Bethany's Literature of Comics Blog

 This was so cool to read! I love that it has an old school feel to it like the art style is from the 80's but it was made so recently! The style is so convincing that I thought these were just scans of an old comic book at first, but when I read these stories and how it talks about artists like LL Cool J and Dr. Dre as if we were looking at them in the past I knew it had to be somewhat more recent. It was so cool to get a look in on the early days of the hip hop industry and see these "cool" rappers in their not-so-cool beginnings. Especially Dr. Dre the World Class Wreckin' Cru is kind of lame in comparison to N.W.A and it's just funny to see that he wasn't always portrayed as a gangster. LL Cool J definitely never had as much swag as Dr. Dre but it was interesting to see him as a kid as well. I had never really heard of Scott La Rock but I enjoyed how at the end of each comic there were clips to watch of each artist performing. That is definitely an added p

  1. What is your reaction to the text you just read? Wow! This was amazing! It was so complex and it questioned many concepts that most people believe to be true. I especially appreciated the showing od the Joker's past and how it gives the reader an understanding of why he is the way he is. I do think him falling into the chemical waste river was a bit unnecessary, as it's very believable that one can go mad just from going through the circumstances that he did and not properly dealing with his emotions and thoughts. However, falling into the chemical waste river does make for a faster and more dramatic outcome so I understand why Moore took that route.   2. What connections did you make with the story? Discuss what elements of the story with which you were able to connect? The biggest one for me was The Joker's want to feel normal. He wanted to prove that deep down everyone is just like him. I found it very sad that he went to enormous lengths to try and drive commission

 I've always had an interest in books like these, even when I was a kid. There's something about reading up on the history of artists that makes me feel like it'll help me figure something out about my own artistic journey. When I first chose this book I wan't sure what I'd find but when the first few pages was about Rose O'Neill and her Kewpies I found myself very interested as I remembered learning about her in History of Illustration freshman year. Learning about how these women were almost celebrities in their time for being such well known artists is really very cool. One thing I didn't really like was how their relationships with men were always mentioned as if that is a very important aspect that we must know about. It just feels like when we read the history of men, the women they entangled themselves with were not given as much attention in the story of their lives as was the case in this book. Even though I would say this book did a very good job o

 I really, really enjoyed reading the bone comics! So many of my friends have told me that they read these comics in their childhood and after reading them now, I'm quite jealous that I didn't know about Bone when I was ten! Even so, reading Bone was very nostalgic for me. It almost felt like I was watching a Saturday morning cartoon. The art style, the colors, and the humor all felt like a Looney Tunes episode in a way. The three Bone cousins are especially hilarious when they are interacting with each other. Phoney Bone is definitely your typical Daffy or Donald Duck character; the foil to our main character who in this case is a very sweet and wise Fone Bone. Fone Bone is closer to a Mickey Mouse rather than a Bugs Bunny. Smiley Bone is so funny and constantly getting into trouble, I feel like he is closer to Bugs is Bugs wasn't so cunning and intelligent. A lot of Smiley's charm comes from his lack of IQ though. I really enjoyed how each character was so different f

 This story was so interesting. I liked the approach Tezuka took and Disney's influence in his art style is definitely evident. This story that is like historical fiction was so fun to read because there was so much humor in it. I like that Tezuka doesn't take himself or the story too seriously and breaks the fourth wall every now and again, he even added himself into the story, taking you out of the story for a second for a laugh. I can see how some might not like this approach but I found myself enjoying the little gags that were placed throughout the story. I also very much enjoyed Tatta as a character. One thing that I didn't like about this story is how quickly characters died, especially Chapra and his mother! For two main characters to die so quickly and so easily and not to prevail was shocking and a bit upsetting. I understand that in the time period that is being portrayed life was not as valued, but it is fiction after all! The protagonists should prevail! :( Aft

 Right off the bat the first thing that stuck out to me was the use of color in The Long Tomorrow. After reading Maus, and March, it was refreshing to see such vibrant use of colors in this comic.  The sci-fi theme and plot of the story reminded me of an episode of Love, Death, and Robots that followed a similar plot line. I was shocked out how in you face the sexuality was. It was very real and honest for lack of a better word. I don't think that it was done in a erotic or pornographic way however. It just came off as realistic. It's very cool to see how the medium was taken more seriously in Europe than in America at that time an that Adults were open to reading comics.  Silver Surfer was a great read, it was a longer story than The Long Tomorrow and it had more depth. At first, I was a bit lost because I didn't have much backstory on who the Prophet was or why his sister chose to escape and steal a helicopter but it started to make more sense as I read along. The languag