Literature of Comics and Graphic Narrative

 Will Eisner and Craig Thompson are amazing graphic novelists. Both of them show a great deal of drawing skills, story telling, and sense of emotion in their works. For the Will Eisner Reading I chose to read the novel "Last Day in Vietnam". What I found unique about this graphic Novel was that the main characters of each short story talk to the audience. I think the way it was written draws you in in a way that you feel as if you are a part of the story. This was a really good choice for the type of subject matter because it allows people to get in the heads of military men. It's a different way of life that is expressed so well through the stories he presented. You truly start to care about the characters of every one of the stories throughout the book. The artwork was wonderfully done even though it was simple. The artwork of Craig Thompson's book, "Blankets", was just beautiful. The story was so sad and the character again tells the story from his point ...

 Carl Barks was the "Duck Man" and considered one of the few comic giants of the time. He illustrated the Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck Comics. I thought these comics were a lot of fun. I know they were meant for children because they were appropriate and easy to read. I followed along easily with the story and the illustrations are super clear in terms of their emotions. The artist didn't worry too much about detail, but there was enough information to get the point across in a simplified style. The characters are cute and the personalities are quite obvious to each of the ducks. Donald Duck has always been one of my favorite Disney characters because he is so expressive and silly. His triplet nephews were always fun to watch too! I've always liked the Uncle Scrooge stories. There is something fun about a grumpy rich old man getting fed up with funny little kids, and there's always a gag or a lesson at the end of the stories which makes for a go...

 For the EC comics I read through the Weird Fantasy stories, Weird Science, and the Vault of Horror. These were very fun to read through and a nice change. I noticed a trend in old comics as I read through these. I noticed that often times, there are adventures that men go on, and during these adventures they come into a tragic love story that never ends happily. I think some of these love stories feel out of place and a little unbelievable but they make me laugh. The weird fantasy stories were a lot about space and strange creatures. there was one where a father went to space for years at a time for his job and eventually his rocket ship blew up and he was hurdled back to earth on fire. Meanwhile his son and wife thought he was a shooting star, so they made a wish for him to come back home soon. I liked this ending because it was ironic and dark in a strange way. I decided to read Weird Science because I've seen the 80's movie called weird science quite a few times and I was c...

 Learning about Jack Kirby and what he did for comics made me appreciate his legacy greatly. I am not caught up on the Marvel movies and comics that are popular today, I'm not too big into superheroes so it never really grabbed my attention easily. However, I didn't know how little of the artwork of those comics were done by Stan Lee. Jack Kirby was the true master behind the comic books and the iconic look he brought to them. Stan Lee of course did a ton for his Marvel universe he was a genius but I have a new appreciation for Kirby because he was the artist bringing Lee's visions to life. I read through the Jimmy Olsen comics, the romance comics and the storyboards for fantastic four. The Jimmy Olsen comics were okay, personally they didn't excite me too much because the stories were often predictable and superman is always saving the day. What I did find interesting though were the romance comics! I was surprised but I was genuinely concerned for the characters in th...