Bethany's Literature of Comics Blog

 I thoroughly enjoyed reading underground comics! I appreciate the realness and unapologetic-ness the creators bring to the table. I can see why many would be uncomfortable with reading material like this but I believe that most people have thoughts that are very on par with, if not even more twisted, that what was being portrayed in these comics. It's the reality of the human mind sexuality, drugs, alcohol are all things that we as humans struggle with. I think it is very evident that men struggle moreso with their sexual temptations than women do but these comics shed a light on how different people deal with these temptations. In Air Pirates I read: the Dirty Duck comics, as well as Silly Sympathies, and Dopin' Dan. You can really feel the college kid spirit in these comics. I thought about how when you're in your twenties is when it seems you're your most authentic self. Your most unapologetic self. These creators have come into their own and put out material that t

 After reading this story, I was truly inspired and plan to dive deeper into Will Eisner's work. I have really been struggling to figure out what I am going to do for my thesis this year and I feel like through reading Last Day in Vietnam, I've finally figured it out. I felt like all of my ideas were to self indulgent and not creative enough. Then I read Eisner retelling of personal experiences that happened to him while he was in the military and I realized that's what makes a story special. Seeing someone else's perspective is what makes stories so great. I loved that he chose to illustrate his comic in a first person POV as well. I might adopt that strategy for my thesis as well too. This comic was beautifully drawn and I really appreciated the simplicity of the style and how expressive the bodies and movement of that characters were. Reading something about military culture was also very entertaining for me because I could relate as I am currently serving in the Air

 Before I stopped and read any of the comic strips I quickly scrolled through to find one that caught my eye. The overall aesthetic of comics at this time was very nice in my opinion. I love the style, use of color, and inking techniques. I will say that I noticed racist depictions of African American people as was expected for artwork created in this time period. Winsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland comics were something we learned about in History of Illustration my freshman year so it was nice to read something familiar. I also enjoyed the Popeye's comics and noted how spot on they were to the animations I used to watch on tv as a kid. There seems to be no change in character design or even art style from the comics to the animated cartoon. I was probably one of the very few 90's kids who actually did read the "Funnies" section of the newspaper growing up. I wasn't always an artists but I was always a fan of cartoons. My father was a high school baseba