Art Spiegelman

Maus, by Art Spiegelman was phenomenal. It felt like such a personal and original story.
I think the choice to use animals to portray the different nations made it easier to get through and digest, it allowed the story to really dig in and get graphics. It's an interesting concept to think about, because cats killing mice is something we accept in real life as part of nature. In the comic, all the animals possess human consciousness and mannerisms.
I liked how honest it was, it acknowledged that even within the Jewish community there were flaws in how the older generation perceived others. It put a new spin on a holocaust story, and made us think of the events in a different light, besides just looking at straight facts.
Even the title, "a survivor's tale" sets up some of the themes we find in the book, such as guilt. The bits of humor from the father gave the story some variety, which I was very thankful for.

In class comic

The mentor in the mason jar was a comic found in zap #7, and made by Robert Williams.  

I found it pretty hard to read, actually. It's a lot messier and very busy to look at on the page. I think that may have been the effect the artist was going for. The images were pretty gross to look at, especially towards the end. The one panel  I liked was a simple silhouette of the main character against the moon. 

I think I would have liked the comic more if things were spaced out more, and given room to breathe. Parts of it were hard to read, for this reason. 

It felt like it was trying to be edgy and go for shock value above all else, which I'm not crazy about in general.

Underground Comics

I wasn't a huge fan of Robert Crumb's "Mr. Natural." I didn't find the style super appealing or humorous. I'm guessing the sexual content was intended for humor over pleasure since it felt incredibly profane. I wasn't a fan of the content involving the 'Baby," even if portrayed as fully grown. I really just found that section uncomfortable and excessive. Perhaps it was intended to be a parody on other comics, or satire, or just offensive, but I had a really hard time finding the entertainment value or purpose. I wasn't crazy about the art style either, it felt reminiscent of much older cartoons but didn't exactly feel tasteful.

 Other comics that I looked at were "Gay Comix," which seemed to have a number of artists and stories. Parts of this I did enjoy, it was really cool seeing queer artists expressing themselves. The note at the beginning mentioned it was a place for expression, without fear of being politically incorrect. Even with that, it felt much cleaner than "Mr Natural." The very first comic shown was very interesting to me content-wise, there isn't a lot of media about being bisexual, and especially at that time, I imagine it must have been pretty out there. It had a nice auto-biographical feeling to it, and I like that it ended on a nice note, after everything. I really enjoyed seeing the different styles and perspectives, while not every story really grabbed me, they worked well together and complimented each other.

I also read "Tits and Clits," which was a similarly organized in terms of multiple artists, stories, and perspectives. I liked the "Pastoral Interlude," comic, and I absolutely loved the "First Love," comic. That's one that I think I'm going to remember for a long time, seeing a comic, even just a 2-page spread, where the subject was simply "self-love and care," was unexpected, especially surrounded by all of the profanity from other comics. There was nudity, but it felt more natural and almost romantic. I loved it, I loved how simple it was but it said a lot. 

The humor here felt much more bearable then "Mr. Natural" too. The bit about the 'vibrator cozies" was pretty funny and silly, it felt like the artists were going for actual humor, as opposed to just shock value or offensiveness. The "sex rolls" bit was also pretty funny.

The selections this week, "Blankets," by Craig Thompson, and "Contract with God" by Will Eisner are both more serious works then we've looked at previously. Both use very graphic, harsh inkwork, which reflects the style of the story and writing. Blankets really stood out to me as original, with the more "indie" style characters and edgy story. I loved the patterns and detailed ink-work. The style almost reminded me of scratchboard, it made me wonder if it was done digitally or with pen and ink. Some of the panels were so full of emotion, you could really feel what the characters were feeling, and sense their anxiety. The composition and exaggerated features and proportions of the characters made it really visually interesting, and really refreshing from some of the previous comics we've looked at. The character's profiles, for instance, were sharp, clean, angular and specific, while the shading and textures were kept rough, which had a really great effect. When he saw his girlfriend sleeping, the illustrations felt so full of love and care, with romantic swirling lettering. When he first tells her he loves her, the use of type and lettering is so clever and lyrical. The use of white space, especially towards the end of part 2 and part 3 felt significant, especially in contrast to how hectic other parts of the comic were. It gave us room to breathe and think.
Contract with God was different from a lot of comics I've read, featuring full-page illustrations more so than traditional comic panels. The linework felt much cleaner than the previous comic, though was still kept loose and free.