'Nuff Said: American Graphic Media

The article by Raiford Guins and Omayra Zaragoza Cruz is interesting. It breaks down the word culture by examining its origin, uses, and several meanings. Culture is a word I have heard all of my life but I guess I never really have tried to define it. Probably the statement I best agree with was on page 27 where it states that culture, "describes the works and practices of intellectual and especially artistic activity." Think about that quote for a second... Now think of the word "Google". What comes to mind? The search engine! Google is now apart of human culture (or at least American culture). Google.com is the most popular search engine on the internet. Since it is on the internet, and it so well known, I'm guessing the people behind Google are vastly intelligent (as it turns out the creators were two guys who earned Ph.D. degrees from Standford University. Sounds like they're pretty smart to me.) But look at that quote from the article again... "p...

I am somewhat baffled as to the purpose of reading the article “Popular Culture”. Now I have a vague idea as to the history of the words “culture” and “mass”, but why is that important to know? The reading was also complicated and confused by seemingly random and meaningless numbers and letters. Also, the article “From Pulp Hero to Superhero” was a good overview of what we talked about in class so far. It was also much more interesting than the above mentioned “Popular Culture”. The article brought up the topic of eugenics in the United States , a topic that I have not heard much about. It seems like the subject is probably a taboo. The topic of eugenics as expressed in the article reminded me greatly of the Nazis. The article suggests that the American public was afraid of the degeneration of the white race (as seen in comics like Tarzan) and that people voluntarily set up programs to “promote efforts to civilize urban masses and impart values”. It seems that this fear and set ...

     Just a little something you may find interesting.  Here is a complete list of every reason that has ever made Dr. David Banner "Hulk Out".  http://kennethjohnson.us/HulkOutList.html

Follow the link below for an amusing/potentially offensive look at much of the cast of the SuperFriends. The articles were written by Seanbaby, a video game reviewer specializing in mocking the worst games ever made. http://www.seanbaby.com/super.htm

Look- in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's... SUPERMAN!!! Look- in that room! It's a cat! It's a giant lump! It's me... BORED! I have never quite been able to assess why I dislike Superman so much. He's supposedly the purest, truest American superhero we have. America's very own mythology. And I like America well enough, some might even say I love it. So why do I dislike Superman so much. Maybe it's because he doesn't feel truly American to me. I mean, don't get me wrong- he's all about truth and justice and all. He's an immigrant of sorts, and he definitely falls into the whole perfect body image paradigm. But he's not flawed, and less face it, all Americans are flawed... most time really REALLY flawed. Iron Man's an alcoholic, Spider-Man's a brooding, angsty "I caused the death of my first, possibly true, love" young adult, and the X-men are all mutant 'freaks' (note these are all Marvel comics)....

Superman is the hero. He was the first, and he is the best. In all of the Super Friends/Justice League franchises, Superman is always the leader. Does anyone see those team lead by Aquaman? No! The Man of Steel is the one leading the way to justice. The last line in the article What Makes Superman So Darned American? concludes by saying, "Now that I put it to my mind, I see that John Wayne never had a chance." Of course John Wayne wouldn't have a chance against fighting Superman (perhaps Bruce Wayne could beat him, but that's a different post). Anyway, Superman is more American than people realize. American Immigrants can relate to his not-of-this-worldly nature, being from Krypton and all. America was born out of people who immigrated here (may I quote our founding fathers), in the pursuit of happiness. The same article that discusses why Superman is so darned American says Superman's ability to fly, "makes him an exemplar of the American dream." Late...

Superman was the first comic I ever read besides "Understanding Comics", and I actually enjoyed it! It was easy to read because of the way they spaced out the boxes with the drawings and words in them and how they ordered them in a left to right manner. Although much of the comic was not realistic and it reminded me of Spiderman (the reporter for a newspaper thing), I kept on reading because i actually wanted to know what happened. I also enjoyed the way that the characters were drawn so realistically. I think I may be able to get used to reading comics and actually enjoying them. I hope that we will continue to read about Superman in this class because even though I'm frustrated with Kent being a wuss when he's not Superman, I would love to see what else happens with his life.