Week 14: WEBCOMICS

This is what I’ve been waiting for all year. I absolutely love webcomics because they are both convenient and free. I don’t even mind the fact that the story isn’t all there at once, because I actually keep a log of when which webcomics update. I read so many that I don’t know where to start, but I’ll start with one that you had already recommended.

Hanna is Not a Boy’s Name is spectacular. The layout of this comic is ridiculous, yet not so much so that it becomes crowded. The colors and textures are also a sight for sore eyes, and the whole look of this comic astounds me, especially the typography. I actually had the chance to meet Tessa (we both live in the Dallas area), and she is quite a chill character. Her characters are so original, and its such a nice spin on supernatural creature comics that I find it extremely saddening that she seems to have stopped updating it. But that is something that happens often in webcomics, one of their main downfalls.

Octopus Pie though, is my absolute favorite webcomic. I’m really glad you like it as well. Nothing else has ever made me want to grow up and live my life as an independent individual EXCEPT THIS. This sort of webcomic is the cream of the crop for me. I absolutely love slice-of-life drama with this level of comedic cleverness. And everything is so relatable to people my age. I have a friend that I can relate each and every character to, and I see a lot of myself in Eve. From her conventional way of seeing things to her way of dealing with sillier, more laid back friends, it is like watching myself in these situations. The most recent arc, where Hanna and Donovan begin to quarrel over the Occupy Wall Street movement, I find hilarious primarily because I have recently witnessed a almost identical debate between my own friends, and everything just seems so real to life.

One more.

Perhaps the most risqué one on my list is Oglaf. There is a warning when you first visit the site that says outright that this is basically sex humor in comic form, and it’s very true to its word. But there are a lot of things this comic did right. One, it updates consistently and when it does, it isn’t ever one page at a time unless it is supposed to be a oneshot. And for the most part, each “episode” is really witty. And even better, it’s not all porn. There are a lot of non-pornographic oneshots in this comic, and they are just as good as the ones with dirty material. Another thing I like about it is that it is a good example of porn that isn’t meant to turn you on. It is purely comedic at its essence. It is hard to find comics like this, where the sex is there for the punchline, not to be erotic.

Week 13: Watchmen

Perhaps the best way to describe this book is a more mature version of the Incredibles. I personally found the idea of outlawing superheroes to be absurd, simply because the people with superpowers would obviously have the power to rebel. But I digress. Watchmen is not exactly the kind of comic I like to read. I am drawn to simplistic styles and a more comedic take on drama, and though Watchmen had its share of comedy (for example, the sex scene between Nite Owl and Silk Spectre was awkwardly comedic, and Rorschach being awkward in general), it was much darker than I usually enjoy reading. Despite this, it was still entertaining. The concept of vigilantism does interest me, but the capes and fanfare does not. Watchmen gave me capes and fanfare, but in the context of what has changed about the idea of a superhero, which I thought was a more interesting take.

Week 12: Habibi

There a lot of feelings I have for Habibi, and despite its strongly graphic topic, I find it to be a tender story. But the strongest part of the graphic novel for me was when Dodola and Zam are talking about being together, and Dodola admits she wants to bear a child with him. He then reveals that he does not want her to go through that again (relating back to her previous experience with having a child), and has prevented it from ever happening by making himself a eunuch. The idea of having such strong feelings of protection towards an individual that you deny yourself a very basic and natural human function is very powerful. I was thoroughly moved by Zam’s sacrifice. The ending, when they sacrifice they’re new life so that the slave girl for sale can live a happy life, is also heart wrenching.

Week 11: Asterios Polyp

This is probably the most visually appealing comic I have ever seen. The main character, Asterios, I immediately recognized as the kind of person that has the opposite personality of myself. Every detail about him, from how he’s drawn, to how he views the world, to what he says is so void of any emotion and logical that I find it very difficult to relate to him, and tired of his dialogue very quickly. His treatment of other people is also very logical and shrewd, and his whole character just irritates me. His wife, on the other hand, I was very sympathetic toward. I like how the artist differentiated Asterios and his wife with sharp lines, angles and blocks of color and then spheres, curves and shading.

Week 10: Persepolis

The thing I really like about Persepolis is that despite the Islamic revolution in Iran, Marjane is still extremely relatable. The family dynamics are very powerful and just as relatable, and as Marjane grew up, I felt I was growing up with her. Her rebellion of cultural norm that happened when she left Iran made me reflect on my own experiences away from home, and how much I have changed in my time in college and war. Another thing I really liked was the relationship between Marjane and her grandmother. I really liked how realistic her old woman quirks were, such as filling her bra with lavender petals so she’d smell nice.

Week 9: Manga and Scott Pilgrim

Like I’ve said before, I was never much of a super hero comic fan. Even now, the prospect of reading the Watchmen, a classic in the eyes of many, does not excite me. But truthfully, I still am a fan of manga, despite my fervor for the genre having declined as I progressed into college. I was once into many shounen comics such as Naruto and Bleach, which I enjoyed for the cohesive way that the manga-kas use their characters and pit them against each other. Then again, it was never the action sequences that kept me interested, but the character dynamic. Which is probably why I veered off into shoujo territory, where character dynamics shine in very relatable settings (for the most part).

Now, I only recently got into Scott Pilgrim last year, when the movie came out. I had never heard about it before, and I’ve still yet to finish the books. But what I have seen and read I do like very much. I enjoy all the video game references, especially in the movie when the Fairy Fountain theme from the Zelda series began to play in Scott’s dream. I like how realistic it is in how the characters interact with each other, but also enjoy the fantasy aspects that come alive when the plot starts picking up.

Week 8: Stereotypes in Comics

I cannot lie, I merely skimmed this one due to lack of time, but from what I gathered I did like. I too had the same experience as Jin, being the only Asian student in my grade, and there is a lot of truth to how it is interpreted in this graphic novel.

I feel bad that this one is really short, but none of the comics I glanced at really interested me. Perhaps this is the one genre of comic I just am not compatible with :/