Week 14: Webcomics

This week I read a little bit of a lot of webcomics. Prior to this week, I'd never read a whole lot of webcomics. After reading a little bit of everything (like Octopus Pie, Oglaf, and Riceboy) I realized why webcomics were so powerful. What I found is that Web Comics are very similar to the episodic newspaper comic strips, but adapted to the modern audience and with contemporary sensibilities.  They are almost like diary entries that are shared with an audience just like a blog, but with a much more visual aspect behind them. The biggest change though that Web Comics bring to the world of graphic storytelling though, is the power that it gives to the individual, It seems like webcomics give the artists ultimate freedom to tell the stories they want to tell and how they want to tell it. It's also great because anyone with a phone or laptop can have access to this material and it's not something that you have to collect in paperback

I definitely see a clear future for comics in this web form. It's accessible and there's so much room for collaboration and conversation between artists. There's something very special about being able to reach out to artists as easily as shooting them a tweet or an email. Artists having a big internet presence just makes this world feel more collaborative as a whole!

Transmetrolopolitan

1) Are there any prominent symbols in the story? If so what are they and how are they used?

  

I think there was a lot of symbols that described many negative aspects of society, specifically materialism.  Clearly these symbols were exaggerated amplified in the city that the story takes place. The panels in the city were extremely cluttered, compared to the panels that were in the mountain. I feel like there were also a lot of emphasis on sex, money, drugs, and violence, all shown through an verity of symbols throughout many of the pannels   

2) What connections did you make with the story? Discuss the elements of the work with which you are able to connect.

I was not really able to connect with any of these characters on a personal level. Although I could relate to spider in some of the instances. like when he went from the rural mountain home to the city. I kinda felt the same way he felt when I went from living here at school to living in LA for the summer. I would consider sarasota much more isolated and rural than LA i kinda felt some of the same emotions he felt when i was exposed to the hustle and bustle of an extremely large city. I was exposed to a lot of the symbols that I described above. 

3) What changes would you make to adapt the story to other medium? What medium would you use, what changes would you make.

If I was given the opportunity I would change translate this into a movie  There was so much information on each of the panels, make ing into a movie is the only way i could see it . I could see it kinda in the style of Scott Pilgrim with extreme influences from the comic book, extremely graphic and packed with information. I would like the film to keep the same intense colors as the comic, but maybe give them more dimension and make the whole move more hyper realistic 

Week 13: Reconsidering the superhero

Being a huge fan of the Hellboy movies, I decided to read some of the original comics. I never quite thought about the Hellboy character as a true superhero like superman and spiderman and other classic hero. But  I think the thing that has comics like Hellboy and Watchmen so popular is that the characters feel a lot rounder and they actually have flaws. It's very exciting to read about really epic and different characters that are also very relatable.  I like how Hellboy himself has a more relatable he is not Mr. Perfect. Fighting enemies is an annoying inconvenience to him. He gets angry, impulsive, and cranky, and he loses control. His heart is always in the right place, though, and he cares deeply about those around him. I like that Mignola even gave him a soft spot for cats! And that’s one of the many things that makes him relatable.

  

Additionally, the artwork is absolutely beautiful. The style and character designs are so interesting. I think that’s what made me so drawn to these comics and movie in the first place. Its so graphic and stylized, it fits the stories and characters perfectly.

Week10: Manga

Many of my friends grew up on Manga and Anime, and a lot of them are still into it, but I never got into it, I was never really into it. For a brief time in kindergarten I was into pokemon But that’s the closest I ever was a being interested in Manga. But  I was excited to start reading it so I could be exposed to it and find out what all the buzz was about. Also it was just cool to see a different form of visual storytelling.  

This past summer I was living in LA and a lot of my friends were into Manga. They took to little Tokyo and the whole day was spent looking at Japanese comics. It was actually a very cool experience and What surprised me most about it, right off the bat, is that Manga isn't afraid to go violent or crazy it was a lot to take in at first. I was glad I took the time to learn more about this art form

Week 8: Stereotyping

The use of stereotyping in comics is a very interesting and controversial topic, especially now when everything is so politically correct. stereo types are used for audiences to understand a character in a quick and efficient manner. Especially where space may be limited in comic books, and movies. But I definitely feel that these harmful stereotypes hurt the cultures and people they exaggerate and I do not feel that they are necessary in creating these types of character designs.

But not all stereotypes are bad and cause offense to people. Sone stereotypes are used to describe characters for example heroes are stereotypically buff strong men. While these types of stereotypes  don't typically offend people, They usually makes the story boring and predictable. its not fun when you watch a film or read a book/graphic novel and your able to know the personality and use of a character as soon as they are introduced. But I do I think as long as using stereotypes  helps move the story forward I think they can be used in comic books and movies. For instance in typical Disney movies the hero’s are usually dashing young men who save the day and get the girl. In the movie Frozen Disney used stereotypes to misdirect the audience for a surprising ending. The made the dashing young prince the villain. Which was a good way to uses stereotyping