Webcomics (for the final exam)

So for anyone who is either new to or unfamiliar with the seemingly endless wealth of webcomics that are out there, this list is just a few that you might consider reviewing for Section Three of the final exam. Some of these are comics that I read frequently, some have been recommended by others in the class, and some just seemed interesting even though I've only read them cursorily. Please take some time to see if anything strikes you as interesting, attractive, or entertaining. I've put an asterisk by the webcomics that I'd like to really recommend, but you are free to write about anything that you choose -- even if it's not linked here, since there is simply so much out there.

You might also want to check out Webcomics Nation, which is a thorough list with detailed descriptions of webcomics in all genres. Doing a search for "webcomics" on io9 will also yield some really nice results. But for starters:

Little Nothings ***

Axe-Cop ***

Drive

The Intrepid Girlbot

The Abaddon

Rice Boy

The Abominable Charles Christopher ***

The Non-Adventures of Wonderella ***

Lucky ***

Cleopatra in Spaaace!

The Adventures of Superhero Girl ***

Our Valued Customers

Vattu

The Order of the Stick

Warbot in Accounting ***

8-bit Theater

The Adventures of Dr. McNinja

Penny Arcade

And also in the news, there is of course this...

... this.

"Pentagon plots comic book therapy for troops"

Please take a moment to read this fascinating article about the way in which the military is using the creation of comics -- and not just the reading of them -- to help soldiers in Afghanistan work through their experiences in combat.

Tips for Writing the Final Paper

With the final paper due this Friday, it seems worth recalling some of the key components to writing a strong literary analysis -- especially about comics (which is, of course, what we will all be writing):

- Balance your research sources with specific and direct analysis of the text itself -- especially the fact that it is comics!

- In other words, please remember that as useful as the overall plot/narrative of the book is, the visual component and the way that it is told is equally important.

- Your descriptions of the way that things look -- or what specific images may connote, or look like, or recall, or seem to allude to, etc. -- is what will ultimately define your interpretation. In other words, it is your responsibility as a literary critic to see things (here, literally!) that some less careful readers may have missed or misrecognized.

- Remember to use comics’ terminology accurately. For example, a frame is different than a panel! (And along those lines, there's no such thing as a cell -- that's for film and animation!)

- The phrase "...conveys _______ in a way that words alone could not," or anything that sounds like that, should be surgically removed from your vocabulary. Instead, tell me what that way is! Be specific, pointed, and precise!

- Things you can look at: the weight of the line, the strength of the line, coloring, grid/layout, perspective, what gets obscured (i.e. through composition and/or framing -- like women's eyes in Jimmy Corrigan!)

- Remember that book titles get italicized (short story and article titles get quotation marks).

- Cite page numbers in MLA style for your research (And for your graphic novel, if it has them. If not, then please be even more clear about the page/scene/moment that you are discussing.)

- Your conclusion should provide the most interesting culmination of all of your many points and observations. In the end, what is this book about, or what is it seeming to say (or show) about something?

- Please remember to give your essay a title.

- If you find yourself exploring something that we discussed and/or addressed as a class, remember to push this further and go beyond whatever came up.

- Be interesting.

4/5/2011: Autobiographical Comics

Here's a link to the short autobiographical comics of your classmates. Who will win the coveted copy of Maus? Be there tomorrow to find out! (And just basically be there anyway, since we have a lot to talk about!)

4/1/2011: A refreshing change of media for this blog

Although it has absolutely nothing to do with anything that we've been discussing, I wanted to share a recent musical discovery with you all: "Secret Things," a free remix EP by Seven Saturdays. It's very moving, cerebral music that is great for reading comics to (among other awesome things that you can do), and it is available for free here.

3/29/2011: Autobiographical Art Challenge!

Please don't forget to begin working on the strictly optional autobiographical art challenge: write and draw a one-page, black-and-white comic about your own life. It can be as seemingly important or insignificant as you choose. And your artistic ability need not be professional or polished by any means; remember that Harvey Pekar developed American Splendor through simple stick figures.

Which is to say, any style of sequential art will do!

And as always, there are prizes involved, including the kind of amazing grand prize: a copy of the first volume of Art Spiegelman's Maus!

Due in class on Monday, April 4th.

3/29/2011: Not Quite Hilarious Existential Despair

For anyone interested in weird meditations on sadness and loss (or, on the brighter side, the sheer dynamics of sequential art), I would like to recommend 3eanuts. By omitting the last panel from the daily strips of Charles Schulz's classic Peanuts, we see the kind of existential and/or ontological dimensions of the strip without the redeeming humor at the end.

Anyone interested in a similar experiment is encouraged to see also Garfield Minus Garfield.

3/7/2011: Suggestions and strategies for the first paper...

... can be found here, which is a Word document that you can download and review. This is not comprehensive by any means, but merely a few reminders of what you have learned from your previous literature and writing courses.

Remember that Paper #1 is due on Friday of this week!

3/2/2011: The Original Batwoman, Kathy Kane

As we discussed in class, the character of Batwoman debuted in 1956. She's clearly no Kate Kane, who is awesome. But at least we didn't have to worry about Batman and Robin any more...

(More classic images of Batwoman can be found here.)

3/2/2011: Short Writing Assignment due on Friday

To elaborate on the short essay for Friday just a bit... As a kind of preparation for the first paper (which is due next week), please write a short paper that examines one page or panel of Batwoman: Elegy. You can loosely follow the prompt for the first paper listed under "Writing Assignments," although this short paper should be significantly more concise -- maybe just a half-page or so. Above all, try to focus on how the layout influences and informs our understanding of the story's effect.

2/25/2011: Weaponized Animals and More!

Okay, although the title of this post sounds like the name of a really dangerous department store, I wanted to make sure that everyone had access to the slide presentation that we've been referencing during our discussion of We3. There, you'll find some other example of cyborg animals in art, some key quotes about animal studies, and the sections on rhizomes and becoming-animal from Deleuze and Guattari's A Thousand Plateaus from which we read in class today.

David Olsen's Prezi: Weaponized Animals

And just because I mentioned it in class, here is a link to the webcomic that literally mocked my ideas about the relationship between the multi-linearity of rhizomes and the visuality of comics. C'mon... you guys were with me on this! (He drew me as a bald professor-type, though. It's like looking into the future...) Also, I am the person who was asked the question about "postmodern narrative theory"... but it was actually the Harry Potter guy who asked the question, not the Pikachu sitting next to him. Seriously, you can't make this stuff up:

Ph.D. Comics - Tales of Comic-Con

See everyone next week!

Dwayne McDuffie: 1962-2011

The esteemed comic book and television writer Dwayne McDuffie died unexpectedly this week. He is perhaps best known for his work as a co-founder of Milestone Comics, which was instrumental in bringing strong black characters to a more prominent position within mainstream comics. He also created the character Static, who was eventually the title character on the animated series Static Shock. McDuffie also wrote for the show Justice League Unlimited, as well as popular runs on the Fantastic Four and Justice League comic books.

ENGL393 Fan Art Challenge!

Within an academic environment, it is often too easy to forget that there are other ways to respond to a text besides the critical essay. And so what happens -- and what can we learn -- when we respond to a creative work creatively? The history of comics in America has a rich tradition of fan art and reader interaction.

For anyone who is interested in some nominal "extra credit" or some random "prize" for the winners, please bring your own Epileptic fan art to class on Friday. What does your drawing of David, Jean-Christophe, the monsters, or the ghosts look like? How does it feel to engage with the book in this way?

You don't have to be "good" at "art" to participate in this. Just try and have fun and see what happens!

David B. on cartooning and reality

"Doing realism in comics is in some ways easy, obviously. Beyond that, it’s interesting to mess around in the drawing, to try to find new ways to transcribe reality. Not to transcribe reality as reality, but to also transcribe what’s behind and around it — feelings, impressions, fantasies, dreams about reality, things of that nature. That’s what I tried to do. With Epileptic, I didn’t want to create a reconstruction of my family’s real life, I wanted a reconstruction of the way it imprinted my imagination and the way I used all of that to build up my imagination. That was what interested me: Transcribing, to a large extent, impressions rather than reality — how to represent an epileptic seizure, for example. I could have represented it clinically, detailing all the symptoms of the disease, or do it symbolically — how it affected me."

- David B. (from an interview with Matthias Wivel in The Comics Journal #275)

A transcription of the entire interview can be found here.

The technical aspects of Lynd Ward's wood engravings

For anyone who is interested in learning more about the processes by which Ward created the blocks used to print the images in Vertigo, this online guide to the special collection at Rutgers University provides some interesting information. Many of the images are also accompanied by a brief interpretive overview, although I will say -- with pride! -- that many of your comments and observations from the class discussions have already addressed what you will find on this site. As always, I appreciate your hard work and active engagement with the course material.

Vertigo by Lynd Ward: An Exhibition

Superman in Slumberland?

Here's a link to a really nice homage to Little Nemo in Slumberland: brief recaps of Superman's major villains, drawn by Stuart Immonen. Enjoy!

Okay, I may have been a little hasty with that last post.

Apparently, the Wonder Woman show is actually back on for the fall!

The hopefully good news can be found here.

For my money -- which is hard-earned, believe me -- the "all new" Wonder Woman comics on the stands right now are some of the most satisfying and suspenseful books being published by DC right now. For anyone interested in learning more about her recent costume change and origin reboot, you can get a sense of the story here.

Why is Captain America more enduringly popular than Wonder Woman?

No, this is not one of those who-can-beat-up-whom kind of debates. Instead, the following informal rant briefly outlines some of the critical differences between Captain America and Wonder Woman in the present day. For anyone unfamiliar with the origins and/or history of these two characters, here is a great way to catch up:

http://io9.com/5736950/why-is-captain-america-ruling-our-screens-and-not-wonder-woman

(P.S. But for the record, Wonder Woman could totally beat up Captain America.)

Welcome, and warmest wishes!

With another winter upon us, it's good to know that we can all occasionally curl up with a good book... or a lot of good books, in the case of this course! These complex, careful literary endeavors are no longer the flimsy, frequently maligned, and almost universally unacceptable form of lowbrow humor that was associated with the comics of yesteryear. Today, comics and graphic novels no longer carry the stigma of illiteracy and indecency that they once had, and this course will hopefully make true believers of us all!

Anyway, this is just my longwinded way of saying welcome to the course. I look forward to meeting you all, as well as the work that we will do by both enjoying and interrogating the many works of narrative art that we will read this semester.

Please feel free to play around on the website, as I've tried to offer a number of helpful links to creators, publishers, research sources, webcomics, and more. And it goes without saying that I expect you to read the syllabus carefully, as it will outline the key aspects and policies of the course.

(Art by Arthur Dela Cruz)