City of Glass

Wow, city of glass was a real trip to read. What is initially a short story about the nature of twisting language and reflexive narration, just gets even more interestingly intertwined when translated into the graphic novel format. The way the words, narration and art all interacted and seeped together was really flawless, otherwise it just would not have worked properly. The most fascinating part of the book was when Stillman the younger delivers is introductory rambling monologue. The first thing I noticed was that the type face of his words and the shape of the bubbles was the same as it was when he was talking on the phone, immediately associating his voice with distance, with the mechanical. The way the panels stayed centered on his face, and his mouth never changed made it almost as though the words were seeping out of his mouth. As the monologue goes on, his mouth morphs into a number of unliving objects, some of which are mechanical in nature. This had a really interesting effect because instead of merely using the pictures to depict physical action, or using the shape of balloons to dictate the feeling of the sound, we visually see the sound becoming different objects. In scanning across the page, the "sound" of Stillman's voice gets mingled in with all manner of objects, giving the otherwise unbroken monologue a distinct rythmic feeling. The story reminded me of some of Borges' Ficciones, it that it is a story about a story, in which both stories are kind of a puzzle, leading to an ultimate realization. It's a really impressive kind of writing, which must take huge amounts of skill and precision to execute.

It's A Bird... Those Left Behind

I found Steven T. Seagle's It's a Bird... an extremely moving and insightful commentary on escapism and inspiration. The book is described as "semi-autobiographical", and I can't help but wonder which parts were completely true and which were embellished. The ultimate message of the book seems to be that while death awaits everyone, in one for or another, and is rarely pleasant, it is no reason to shy away from living and loving in the fullest. This is the insight that Steve gets at the end. The story manages to be relatively gloomy for most of the novel, but manages to wrap up in an ending that is relatively happy and affirming, while simultaneously satisfyin and uncheesy. On first reading, I was so wrapped up in the story that I was not paying much attention to the art style. Flipping through the book again, it is clear how much thought and skill went into the constantly shifting imagery which Teddy Kristiansen brings to the table. The gloomy, skechy style that describes the "now" in the book somehow contrasts and blends wonderfully with the bright, saturated colors of superman's world, and Steve's colorful childhood memories. There are several smaller sub-stories within the main story, each of which call into question the nature of Superman as seen by Steve, each of which has a unique and meaningful art style. While some of the scenes are extremely gloomy, especially when Steve sees his Aunt suffering horribly from Huntington's disease, and ends up in a brutal fist fight with his father, the story is ultimately one about the importance of overcoming the inertia of cynicism, and embracing life, family and friends.

An utterly different sort of work, Serenity: Those Left Behind by Joss Whedon is an unabashedly slick and stylized piece of Sci-Fi escapism. Based on the Firefly TV series, Serenity is a kind of futuristic western, reminiscent of Cowboy Bebop, but utterly American in style. The comic is loud, violent, colorful and full of satisying action movie one-liners. That is not meant to be disparaging. Serenity is as original and unknown as it is familliar, It's world is unlike any other I've seen in fiction, and showcases Whedon's mastery of universe-crafting. Will Conrad's art is perfect for a work like this. His art is definetly "comic book" art, but somehow classier, full of meticulous details and intense lighting that Bring Whedon's world dramatically to life. Even minor characters are painstakingly rendered with intense tattoing, over the top costumes, and clear visual personality. I had seen the Serenity film, but not the television series. This book definetely brings the world from the movie directly into the comic book medium without sacrificing anything, the faces of actors and the nuances of the characters translates fully. Reading it has definetly put Firefly on my list of TV shows to watch.

Persepolis

Reading both volumes of Persepolis was a real treat. The book is named for the ancient capitol of Persia, and represents in many ways the author's own views of Iran as a place lost somewhere between the ancient and the modern. Throughout the memoir, we see Satrapi torn between tradition and family, and modernization and independence. Her bold-lined "cartoony" style is surprisingly effective. All of the characters are extremely emotional and sympathetic in spite of, or perhaps because of the reduced black and white style.
Perhaps the most interesting and heartfelt part of the memoir are the years when Satrapi is away from home as a teenager, experimenting both with drugs and political philosophies. The fluctuationg relationship she has with faith and family is most evident here, as she struggles to define herself and find concrete meaning, thousands of miles from her home. Here, Satrapi illustrates wonderfully the misunderstanding and difficulty that can occur accross cultures, as well as the universal qualities of compassion and friendliness that might be found anywhere.
One of my favorite parts in Persepolis was when Marjane's mother comes to visit her in Vienna after a long time apart. This scene really brings the story into a universal realm of family connections, and highlights the depth of their relationship. When Marjane and her mother meet up, nothing seems to have changed between them, despite their differences in size and appearance. This kind of sentiment is one tht I think most people hve felt at some point with someone very close, and it is one of many scenes that allows the story to flow so comfortably from a larger, political stage into a deeply personal and relatable one.

Astro City Cont, Eyebeam Update.

The most interesting part of Astro City is the way Busiek invites the reader to share in the personal space of the superheroes, especially of the Samaritan as he tries to maintain a normal life despite his self-imposed duty to prevent as many tragedies as he possibly can. He dreams of using his powers to fly uninhibited through the sky, when normally he is stuck constantly flying from one disaster scene to another, unable to sleep for more than several hours at a time, for fear that somewhere, someone needs him. Busiek uses the Samaritan to look deeply at the psychology of the super hero. Particularly, the idea of self-imposed sacrifice and martyrdom. The Samaritan seems almost reluctant that he has to keep on going every time he gets a glimpse at being a normal person, but he is bound to his work, almost addicted to saving people.

At Eyebeam, my work continues to be mostly intern-worthy desk stuff, but it is still proving a worthy experience. I am gaining valuable insight on the inner workings of creative institutions like Eyebeam. Reading press at work, I get more insight into the almost singular position that Eyebeam holds as a kind of new media think tank. The internship has become a kind of hands-on review of the place of new media struggling to find a niche within contemporary art. The Eyebeam workshop/gallery really sits at the forefront of new media art, with artists constantly coming up with new ways to use technology in their work.

Astro City, Drawing Crime Noir

Kurt Busiek's Astro City was a really amazing piece of work to read. The world Busiek creates is something extremely familiar, but on the whole different from anything I've read before. He succeeds utterly in his stated goal of giving super heroes a world of their own, a world that makes sense within its own reality, as opposed to transplanting super heroes into our reality, and the effect is incredible. The cross-section that the book provides of life in Astro City, from the daring rescues of the overworked Samaritan, to a fateful day in the life of Marta, a young woman from the wrong side of town, is an amazing feat of world-building. Through the few stories of Life In the Big City, one gets a surprisingly complete account of a tangible, believable world, while getting the chance to get personal with several distinct and interesting characters.

Reading Drawing Crime Noir for Comics and Graphic Novels by Christopher Hart was interesting, although I feel I would have gotten more out of it if I were a more accomplished artist myself. The book is clearly for those who have some experience with figure drawing, and who wish to modify their style for a certain effect. That being said, it was interesting to get an idea of the processes by which traditional drawing styles can be modified for storytelling and dramatic effect. particularly, I enjoyed reading and seeing how sometimes it is best to bend the rules of cast shadows a bit, in order to increase the contrast and drama of a scene.

Making Comics, Death Note

Scott McCloud's Making Comics is a great continuation of Understanding Comics in many ways while also being it's own entity entirely. Understanding Comics essentially showed readers how to read comics, and look at them critically, as a medium, in the same way an art history class teaches students how to look at and appreciate fine arts. Making Comics is, as its title implies, a kind of general introduction on the execution of the craft, written in McCloud's deft style that manages to cut to the chase and illustrate many points, while still applying to all possible genres and styles of comics. Particularly interesting is the section in which McCloud illusrates the vast library of human expression and possible characters available simply when looking at basic groups of animals, elements, emotions, etc. McCloud thus not only gives technical assistance, but advice on opening up new avenues of inspiration.

Reading Death Note soon after reading Understanding Comics was a real treat. I was able to pick out and identify many of the techniques that McCloud notes as more prevalent in Japanese comics. Things like panels bleeding off the page, as well as more moment to moment transitions. I was surprised at how quickly the story in Death Note picked up and moved along from the beginning. I felt the book had just started when I was wrapped up in government panic, secret agents, demons and more "death note" rules than I could keep track of. However, I wasn't confused, and the pace seemed to keep the entertainment value and energy high within the narrative.

The Spirit, Will Eisner, Understanding Comics

The issue of the spirit we read really underscored him as a radically different kind of comic book hero for the time. In a time when comic books were absolutely dominated by "masked heroes" using super powers to fight larger than life villains, the world of the spirit seems just a bit smaller,more identifiable as our own. In the pages of the spirit, I noticed an interesting sort of cross between earlier, iconic "cartoons" and the more gritty realism that is visible in many more contemporary comics. Interestingly, because of the nature of the photocopy, I did not really recognize the nature of the character Ebony in the comic until we watched the documentary on Will Eisner. The character came off as a strange little man, and I became confused as to weather he was a child or some strange deformed creature or what.Of course it all made sense in watching the film.
The documentary pointed out that Ebony, in many ways, represented popular entertainment of the time, which was full of characters that were, to say the least, racially insensitive. Eisner himself didn't seem to realize, at the time of original writing, that Ebony represented something wrong. It's interesting to see how actively icons of a period embed themselves in the entertainment media, often without pause or second thought given until much later.
I was surprised to see Michael Chabon interviewed in the documentary. I read his book, "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" this summer, and had really enjoyed it, even without knowing all of the comic book history I learned from the documentary. The novel is about two young Jewish men in Brooklyn in 1939, who decide to make comic books to earn a living. Clearly, these characters were inspired by the likes of Eisner and the other early comics pioneers. I enjoyed the way the documentary followed all of the ins and outs of Eisner's career, from his early days writing the spirit to his career in illustrating U.S. Army manuals to his arrival at the first comics convention, meeting underground artists like Art Spiegelman. I found an interesting Juxtaposition between Spiegelman and Eisner. Speigelman seemed very much the artist, concerned with the integrity of his work and the underground movement as an expressive form. While Eisner, through much of his career, seemed to view comics primarily as a job. He wrote the best comics he good, and acknowledged the expressive power of comics, but it still seemed primarily an occupation.
Eisner's influence is clearly seen throughout "Understanding Comics", wherein Scott McCloud cites Eisner's work constantly. McCloud's book, in the latter half, makes a number of fascinating revelations about the nature of time with the two dimensional plane of the comics page. Particularly interesting was the segment about the way the eye travels across the page, taking in a single panel, but also absorbing panels in the "past" and "future" to the left and write. In this way, the senses and events actively bleed across through the gutters. McCloud makes a strong argument for comics as an utterly unique medium, in which art and words must compliment each other, striking a delicate balance of icons and exposition.