Week of 4/28/20 - Webcomics and the experience

I think that in terms of where I became heavily involved with comics is specifically around this section. Webcomics have shaped a lot of my interests and what I currently enjoy, back in 2011 I read Problem Sleuth which was this webcomic that was on mspaintadventures.com which would later on become homestuck.com. Made by a man named Andrew Hussie, this would be the last comic he made with a complete autonomy over storytelling. Problem Sleuth was particularly interesting because it combined a lot of film noir detective story tropes while mixing it with retro video game references and mechanics through plot. It really intrigued me because prior to reading Problem Sleuth I had never really found an interest in graphic literature that combined two genres and synthesized them in a way that PS did.

After I had begun Problem Sleuth this obviously led me into reading Homestuck and like most teenagers around my age in 2011-2013, Homestuck completely took over as a storm. There were so many fans that spawned because of this webcomic, which to say that its a comic would be giving it too little credit. With over 8000 pages, and a sequel, Homestuck is longer than the entirety of War and Peace, which in itself is incredibly intimidating. That being said, the story is incredible for the first 5 acts, after that, the writing completely nosedives and its clear to me that a lot of the consideration and thought that was put into the first four or five acts didn’t make it to the latter parts of the comic. Which goes to show me that a good idea simply isn’t enoough, like most of Steven King’s novels, Homestuck ends in a tumultuous mess, and though I realize this now. A lot of the experience that enamoured me about this webcomic was the constant stream of updates, an advantage that webcomics have over traditional comics, they could be updated more frequently and produced at a higher speed. It was definitely innovative for its time.

Week 2/25/20 - Analyzing Maus (Or at least the first book of Maus)

When talking about an incredibly important topic such as the holocaust, I thought that I would be hearing a new perspective about this horrific event and truthfully the graphic novel series “Maus” stayed true to what I expected. That isn’t to say that I wasn’t shocked or in awe over some of the events that take place. Though I only managed to finish the first book, I fully intend on continuing and reading the second one as the writing is very grounded. This of course is no surprise since the only twist to the story comes in the form of different people being represented by a different animal species, Mice for the Jewish, Cats for the Germans, Dogs for the americans and so on and so forth. Once you become so engrossed in the history of the events its very easy to forget that animals are simply stand ins for actual human beings, but what I enjoy so much about Maus is that never once does the retelling of the author’s journey seem to pull you away from the pages.

In fact the very real mundane routine of what his life used to be like prior to german occupation is a very stellar example that just because they’re mice on pages, the events affect everyone, not just the one single species, and it affects them in very different ways. Though we’re only told the story from one perspective, the author is extremely aware to include other experiences through what was witnessed firsthand. I’m eager to see what the second book has in store.

Week 2/4/20 - Thoughts on The Adventures of Tin Tin & Uncle Scrooge

The Adventures of Tin Tin is a series I wasn’t all too familiar with, my only interaction with the franchise was a couple of comics I read here and there back when I was much younger and the animated film that came out a couple of years ago. Though I don’t have much of a personal experience with the series itself, funny enough these comics were something that my mom found herself enjoying within her youth which I thought was rather interesting, especially since she grew up in Latin America. She said that one of her uncles was very big into comics and she would lend her some of the few comics he had for her to read, and the one that she gravitated the most towards was Tin Tin. Though in Latin America the series went by a different name known as “Las Aventuras de Tin Tin”.

Uncle Scrooge was a series that I had never really heard about until I first came to class, it wasn’t until then that I saw what the series was about. I always knew that Donald Duck had an extended cast and one of the characters was Uncle Scrooge who was this eccentric wealthy type, and although I never personally gravitated towards him, I enjoyed what I read about his character. He’s the one that looks after the three nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie and it’s quite the dynamic if I’m being honest. Seeing someone who’s as experienced contrasting against three literal kids, it makes sense to me as to why Ducktales was a very popular series.

Week 1/28/20 - Analyzing Little Nemo, Peanuts, and Calvin and Hobbs

To begin, I’d like to say that I invested more time in both Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbs than I did with Little Nemo. This isn’t to say that I didn’t read Little Nemo, but to simply say that for me personally, I gravitate much more towards simple designs because of the time it takes to process information than a visually packed comic.


With that, I’d like to say that Little Nemo in Slumberland was a very interesting read for me. The strips from what I can understand revolve around this young boy in pajamas named Nemo that experiences these bizarre scenarios in Slumberland. I think this is to mean that whenever he goes to sleep, these events take place. Though I could be wrong. Aside from the whimsical situations that Nemo is put into, one thing I would like to point out is the style and the art behind the strips. Windsor McCay was a very visual person, and with the video that we watched about his work, it makes sense. His art in Little Nemo however is incredible to look at, the amount of detail in the color and the fidelity of the linework is beautiful, even for old reprints and scans. They still hold up.


This is where I believe Calvin and Hobbs and the Peanuts strip both lack, I mentioned before that I prefer the latter over the former and this is still true. Perhaps it may be due to my age, but I prefer reading comics over looking them over visually, even if at times, the roles can and sometimes do switch. With Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbs, the art style is much more simplified and the art is as well. This places a greater focus on the writing and it’s why I have more of a connection with both Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbs. Plus as someone who’s still youthful (Or at least I would hope that I am), there’s something about seeing these kids talk in a style more similar to my own.

Week 1/21/20 - Thoughts on Understanding Comics

Philosophy was never really a strong suit of mine, despite my very clear and apparent enjoyment of the matter, Understanding comics by Scott McCloud proves to be one of these instances where I'm immediately hooked by what I'm reading and am eager to digest more of the information presented to me.

The format of the book itself proves to be a strong suit in grabbing and maintaining interest, or at least for me it does. As a visual learner and a visual artist, this comes as no surprise, comics have always been something I’ve gravitated to but never have I experienced reading a comic about understanding the logic behind them. As Scott McCloud puts it, comics are much more than sequential images, in fact the idea stems much deeper than what it appears. Within the book he explores the ideas behind exploring identity within objects, how the mind perceives information and the convincing explanation of the psychological and philosophical sciences behind the graphic narrative. Personally I found the humor in this book to be very charming and kept me entertained as I was reading, comic humor is one of my favorites, not simply because of the visual gags but because of the creativity and inventiveness behind them. Comics can allow humor to exist that would otherwise be physically impossible.

Within the book he even goes to explain how this is one of the many strengths and appeals to comics as a whole, however for the majority of the book he explores the ideas behind them, hence the understanding. Overall I enjoyed reading Understanding comics, I simply wish that Scott Mccloud would tackle more contemporary pieces within the comic industry, not simply the ideas of how to make them.

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