Nikki Azzopardi - Lit. of Comics & The Graphic Narrative

Note: I did not realized I had been posting my comic reviews on the wrong blogger (from my personal gmail account). I have copied the entries and reposted them here, being the reason they are all posted on the same day. My apologies. Week 6: Girl Fight Comics This was a rather unexpected read. If I'm being honest, i didn't really like the art style and found it really distracting and the narrative follow from one image the next hard to follow. The story was also a big strange and gave off a 'fan fiction' vibe as I was reading it. This comic however, was still intriguing and definitely provided and interesting look into the women's empowerment movement. I do feel as though it was a little to much on the nose. I can definitely see how this comic would be considered an 'underground' comic. Although i don't think i fall into this comic's intended target audience, it was still a fascinating read.

Week 5: Last Day in Vietnam This is definitely an interesting read. I started out so light hearted, and already within the first few pages i could feel the tone shifting to a dark and sinister place. This was probably my favorite read so far from the recommended books. I really enjoyed the the first person perspective that was depicted in this comic. I had never read a comic that had done that before. It provided a different perspective to the dark stories that originated from the Vietnam war, and gave the events more gravity, making them feel more personal. Being from Europe, our coverage on the history of the Vietnam war was brief (I can image in American schools its discussed a lot more), and it was therefore interesting to experience it in a more narrative fashion. There was one moment in particular that really hit me; when the guide in the begging begins breaking down after acting very light hearted and mentions how he wants to see his son that he's never formally met. Learni

Week 4: Tekkonkinreet This week I couldn't open any of the recommended resources that were provided on the course site. Therefore I decided to go to the school library and find a comic on my one. I stubbled across a comic that had been recommended to me several times; Tekkonkinreet. It is a Japanese comic, but does not fall into the regular manga stereotypes. Not being a big fan of anime and manga, I am always a little apprehensive when searching in the Japanese comic book section of the library, however, this week I decided to take a risk. I am so glad I did. I read the whole book in a day and then watched the movie adaptation twice. Its a very abstract and deep story that follows that tale of two orphan brothers who rule Treasure town and fight gangs. The art style alone is deserving enough for deep appreciation I have for this comic. It was interesting to see a lot of the techniques that the comic book from week one talked about applied to this week's comic.

Week 3: Peanuts Vol 10 1969-70 Despite having heard a lot about Peanuts comic series, I had never actually had the chance to read these comics before this week. It was cute and interesting to see where the well know icon originated from. The humor and stories were short and wholesome. Not the most intriguing read for me, however I was fascinated to learn more about the cultural phenomenon. Being born in 1997, we weren't exposed to newspapers as often as the older generations, and i never had the interest in sitting down and finding the short comics in them either. Perhaps I has seen a few when handed a news paper on my flight back home, however this was my first time sitting down and reading a newspaper comic series in their entirety. As silly as this may sound, they almost seem like the ancestors of what are considered 'memes' today; short and concise humor that is shared on a form of public media.

Week 2: Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud This was a pretty fascinating read. I always loved comics but I've never really stopped to think about how powerful they can be and the various ingredients that go into making a successful comic. Being in an art school, we deal a lot with narrative art and story telling, however this usually involves mediums that include film, animation and video games. This book easily breaks down how sequential art can be used as another powerful from of story telling. It explains how the human mind works when breaking down and connecting abstract images, and how humans are naturally good and connecting images to find a hidden story. I was intrigued by the techniques and principles that he explains, as they could be implemented into my own art and used to improve my story telling.