner’s characters are very expressive, using their whole body to convey an emotion. Using their shoulders, hands, faces, even the positioning of their feet or where their eyes are ...

The likes of Herge's "The Adventures of Tintin," to the original "Batman" comics by Bob Kane, despite being wildly different in seemingly every regard, basic narrative, characters, even locations and approaches to adventure literature; both are equally capable of inspiring morals along with having many similar approaches to conveying their individual narratives. For example, one massively popular trop of visual narrative is to start off with establishing shots that familiarize new comers to the literature or old fans to the location or characters, often with mental narrative of the protagonist informing the audience whats going on. Both comics also use sequential, action to action art where the start, climax, and ending of a particular action or gesture is explored by the artists, showing these characters "move" despite only showing static poses. Adventure comics as a whole create these larger than life heroes and characters that, regardless of their ...