Comics Essays

Chapter 3 Language of Comics Comics may be a form of entertainment, but as a form of art, they have their own languages or to be precise the elements of comic. What makes a comic, comic? In a quick glance, we know that one of important elements are texts and images. But what is the difference than picture books? They are also using texts and images. What makes comics are different are the gutters and panels. Gutters and panels are really important because they are needed to create a sense of time

In the year of 2008, DC Comics released a motion comic of Watchmen, the art style was a lot similar to the original comics, and the makers delivered the emotions of the panels through the use of depth of field, animation of the elements such as the smoke, the characters, and the environment. A year later after the release of the motion comic, Glenn McDonald (2009) stated that “Truth be told, the workmanship here is prominently better than the sloppy mass-market versions of the graphic novel. The

Since the early 1900’s comics books have provided a popular source of entertainment for both children and adults. However, over time comic books have manifested into varying styles and appearances. As the culture of the world changed through war, economic depression, and political shuffle, comic books have served as a reflection of the world’s altering ideologies. The comic book powerhouse DC Comics, formerly know as Detective Comics, stands today as one of the most prominent and popular entertainment

Comics is one of the most misunderstood art forms. There are many definitions of what a comic can be, many forms comics can take, and a more significant history to comics than one would expect. Many misconceptions surround comics and what a comic is, such as the perception of the stereotypical comic strip of a superhero saving the day; I myself never honestly gave comics a second thought and accepted this idea of them. Being able to define and understand comics brings a new light on the significance

Scott McCloud talks profusely about this peculiarity, unique to the cartooned figure, in his book Understanding Comics. By introducing the concept of “amplification through simplification” (McCloud 30), McCloud suggests that the abstraction of an image through cartooning strips it down to its essential meaning, amplifying it beyond the possibilities of realistic art. As a consequence, the cartoon becomes universal, to the point of allowing any viewer to identify him or herself with it: the cartoon

In Douglas Wolk’s book “Reading Comics”, Wolk gives an incredible insight on how comic books and comic book readers are portrayed in today’s culture. Wolk’s passion for comic books and the artistic aspect of them are the reasoning for him to write “Reading Comics”. Wolk states “Reading comics, or not reading them, often presents itself as taking some kind of stand; in picking up something with words and pictures to read you become the sort of person who reads comics, and that can be a badge of pride

Understanding Comics By: Scott McCloud Scott McCloud’s analyses of comics in the form of a comic/visual novel in his “Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art” is an excellent way of conveying and identifying the medium to new and old comic readers and anyone who is interested in the medium. McCloud’s extensive knowledge of art and how it conforms to comics can be summed up in this quote: “Understanding comics is serious business” (p. 197). McCloud takes an in-depth visual look at how comics came to be

In the comic Watchmen by Alan Moore, there isn't a clear protagonist or antagonist like there is in other classic comic books. The characters, who struggle with life's many moral and personal challenges including bullying, child abuse, and infidelity, are uncannily human for the genre. The majority lack any kind of superpowers. Their morality and minds are what distinguish them from one another; eventually, each is driven to become a hero by a profound longing to be one. A character's views on morality

1. Superhero comics are, by their nature, larger than life, and what’s useful and interesting about their characters is that they provide bold metaphors for discussing ideas or reifying abstractions into narrative fiction. They’re the closest thing that exists right now to the “novel of ideas.” That’s what’s kept this particular weird little genre so closely connected to its much broader medium: a form that intrinsically lends itself to grand metaphors and subjective interpretations of the visual

In article "What Kinds of Kids Read Comics?", the author Kat Kan discussed several kinds of kids like to read comics. Kat Kan is a librarian for long time and different places, and she has many experience about kids like to read comics and graphic novel. Kat Kan said that all kids and many adults read comics about superhero. She considered every kind of kids like read comics and gave some example to proof that. Kan mention six kinds of kids—— eager readers, her two sons, ESL learner, struggling kids

Lee transformed superhero comics in a hasty manner, from the time he became an assistant writer, editor, film executive producer to the time he emerges to a publisher. What might come to your mind is “who is Stan Lee”?, However, in this essay, I will discuss the early life of Stan, Afterwards, I will elaborate on how he transforms superhero comics, to the time he elevated himself by becoming a public figure. Afterward, I will alternate why he was so important to the comic book industry, I will also

The comic book “March Book One & Two,” illustrates the difficulties that the African American community had to face during the Civil Rights Movement. The “Excerpts from Understanding Comics,” article is able to show readers what comic books represent and the way in which both the author and artist portray the story on one page and then throughout the story. It helps readers understand “March: Book One & Two,” because the reader will be able to understand the book and the meaning that they are trying

Objectification of Women in Comics Objectification refers to the act of treating a person as an object without any regard to their individuality or personality. It means to treat people as a commodity and not as an equal human being. Objectification of women has been culturally rooted and it needs to be thwarted. The most common is the sexual objectification of women, when women are thought of as only as sex objects and an inferior entity to get pleasure from. The infamous Marvel and DC comics that engulf the

a different way from someone else. Because of this we are able to make deeper connections to what we are seeing. This is also what gives icons and symbols life because we have assigned them a different meaning when we see them. In The Language of Comics, McCloud states that we are able to travel into another realm with simplicity. “You would have been far too aware of the messenger to receive the message!” with too much detail (pg.36-37). In “The Treachery of Images” even though the picture might

Comics are often criticised for having simplistic or unrealistic storylines possessing little or no literary merit. As for the drawings in comics, they are considered low class. While it cannot be disputed that such criticisms are valid for some comics, a well-informed critic would be aware that comics have evolved from being merely comic strips relating to some comic incident or exploits of some super-hero with unrealistic powers seeking to save the world from some villain. Comics now comprise a

Women in Comics Historically, women in comics have portrayed a variety of roles ranging from a helpless woman that needs to be saved by a man to a powerful heroine that protects a man. Women originally played insignificant roles in comic books, they were depicted as dependent on men or as victims of crime who needed to be rescued by a “male” superhero. In the beginning of the comic book age, female character attributes represented the stereotypes that women were inferior or subordinate to men and

Watchmen seems to be one of the most popular and classic superhero comic books of all time and well known for its end pages in the form of newspaper articles, books or classified documents. This paper will consider the case of confidential files about Rorschach’s childhood in the end of the sixth chapter “The abyss gazes also”. I will attempt to prove that they are important to that chapter and to Watchmen as a whole to make comic book look similar to the real world by focusing on Rorschach and his

In Persepolis, Satrapi uses comic relief to express the underestimated effects of fear during violent times. Three examples of comic relief occur in “The Key”, “The Wine”, and “The Cigarette”, three consecutive chapters where rebellion against the regime takes place. In these chapters, the fear of authority and punishment is evident. In “The Key”, Marji and her friends make fun of fundamentalist rituals in their school. Although the teacher threatens them with suspension and expulsion, Marji, her

as kids, Jimmy was just trying to make it through high school. But little did he know that a great quantity of things were soon to change very quickly for him in many different ways. He did not know at the time, but soon enough he would be making comics for his hometown and meeting new friends along the way. Some ups and down are soon to come but as you get to know Jimmy, you will soon understand it may have happened to just the right person. The Dumbest Idea Ever by Jimmy Gownley has a character

Comics are for Learners The graphic essay ,”Show and Tell” by Scott McCloud was written to prove that Graphic novels can be a useful tool to communication and that we see this form of communication through many mediums. To convey this message, McCloud uses classification and division to categorize all of his knowledge into concise and easy- to- understand categories for the reader.This theme of the usefulness of graphic novels is also seen in other works of McCloud, including his TED talk, describing