Web Comics

I had a lot of fun this week exploring all the different web comics out there. There are so many different kinds, it becomes hard to choose which one to sit down and spend the time to read the whole thing. The web comics I decided on were, The Perry Bible Fellowship and Tiny Kitten Teeth. 

The Perry Bible Fellowship was hilarious! I really enjoyed how each comic strip was short and got to the punch line quickly. The humor it had was right up my ally, it was witty and didn't require a whole lot of deep thought. It became rather addictive going through the list of them- I didn't know when to stop so I just read them all! Each one had a unique quality to them, for example- "Woovles" was so ironic and was great showing the classic saying 'a wolf in sheep's clothing' from a different perspective. Some were just down right funny like "Rainbow" - what if all rainbow were just giant monster's eyes? It just put a whole new look on things that I don't really give much thought about.

Tiny Kitten Teeth- I chose this web comic because of how beautiful the art was! The colors and style was absolutely gorgeous! The story itself was confusing to me.. the main cat I could relate to greatly because he was just as confused as I was. It was also interesting how some panels just cut to one big panel of something completely random going on. For example, the panel of the two kittens and it says 'how did you get up there?' I didn't think this really had anything to do with the comics main story. Regardless, the art of this comic is what kept me drawn in. Im still in the middle of reading this one, so hopefully it will begin to make sense soon.

Watchmen

I have heard so much about this comic, but I never had the time to actually pick it up and read it. Now that I had to read this one I'm so glad that I did! Watchmen was so fantastic, the plot was so deep and kept me interested the whole time. I love that the story is in an alternate reality of our world, but set at an earlier time- the 1980s perhaps? The idea of outlawing superheros made for a great plot. It reminded me of The Incredibles in that aspect, which I thought was humorous. I loved Rorschach, I found his character to be so interesting and I was always excited to see what he would do next. Rorschach's character design was also my favorite- I love his trench coat and masked face that changes with heat! It was so simple yet, I loved it. Doctor Manhattan was also a very cool character in my opinion, I felt bad for him when he was accused of giving his friends cancer. When he left Earth I knew problems were going to arise! The death of The Comedian was a cool plot line and I loved how it ended up involving why Doctor Manhattan was exiled. The ending was well executed and I felt that it led up to something spectacular. I was heartbroken when they killed off Rorschach! I also liked how the left it open to the line that Doctor Manhattan said "Nothing ever ends." So it seems that Veidt was stopped in the end- hopefully. All in all, I really really enjoyed this comic- it was probably one of my top favorites! 

My New York Diary

I don't really have much to say about this one. I picked it up thinking that it could possibly be a good read, but I didn't really like it as much as I thought I would. I found that visually the panels were hard to process- there was way to much going on in each one and I had a hard time finding the focal point. The words even got lost in some of them. As for the story, it didn't really appeal to me very much. It was very dark and had way to much depressing points, in my opinion. Like when Doucet gives love a second chance- her new boyfriend turns out to be psycho and she had to try and get rid of him. Or when the boyfriend before this one tried to commit suicide. It was just way to intense for me. I like comics that aren't so gritty and upsetting, I read comics to be happy- not to remind myself of all the pain going on in the world.

Asterios Polyp

This week I read Asterios Polyp- as soon as I looked this book up and saw the front cover I was captivated! Just the design and set up of this comic is fascinating and so graphically appealing. The color choices and bright and draw my eyes around the page. The way that on some pages they would play with the shapes of people and different designs was very unique- like when Hana attended her first facility party, each person was designed a different way! Just by doing that it made the panel a hundred percent more interesting. The story itself is also intriguing, the beginning was very sad to me- having to read about this poor guy who lost his living quarters and leaves to find his way in the world. I did however enjoy how it would switch back to past events in his life. Like how he dealt with his brother and how his marriage wasn't the greatest. By doing this I got more attached to Asterios Polyp and I began to understand him better. When he questions his flaws, I felt it was just human nature in some cases.    

Blacksad

This week we look a comics found around the world... I picked up Blacksad. Let me start this off and say that I'm not a furry or into furries! However, I found this comic to be extremely enjoyable! The art was beyond gorgeous, I mean, the details found in each of the panels was breath taking. The anthropomorphic animal characters I thought was a nice break from the human centered comics I have been reading lately. The film noir style was also very attractive, I have always found film noir to be very dramatic and very attention grabbing. All in all, this comic was just screaming to be read.. so I did. John Blacksad, I found to be very down to earth, and realistic. He shares many problems that normal people have everyday. He ran from the police since he was young and grew up in a bad part of town, now he runs around doing detective type work. He is a very intense character and that's what I love about him. I thought this comic was also very well thought out in that all the animal species are specifically picked and have something to do with defining the character. For example, the officials are portrayed as German Shepard's and the bleak and dark characters can be reptiles. When I picture a cop, I automatically think of a guard dog or a blood hound.. This comic is so clever in this aspect. It really make the positions these characters are in believable- even though they are animals!    

Astro Boy

   Now, I want to first start this post off by saying that I'm definitely not a huge fan of Manga.. and Anime in general. I never got into it when I was younger, and as I got older I never found it very appealing. I don't understand the need to emphasis the emotions in such an exaggerated form, and why most of the Manga comics out there seem to be so far fetched. This is all my opinion of course- I know plenty of people who love Manga and I respect that! I just never got into it and probably never will. So with that said when this week rolled up and we had to go out and find a Manga to read I had a very hard time choosing. I ended up deciding to go with Astro Boy.

I felt that Astro Boy had more of a generic simplistic plot- the boy is a robot, lets watch him fight bad guys. Simple right? Well, as I dived into it the plot became more interesting-- if not disturbing. A father who is also a scientist looses his boy to a car accident and decided to recreate a robot of him to fill the void. Sounds a lot like the movie AI to me.. but I digress. The father soon finds out that his new robot son cannot fill the void of his lost son and rejects him. Astro boy ends up in a circus for some time before he is found by a man who is the head of the ministry of science.. from there on out Astro Boy fights crime and saves the day! Not super involved, but I will admit that I didn't put the comic down- I finished it. I didn't feel like this was the best comic I ever read.. but it defiantly wasn't the worst. I guess I'm just not cut out for Manga.. or at least not right now.

I will point out however-- that I have watched Wolf's Rain and found that anime very enjoyable! So don't take me as a hater, please. 

American Born Chinese

This week I chose to check out American Born Chinese. The stereotyping can be seen just in the title of this comic- blatantly labeling this character with his race. I enjoyed the fact that his comic has three different sections to it, with them all combining in the end and effecting each other. This helped keep the plot interesting, and prevented boredom. The tale that I found most intriguing would be the second tale with the boy, Jin, I thought his struggles and daily challenges caused by his stereotype was very heart wrenching. His crush on Amelia was very touching and cute and I appreciate the fact that she didn't let the cultural differences change her thoughts and feelings for Jin- unlike their classmates. I seem to find out right stereotyping so hard to watch-- or in this case read. Especially, when we are all human- we all make the same mistakes and have feelings. The other two tales dealing with kung-fu and Chinese folk lore was also a nice touch- it gave me a cool incite into some of the cultural aspects in China. The next thing that stood out to me was the style found in this comic- I adore the simplicity of the characters. I believe this makes it easier for me to relate to them, and to create an attachment to them. It made me really feel for Jin and all his obstacles he had to face. In the end, I thought this was a very good read.