Literature of Comics and Graphic Novels

Feb 26: Underground Comics For this week’s reading I read The Book of Genesis Illustrated , by Robert Crumb. I really enjoyed the illustrations. Being an artist, I really appreciated the imagery showcased on display that Crumb uses for the story. I’ve never actually read what is basically a comic book adaptation of a story from the Bible. It was interesting because when reading this story, its all written down and the images are up tot he reader. Here, the writing and images are showcased. I wouldn’t say its the definitive vision of the story of Genesis, as its more of an artist’s interpretation/ adaptation of the iconic story and characters. What I like about Crumb’s interpretation of the Genesis story is how much he in cooperates into it. From characters and story of Noah, Abraham, Jacob, as well as Adam and Eve. Crumb is able to create his own interpretations, which goes very well with his style of storytelling. I really feel that you can introduce the story of Genesis to...

Feb 12: “Contact with God” From what I’ve read of Will Eisner’s Contract with God , I really dug the black and white ink drawings. From the buildings, to the characters, the art in the story really help showcase this dark and dreary world. From reading it, I never felt a compete feeling of comfort, as each page was either depicted a rainy night or a dark room where a character would be sad and in need of help. The graphic style of the artwork really helps set the situations that each page is tying to convey to the readers. Will Eisner has a masterful method of interpreting emotion, setting, and character through his work. It still continues to show in his works like Contact with God .

Feb 5: “Plastic Man” Honestly, I was not able to see any link to reading of Plastic-Man for this week, but I did want to read it because I am familiar with the characters from DC Comics. I ultimately watched a video of these two people going over said comic of Plastic-Man’s adventures. What I got out of it was how inventive the abilities of Plastic Man were depicted as  Even though it were superhero stories, they were also comedy stories, similar to “Sunday funnies”. Ever since I was introduced to a version of Plastic Man through the Batman: the Brave and the Bold television show, I felt like looking more into the character’s history and who he really is. The artists from this comic really created a fun way of making him an entertaining character. When he would use his powers, they would make him stretch and move in so many ways to make it entertaining. They would even play with the layout of the comic panels. Plastic-Man would even stretch his way through the page, guiding ...