Skip to main content

How have we changed our definition of the comic form over time?

Since finishing “Understanding Comics”, my entire view on comics has changed. Before, I thought comics were just superheroes books with a format that was mostly pictured based. I thought the authors created these comics simply because they enjoyed this format better than writing everything out like other books. I also thought that maybe they used pictures because they had a very specific way they wanted readers to see their characters instead of leaving it all up to the reader’s imagination. Though this may be true, I understand now that they aren’t just drawing pictures and writing the dialogue for the story that they want to publish. There is actually more to comics then what we see on the surface. For example, the shapes of the panels. Sometimes, when reading a comic book, we will come across a page where the shape of a panel is diagonal instead of straight, or there is a really large panel at the top and then four smaller ones at the bottom. According to Scott McCloud, this is not just by chance. The author is actually trying to convey a meaning through the panel sizes and shapes. It could mean that the author is trying to put more emphasis on the bigger picture than the smaller ones. It could also mean that the author is using a different transition category between the panels. The previous page could be using subject to subject, and the four smaller panels are using moment to moment. This change could be to better emphasis a big scene coming up in the next story or it could just be trying to convey an emotion from the readers. There are some different meanings that the author is trying to convey which shows that comics have more depth than I thought.

Another thing that has helped me changed my view on comics is learning about its history and its effect on society. Comics, as we know and define them now, go back about a hundred years or so. Some say that comics actually started more that a thousand years ago, back in the Egyptian time. In the beginning of the 20th century, comics were known as short, simple strips that came out in newspapers. This all changed however when Siegel and Shuster created the comic book character that will forever change the comic book industry. Superman had a major impact on society. It was a new kind of comic that intrigued many different kinds of audiences. Some were skeptical at first when they saw a man holding a car over his head as the cover of the comic but it eventually became the most popular comic ever made. As time went on, comics evolved into the more graphic, detailed comics we know today. More and more comics were released and became really popular throughout the decade. Superman paved the way for Batman, Wonder woman, X-men and many other famous comic book characters that we know today.

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 Nollywood