Skip to main content

How do you understand comics?

Before I read Understanding Comics pages 1-59, I thought I had a firm grasp on the concept of comics. I always believed it was essentially a book with pictures and words, or the best part of the Sunday paper. Growing up I was a huge fan of comic books. I would immerse myself in the world of super heroes. I enjoyed heroes like Spiderman, Captain America, and the X-men, Thor, The incredible Hulk and any others. My favorite superhero was always Iron Man. I always understand comics to be pure fun and adventure. The first chapter of Understanding Comics really exposed me to the true meaning of comic books. A juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or an aesthetic response in the viewer. While reading this book I was taken aback by the thought of a comic being used for educational purposes I always thought they were just for entertainment. Before if I was asked, “what is a Comic?’ I would have probably replied, “A humorous sequence of picture and words”. I would have said this because of my Marvel comic and Sunday paper comic. I’m still learning but my views on comics are reflections of my childhood. I still think Iron man is the best super hero and comics are one of the most entertaining things to do. When watching a movie about a comic book character it’s not as great as reading the comic itself. The comic book gives you just enough to let your imagination run wild and really make this story great in your own way. When I wasn’t playing a sport or hanging out with friends I would read comics. My brother and I would walk down to the Coliseum of Comics, and by a new one every week. I always understand comics to be a medium with endless possibilities. Heroes were not bound by the same characteristics that we are bound by in real life. This added a sort of magic to my life that was much needed in my life, and in other lives. I believe comics help form and expand imagination, take Superman for example. One moment he is a regular paper pusher, next page he is this all powerful being that protects the world for truth and justice. This would not be possible if it wasn’t for your imagination. Without that, the comic would be just pictures and words grouped together. Comics provide unbounded potential to create all methods of fantasy, reality, emotion, and excitement. The entertainment value of them was tremendous growing up it was practically better than television and movies. I always thought I understood comics pretty well already but now this class has really opened my eyes to what a Comic really is. I look forward to reading more and learning more about this subject and hopefully, eventually Understanding comics

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Mythology and Superheroes in Comics

Ohhh my goodness... When I decided on trying to analyze the mythological origins and references in superhero comics, I had no idea the can of worms I was opening up... On the one hand, it was awesome to see just how many connections there were between superheroes and psychology/mythology/philosophy, but all the information also made it terribly difficult to distinguish what I should be using and how to tie it all together. When I was talking to one of my sorority sisters about it she said, "Oh yeah, well, research essays are kind of like putting together puzzles..." and I think that really sums up what writing this paper was like for me. Fortunately, I was really interested throughout the whole process and I very much enjoyed writing the paper. Being a psychology major, I was especially interested in reading about the Jungian archetypes that had a lot of parallels with major modern comic books superheroes. I was also able to incorporate Joseph Campbell's "hero cycle...

Why blame comics for societal failure?

Why blame comics for societal failure? Society blamed comics for the societal failures because it was a fairly new industry, and as things seemed to go “wrong” they figured it must be comic books. When a child grew up during the war, his father was probably killing people and the military and his mother was probably making things in factories to help kill the opposition. The only things kids had to “babysit” them was comic books, and they read many different kinds. So when kids starting acting differently in this new generation the figured it must be the comic books. Society didn’t want to believe it may have been the internal and external scars war causes on the soldiers and their families. Also the fact that young unattended children are reading these comics may not be able to differentiate between fantasy and reality. When society fails it always needs a scapegoat then it was comic books next it was rock and roll. Society naturally resist change.

#FUTURES: Tomorrow Idris Elba will be the Last Man Standing

There is some bad buzz around Pacific Rim on the web. I suspect the possibility of a giant robot movie being awesome is too much for some people.  The internet is full of dark corners, but until we see the movie we won't know the box office.  What we can tell right now is that Idris Elba is doing his part to make the movie a success. A standout performer, Elba has made a name for himself in countless productions .  He achieve wide recognition for his turn on the big screen in films such as Thor and on the small screen in the BBC's Luther . Of course, the open question about actors of color in any film is whether not they will help or hurt the box office.  Will Smith recent disappointment with After Earth opens the door for this conversation. His lack of success sparks the question who will be the next "bankable" star of color. There can be only one! See what I did there:-)  These sentiments reflect a Hollywood centric approach that ignores Nolly...