Week 6- Underground Comics- Zap comix (5 pts.)

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 sometimes unpleasant than funny. I'm not a personal fan of crude and "dirty" humor. Humor is subjective, of course. And like always, I absolutely despise the racist caricatures. 

I do have an appreciation for the art style, character designs and their expressions. I can tell they wanted to be zany and a bit crude with their characters and comedy. The panels are clear and readable as well. In a way, its art style and crudeness reminds me of media from the late 1990s, which focused on absurd and expressive, topical and sometimes in-your-face humor like Rocko's Modern Life (A Nick animated series).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 2- Understanding Comics (3 pts.)

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...
Read more

Week 13 Pt 2- Wonder Woman (4 pts.)

 Despite never being into superheroes growing up, certain characters were iconic enough to least be recognizable by name alone. I've always at least heard about classic DC heroes like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. And this seemed like a good chance to see her early stories. Wonder Woman was created in the 1940s in an all-male dominated comic world. People loved Superman and Batman but Wonder Woman soon joined the ranks. As someone who reads very little superhero comics, it was interesting to learn that she was created by a man who was a psychologist, Dr. Marston. He felt young girls needed a strong role model too. These are typical superhero stories with good vs. evil plots. The illustrations reflect that time period, with muted colors and a style very different from what I've seen from superheroes in media today. The drawings are semi-realistic with some exaggerations. For example, Wonder Woman's legs are illustrated in a way to make her look like she's running fa...
Read more

Week 14-webcomics -Megg and Mogg(10 pts.)

 I've somewhat dabbled into the world of webcomics. In my case that was mainly through certain artists through social media I follow. I follow several accounts that specialize it it, like @Abbycomics and @suprdee2 on Instagram. So when approaching this witch comic, i wasn't sure what to expect going in. What I ended up reading were several segmented stories that are very... strange to say the least. These comics involve around a witch and her band of creature friends who go on several misadventures. These stories are often very crass, vulgar and even graphic at times. Certain aspects like these did remind me of the underground comics. Many of the friends swear, smoke, steal, and get into all kinds of trouble. The Owl gets mistreated by his friends several others, and I'm personally not a fan of seeing these types of toxic relationships in stories. He gets treated like a pushover just for wanting to stay safe and not wanting to partake in his friends rambunctious activities....
Read more