Let's get started
This blog is a place for me to plan for my new course Graphic Narratives: Comics as Literature which will be offered beginning in Fall 2007 at Century College. I'm through all the formal curriculum process, so now I just need to put the actual details of the course together: what texts to use, what assignments, the calendar, all of that.
So primarily here, at least at first, I'll be recording mini-reviews/comments on comics I read or reread so I can start sorting out the good, the bad, the ugly, the necessary, whatever. And along the way I'll probably get into other stuff: comics theory, pedagogy and course design, etc.
Today I have three books I found at the St. Paul Public Library, which I believe had characterized them all as "young adult." (That children / young adult / adult division in comics is definitely worth exploring in class.)
First up is Emily the Strange "Boring Issue" by Rob Reger, Brian Brooks, Jessica Gruner, and Buzz Parker (Dark Horse). This is a visually interesting put somewhat flat collection of stories that are more gags or vignettes than anything about anti-hero Emily as she celebrates/ complains about boredom and seeks red, grotesque, nightmarish imagery. Some of the page layout is interesting, especially with plots that don't have much drive, but on the whole it feels like rebellion without direction. I think the point is to shock people with championing darkness, like when she climbs to heaven to complain to God about the clouds only showing "nice" images. Not sure there's enough depth here to explore.
Much more promising is The Lost Colony: Book #1 The Snodgrass Conspiracy by Grady Klein. The colors and drawings of this book are very appealing, although at times the transitions are non-conventional enough to slow my reading or leave me confused. While the basic plot is clear enough, its meanings are much more cryptic. The setting is an island that some people don't want discovered, although there is a ferry that runs between it and somewhere else. And some people are trying to get involved in literal slave trade of blacks on the island. And then there's an Asian alchemist/inventor figure who seems at different times to be a good guy and a bad guy. It seems, both from the book jacket and my initial reading, like there's something here about America, but it's not immediately clear what that is. Is this about the historical slave trade, or does that stand in for something else, like the way the typical black person's limited economic opportunity is both the product of and a reflection of the slave trade? Is this supposed to be read in some allegorical or symbolic way? But discussion of this could be very lively, and it's certainly worth another look.
Spiral-Bound (Top Secret Summer) by Aaron Renier is more what I would consider to be children's lit. The black and white drawings tell the story of an anthopomorphic animal city with some secrets and danger in its past--that get nicely revealed and resolved by an intrepid kid reporter and a talented but shy sculptor kid. Pretty far-fetched in many ways, and it to does some unusual transitions that left me puzzled at times, but I'd love to see what someone with an interest in children's lit would do with this book.
So primarily here, at least at first, I'll be recording mini-reviews/comments on comics I read or reread so I can start sorting out the good, the bad, the ugly, the necessary, whatever. And along the way I'll probably get into other stuff: comics theory, pedagogy and course design, etc.
Today I have three books I found at the St. Paul Public Library, which I believe had characterized them all as "young adult." (That children / young adult / adult division in comics is definitely worth exploring in class.)
First up is Emily the Strange "Boring Issue" by Rob Reger, Brian Brooks, Jessica Gruner, and Buzz Parker (Dark Horse). This is a visually interesting put somewhat flat collection of stories that are more gags or vignettes than anything about anti-hero Emily as she celebrates/ complains about boredom and seeks red, grotesque, nightmarish imagery. Some of the page layout is interesting, especially with plots that don't have much drive, but on the whole it feels like rebellion without direction. I think the point is to shock people with championing darkness, like when she climbs to heaven to complain to God about the clouds only showing "nice" images. Not sure there's enough depth here to explore.
Much more promising is The Lost Colony: Book #1 The Snodgrass Conspiracy by Grady Klein. The colors and drawings of this book are very appealing, although at times the transitions are non-conventional enough to slow my reading or leave me confused. While the basic plot is clear enough, its meanings are much more cryptic. The setting is an island that some people don't want discovered, although there is a ferry that runs between it and somewhere else. And some people are trying to get involved in literal slave trade of blacks on the island. And then there's an Asian alchemist/inventor figure who seems at different times to be a good guy and a bad guy. It seems, both from the book jacket and my initial reading, like there's something here about America, but it's not immediately clear what that is. Is this about the historical slave trade, or does that stand in for something else, like the way the typical black person's limited economic opportunity is both the product of and a reflection of the slave trade? Is this supposed to be read in some allegorical or symbolic way? But discussion of this could be very lively, and it's certainly worth another look.
Spiral-Bound (Top Secret Summer) by Aaron Renier is more what I would consider to be children's lit. The black and white drawings tell the story of an anthopomorphic animal city with some secrets and danger in its past--that get nicely revealed and resolved by an intrepid kid reporter and a talented but shy sculptor kid. Pretty far-fetched in many ways, and it to does some unusual transitions that left me puzzled at times, but I'd love to see what someone with an interest in children's lit would do with this book.
posted by Carl at 10:28 AM
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