Jtothep's blog

 Total Points for Every Week attended: 7 pts. (No absences) Total Points from Blogs posted: 34 Pts. Total Points= 41

 Going into Maus, I had never really heard of it before, but the illustrations did look somewhat familiar. I was slightly nervous yet interested upon discovering that it was an allegory for the Holocaust, yet at the same time, I know that it is important for everyone to be reminded of the horrors of the past, as we shouldn't just ignore history. I believe that displaying this piece of history in a creative and narrative driven manner is one of the best ways for more people to read and understand. Its more interesting to read it through the lens of characters that feel like real people sharing their experiences among their family (in this case, The main lead's father). It made me forget that most of the characters were animal people half the time, I never felt like it got in the way of anything. Its's just as the son said in the story, "It makes everything more real- more human." I feel that the parallel between Mice and Cats was created as an easy to understand al...

Based on the beginnings or middles of different Zap Comics, I got an idea of what the intent of these specific comics were. I feel they were made as a  a collection of shorter form comics that can be read quickly for laughs, and also as a way to entice/tempt specific younger/teen readers who weren't allowed to read comics.(Perhaps the creator went through a similar event with their parents.) I noticed they seemed to emphasize possible reasons as to why parents wouldn't want their kids to read comics.It does fit with the theme of underground comics, which were about producing strips and stories that were more rebellious and wanted to push the boundaries of societal norms at the time.  After reading through most of the them, I was a bit perplexed. The type of humor that was being showing and told very absurd, crude and strange, but not in a way that I found particularly funny. I honestly found the scenarios, characters, dialogue and pacing more strange and confusing and sometime...

From reading Craig Thompson's "Blankets"and Will Eisner's "Life Force", I see a theme of survival for the main characters in both stories. Even though the stories come from different eras, the main characters have to deal with their troublesome lives. For example, Craig had parents who were abusive, and took him to an ultra-conservative church that scared him into faith. Every day, he dealt with bullies from elementary to high school (even at church camp). His only escape was through art and his relationship with Raina. In Eisner's comic, Jacob deals with losing his job during the Great Depression. His faith is also an important part of this story, he feels so doubtful, he compares himself to cockroach who seemed to be dying at the same time when Jacob almost had a heart attack. But both ended up surviving.  The art style for both comics are downright beautiful despite the stories being melancholy. Their use of black and white gives a bold feeling , adds...

As soon as I saw Carl Bark's Scrooge McDuck comics appear, I got excited to check them out. I've grown up with classic Disney characters like Donald Duck and his nephews, and I was already familiar with their uncle Scrooge, mainly through Disney TV programs such as House of Mouse and many classic shorts. I was even familiar with Ducktales and its legacy, and I'm currently watching the ongoing 2017 reboot. And I've discovered that very reboot has its roots in several Carl Barks Comics, and it made me interested in seeing what they were all about. One thing that interested me was how it expands upon Donald Duck's family tree, in more ways than the classic cartoons did. I always found it funny that even Mickey Mouse didn't get this same kind of expansion, despite him also having his own set of comics. I started with the comic "The second Richest Duck in the World. Right away, certain character aspects stuck out to me. Notably, Donald Duck is a lot less over th...

Its no secret that Peanuts is one of the popular and iconic comic strips of all time. When I was growing up, I've been given greeting cards from it, watched its holiday specials and shorts, and I even drew Snoopy plenty of times in my elementary school years. Despite all of that, I've never actually gotten the time to read most of the original strips. Getting to read and look into the various eras of the original Peanuts strips was very much a treat, as well as getting a glimpse into it's creator as well. Looking at some of the early Strips from the 50s and 60s, I noticed that the style of the characters were a lot simpler, yet the tone, humor and qualities of the characters were still solid and sharp. I noticed that even early on, It had a snarky sense of humor, yet also had a sense of lighthearted charm to balance it out. There's a simple and laidback charm in how it displays the everyday life of the kids.   As for the various Eras of Peanuts, I personally preferred t...

 When first viewing this large list of comics, I was admittedly overwhelmed with the large amount of comics to read through and what I could talk about with so many choices and comics from different eras. Fortunately there were a couple strips and stories I was familiar with. Though, I will also admit, I wasn't looking forward to seeing racist caricatures and stereotypes going into these stories.  Looking at earlier comics such as Buster Brown and Oh My Pumpkins, one thing stuck out to me. While the artwork is large, bold and clear, most of the text is smaller, condensed, and a bit hard to read at times.I often had to squint to get a better look at the text, especially when a few appeared in warped angles. I even had a much harder time reading the letters written in cursive, not only for their size, but for how close to shape and size each of the letters were. The artwork itself was fun, although it tends to be a bit too busy, with many people and objects filling in most of th...

Growing up, I've always had a fondness for comic strips. I've even attempted to make make a few when I was little, and I'm striving to get better at it in more recent times. One thing that I really appreciate is when guidebooks strive to inform the reader in a fun and engaging way, rather than just simply being a wall of text. The guidebook itself being a comic made me feel engaged as I tend to be more of a visual learner. I even appreciated small bits of humor thrown into the mix. For example, when the creator is asking his "audience to help him find ways of giving comics a "dictionary definition," one person says it "should have Batman" somewhere in the definition, then begins to struggle after being forced to leave offscreen. My favorite gags are the ones that are quick and to the point. One section I found the most interesting and appealing was the section that talked about the art of cartooning. I've always had a passion and love for cartoo...

 Going into this course and class, I did not exactly know what kinds of comic-related books I would start reading. And I was surprised to be greeted to something I never expected to read- a full graphic novel without any words, just pictures. Right away, upon first viewing it, I was really intrigued. I was drawn to the sepia-tone values and realistic yet fantastical style throughout the story. What I've gathered throughout the story is that it involves an adult male moving into a strange, almost fantastical-like area for his new job. I personally love this fantastical world that the main protagonist ends up in. It looks very appealing and fascinating, with its geometrically- shaped buildings and strange, yet adorable creatures. I absolutely adore the designs of the birds along with the strange Rodent/lizard creature that occasionally tags along the main protagonist.  Other visual elements I appreciated were the way the panels were organized. I feel that each panel was spaced o...

 Ever since I was a child, I only really understood comics on a base level. So getting to read a detailed history of it written as well as visually was something that I felt was going to be interesting going into this class and this book. Though I don't often like to read through textbooks, this specific "history book" is a lot more interesting when combined with small drawings that make learning the history much more engaging and fun. The same applies to certain gags and caricatures, and names for certain techniques to make learning these principles educating and entertaining.  I enjoyed looking at the legalities of comics, mostly because I'd like to make my own comics and characters, and would like to see how the process of legalizing them would work. Showing each of the different companies and their properties really put things into perspective, how important it is to copyright characters. I found it really interesting looking at those old proto-comics, just thinki...