Week 14

For Week 14, I read the Team Fortress 2 comics!

Personally, I can say with certainty that these are probably my favorite comics I've read so far in my life.  Based off the Team Fortress 2 game, but with a new spin on it, giving it an actual narrative, but keeping the same type of chaotic humor along along makes for an incredible read.  The narrative actually manages to pull off some really touching moments considering the source material is nine insane mercenaries killing each other in the New Mexico desert over some dirt.

Interestingly enough, the comic is all drawn and mainly written by Jay Pinkerton. She's an incredible artist to say the least, but she got her job making these comics after she made a fan made character design for the announcer in the game, and the creators at Valve (the company that made the game) loved it so much they bought it off of her and hired her to make the comics as well as other promotional material for the game. Since then she has also worked on other comics such as the Legend of Korra comics and is very successful.

This all being said, its very clear that Jay Pinkerton adores old comics. If you haven't noticed from the first picture, the cover of that issue is a homage to the Death of Supergirl cover. And every cover for each issue shows homage to another classic superhero comic cover. (As well as the appearance of some panels being references as well, such as Batman's Death in the Family panel that makes an appearance) Just for some quick examples: 

But one of my favorite parts of the comics is how the adapt to the medium of web comics. Pinkerton makes sure to use the medium to show the story in ways that physical comics just can't. The progressions from panel to panel are unique and interesting and make for a engaging experience.

Just look at these two pages above! Just this one progression says so much without actually having to write anything out! And just clicking to the next page and just having the page go mostly dark is such a striking visual difference.

I've went on about the comic enough, but if you think you'd enjoy this sort of silly comic, then I highly suggest reading them.  They are incredibly funny, and I'm more than happy that I chose to read them. 

Read them here!

Week 13

For Week 13, I finally got to finish Fables!

About 2 or so years ago, I started reading Fables after I played Telltales: The Wolf Among Us. I really enjoyed the concept of the different fairytales that we know as kids (and some that we didn't know) becoming main character in a much more adult light.  I remember having stopped right before the comic series called Cubs in Toyland. I had heard from a friend that those issues changed the comics entirely and that it had main character deaths, so I just kept putting it off until I ended up being obsessed with something else. 

Needless to say, I love Fables. I love how the narrative was written and how each character has histories with each other from back when their stories took place, one particularly interesting character, the Jack of Tales, actually represents every Jack in any nursery rhyme or story and is considered just a troublemaker and a huge asshole.  Bigby Wolf, being the Big Bad Wolf and sheriff of all the other fables is an interesting choice, but understandable considering all the other fables know what kind of destruction he's capable of, and fear him-- even if thats not what he wants.  The covers are beautiful, and most are done by the artist James Jean-- with my favorite cover being shown above. Overall its a solid series, and having all the character we know from other stories redone in a creative way is incredible smart and super fun for a narrative.

Week 12

For week 12, I read the new Ms. Marvel comics.

First off, I'd wanting to read these comics for a while. I'd heard great things about them and the fact that they made Ms. Marvel a Muslim teenage girl is more than just cool, its important to cultural diversity.  I am a strong believer that acceptance of others is greatly influenced by media as well as our own morals, and having such a character as the main character and depicted in a position of justice and power is incredible. Also the fact the comic is written by a woman practicing Islam herself is incredibly inspiring considering how closed the comic book industry tends to be towards women-- let alone women of color. Just the creation of such a comic makes history.

On top of just the creation of the comic, the narrative is actually really fun and interesting. I enjoyed them so much I went and searched for other issues to read, and it was interesting to find out that Kamala (the main protagonist) actually told her parents about her powers unlike most super heros. (In fact, I can only think of one other super hero that has done the same-- One version of Blue Beetle) But it makes sense! As a teenager with strict parents its much easier if your parent were to know about your powers then it ever would be to explain everything as it happens with excuses.

I also found the symbolism and imagery of the classic heros in the first issue being shown like Islamic gods and speaking in what I would guess is arabic is really interesting and cool as well. Just overall a really striking image that stays with the reader in a very good way.

Week 11

For Week 11, I read Love and Rockets #17.

Personally I found this work be alright, nothing I'd go out and buy for myself but enjoyable for a past time reading. What I did find interesting though was the representation of different characters in the comic. Just about every character was different from the last visually, and this even applied with some of the background-ish characters.  It also showed all types of women and although it didn't have a ton of people of color, the ones that were shown were all unique as well and didn't fit into any kind of stereotype which is always nice to read. The more "simple but also grunge" type of art style and narrative isn't something I especially like, but it wasn't unbearable either.

Probably the most interesting parts in the comic I read were these moments of almost surrealism and imagination. They were few and far in between, but these moments really stuck out in my head because of the honesty of the little girl and just the strangeness of it all. I almost wish more of the comic had these types of moments.

Week 10

For Week 10, I read the oringinal Dragonball Manga!

I've only been a Dragonball fan for the past two years or so (which is decently rare for Dragonball fans of my age, which usually grew up with the series), but I remember seeing some Dragonball Z episodes on TV as a kid and not really liking it, and I never got into the series until I read it.

I think the main reason for this was the over all sharpness of style and emphasis on fighting to save the world that is seen in Dragonball Z that made me not like the series, but reading the oringinal series really showed me what I was missing out on.  The oringinal Dragonball manga is fun and round in its style, never really taking itself too seriously until near the end of the series. Also, the oringinal series has a common theme of self improvement through fighting and getting stronger rather than getting stronger for the sake of others. And while both are good morals, I almost enjoy the first more because of how rarely its ever done in media. It also tends to be a more Japanese moral culturally, and makes it unique to the American and European fanbases.

And reading through the oringinal this time, I have a much more in depth love of Dragonball Z and now Dragonball Super. And while they don't have the same charm of the oringinal, Dragonball occasionally touches upon moments of friendship, self improvement, and family that fueled and made the oringinal just so charming in the first place.

Week 9

For Week 9, I read multiple entries from the Blacksad series.

Goodness... Well to start things off, I didn't just love these books-- I adored them.

Blacksad very easily is one of my favorite comic series I've read so far, it all just has a certain feeling and rhythm to it that seemed to click with me immediately.  The art is all done in watercolor and every single panel is simply beautiful. The characters are fun and expressive, with the exception of some of the female characters looking very similar.  But overall, I connect with the art because its similar as to how i hop to draw someday. Its another example of having a disconnect from reality so that the author is able to get away with more adult things for a younger audience.

 

The way the narrative is set up is brilliant as well. In every book I read from Blacksad, none of the plots were simple "black and white/good vs evil" type of narratives. Every character had their own motives and no one, including Blacksad himself, were ever portrayed as completely morally right or wrong, but rather just living, as characters do.  As well as the villains don't tend to be your stereotypical villains. For instance in this book, it was a pair of writers, but in another book it was about an old jazz band and their producer. This gives the work an ironically human feel, and you sympathize with just about all the characters in one way or another fairly easily. This moment in particular has so much power behind it just a few panels: 

Overall, I didn't expect such a solid series of comics, but I was more than happy to read and enjoy them.  Truthfully, I can't wait to read more and possibly find hard copies to own for myself.

Week 7 

For week 7, I read the graphic novel Maus.

Having already read this piece in high school as a required reading, and then reading the sequel on my own, I was more than happy to revisit the work and to see what I remembered from the last time I read it.  I found that rereading all the way through the second time, I found it even more enjoyable than the first time.

The book is very much written in a style of writing that sounds like your sitting with Artie as he asks his father, Vladik, about what happened to him and where he was when WWII started.  The whole book breaks in and out of the story, and you get in bits and pieces, just like if you were asking your own family member about a complicated and long story.  Some people find this boring, but I still find it strangely therapeutic to just "listen" to a story, and having it being told in this way.  And with the difficult subject of WWII I think its handled amazingly.

The art style is very unique and simple, and with all the people being portrayed as animals helps with a disconnect to reality, and lets the author get away with more graphic or striking imagery for a younger audience.  I distinctly remember a scene in the sequel where Vladik and all the other men around him in the concentration camp where striped of their clothing and forcing into the massive shower system and how dehumanizing it was.  And I don't think the author could've really pulled that off for a younger audience if they had been portrayed as regular humans, as the disconnect to reality lets readers get the story and understand what happened and how horrible it was without all the graphic details.

 (Although these details are very important to document and eventually to see so that we may not repeat these mistakes in the future, for younger audiences I think its important to teach without scarring them and making them adverse to the subject entirely.)

The subplot of Artie just wanted to know more about his mother and how he copes with her death is also interesting, as you see on many occasions as he comes up in conversation. As much as Artie just wants to get a story from his father, you can tell he wants to more about his mother as well. And while her stories are gone, you can tell he has gone to great lengths to make sure his father's story is preserved.