Skip to main content

Does class effect how we look at comics

When I first came into class I had a very closed view on comics. The only kind of comics that I thought existed were super hero comics. In addition I had no idea how a comic book were set up. When I started to read "understanding comics" I realized that there is much more to comics than just a bunch of pictures with word bubbles put together to make an action scene. Sometimes the authors put scenes without any action to either build suspense or just to create a certain mood or feeling as in a movie. Comics are a medium that I have not looked at closely in the past, unlike movies or television, but after studying them for a brief period I have come to realize that they are not that different. For example, how a movie is shot and how a comic is drawn are ways of getting a certain message across. Also, in understanding comics the author describes the different styles or drawing, such as western and eastern. This example is true in movies as well. The eastern authors tend to show more scenery and intricate details as opposed to the westerners who care mostly about action and adventure.
In addition to how a comic is drawn I also looked differently upon the history of comics. Before enrolling in the class I knew that most comics had a certain progression and that they probably didn't look the same today as opposed to when they were first published. What I didn't understand was that there was a shift from the first comics to the idea of a superhero. That the great depression and other factors that were happening in society greatly influenced what was being drawn on the pulps that were being distributed. For example ideals such as a rural boy moving to the city and becoming the iconic superman had a great effect on the population of America at the time. In retrospect not only did Superman have an effect on America, but society greatly effected what was being drawn. All in all my view of comics has drastically changed from when I first started this class and I am sure it is going to change even more.

Comments

J Chambliss said…
Understanding the interaction between culture and perception related to the U.S. experience is crucial to comprehend why popular characters are worthy of study. Keep pushing to understand how comic characters are creating reality within their pages. What assumptions are they manipulating to achieve the story on the page?

Popular posts from this blog

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.

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...

The 1950s Are Often Portrayed As A Period of Social Cohesion...

People didn’t set the standards; the standards were set for you. The 1950s were not a time of social cohesion but it was misleading because it was a time of “don’t air your dirty laundry.” Women were to act perfect; the “Stepford wife” if you will, while the men went to work like “Don Draper.” Although the comic codes were in full fruition, people found ways to cause a raucous. Comic books were the reason that children were acting violently. Comic books are a media outlet and they didn’t have to follow the conservative nature that the decade seemed to promote. One of the most popular selling genres of that time was the Romance comics. The romance comics not only attracted male readers, but female readers as well. This, alone, can be alarming for the “social cohesion” of the 50s because men expected their wives to be at home all day cooking, cleaning, caring for the children, etc. They didn’t want their wives spending any additional time reading comic books. Perhaps the comic co...