City of Glass

City of Glass is the highly praised comic adaptation of Paul Auster's "film-noir inflected" novel. It was adapted by Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli (famous for, among many things, his work on Batman: Year One), and is considered one of the "100 most important comics of the century." Having read another one of Auster's novels (Brooklyn Follies), I expected heavy and complex themes, but when paired with remarkable artwork just as meaningful as the text itself, the novel is taken to a whole other level! I can understand why City of Glass is so highly praised, but to be honest, I'm still trying to truly understand everything in the comic! I loved everything about this comic - the story, the art, the themes - and will definitely be reading the New York Trilogy as soon as I can. In an effort to understand more about City of Glass, I did some research online and found that there are plenty of papers about the novel (and therefore to an extent the comic) to keep one occupied for weeks. There were two analyzations of the title that I found particularly interesting. The first described City of Glass as alluding to the sheet of glass that is a "modernist skyscraper," minimalism at its best. The other explanation (from a paper written by William G. Little) echoes the ideas that the elder Peter Stillman believes, that New York is a scene of "cultural decay," a plethora of shattered people and things, and therefore a "city of glass." The cover features one of the most interesting panels from the entire comic. Quinn stands waiting for the train carrying the elder Stillman to arrive, and his face seems to be repeated over and over. A simple character drawing is to the right of him, and pops up often throughout the book. The type and color scheme are fairly simple, and written within one central column. I thought the back cover was also very interesting, as it seemed to be divided into panels, and displayed Quinn (the protagonist) walking across them. The narrative jumps from panel to panel.
The artwork of Mazzucchelli adds another dimension to the story, and is able to portray emotion and mood very effectively despite often being highly abstract. A good example of this, and also one of my favorite scenes, was the "speech" given by the young Peter Stillman. A tic-tac-toe game, an inkwell and an acoustic guitar are only a few of the things from which Peter's word balloons come from. I thought this worked very well considering the Peter's mysterious nature and use of words that did not make sense. In some way, it really added to his character by making him seem even more removed from reality. There are so many more panels that I could talk about, because each was unique. Another set I enjoyed were the ones spelling out "tower of babel" in Quinn's notebook. I also really liked the full page panel with the detailed realistic map of New York, featuring Quinn walking on top of it. I think Mazzucchelli really captured the essence of Auster's work in his depiction, in fact, I think he even managed to elevate it!
Quinn is the character that I felt I got to know the most about, and felt so much sympathy for. You can't help but feel his loneliness radiate off of the page. I also found the elder Peter Stillman fascinating, though not much is told about him beyond his visions and what he had done to his son. It left me wondering what his ultimate goal was before he killed himself. I enjoyed the character of Paul Auster as well, especially because it made the book seem even more like a metafiction. He played a more prominent role that I thought he would. But who is the overall narrarator? That is what really got me in the end!
I only just read City of Glass today, but I feel like I should read it again...and again.

Serenity

Serenity: Those Left Behind, is a graphic novel addition to Joss Whedon's acclaimed movie Serenity, which picks up after the ending of his cult-hit tv series Firefly. The story takes place after Firefly and before Serenity. Being a huge science fiction fan (especially of the "space western" variety), I have been meaning to rent both Firefly and Serenity. I had no idea there was a graphic novel as well, so I was very excited to hear about it in class. It was interesting to have this comic be my first experience with Serenity/Firefly because of it's placement within the storyline. The prologue was certainly helpful, and I think the both Whedon and Matthews did a good job in ensuring that even someone who had never seen Firefly could infer character relationships and the general situation of the group. I'm hooked, needless to say, I've put Firefly on top of my netflix queue!
The cover features two of the characters: Mal, the captain of Serenity and the central figure in the series, and Inara, who's backstory and significance isn't explained within the story. Serenity looms eerily behind them, and they are bathed in blue, foggy light. There are also fireflies flying amongst them, which is significant because their ship, Serenity, is a "firefly" ship (named so because of its design). The comic (and movie) are named after their ship, which is named after The Battle of Serenity Valley, the final battle of the Unification War (in which most of the characters fought on the losing side). Mal looks off to the side with his hands clenched, and Inara stares forward. Both look serious. What struck me most about the design of this comic was its very life-like design. All the characters are drawn to look extremely similar to their television/movie counterparts. This must have been nice for fans of the series, as it probably made it easier to relate the comic to the greater whole. It is always interesting to see how the artwork is done when a life-action movie or tv series is developed into a comic book. I also enjoyed the character portraits done by different artists that were scattered throughout the book. Each showcased a unique style and take on the characters. This was different from any of the other comics that we have read so far, in genre, style and action. Serenity is pretty violent, and the action scenes were very well done. The dark coloring also gave on the feeling that they were in space with the characters, and set an intense mood to go with the fast paced action.
A scene that really struck me was the one where Mal, Zoe and Jayne are exploring the ship from the battle of Sturges. After the shootout with Dobson, a couple panel showcases floating droplets of blood. I think that whole exchange would have to be my favorite part of the story. This really struck me for some reason, as it reaffirmed to me that all this action was taking place in space. Each character in the series has left me wanting to learn more about them. Each seems to have a mysterious cast and a variety of motives for being a part of the crew. I was on the fence about Mal for awhile before finally deciding that he's a good guy, as he tends to come off as a jerk. The dynamics of the crew is also interesting. I can't say which one I like the most, as they are all equally fascinating at this point. Each seems to fill a particular niche within the crew, and though there is obvious tension between all of them (except for between zoe and wash), I cannot imagine them being able to subsist without each other. I think the idea of getting to know these characters more is what has got me wanting more!

It's A Bird (It's a Plane), it's a graphic novel you must read!

It's A Bird is an extremely unique comic written by Steven Seagle and illustrated by Teddy Kristiansen. The story revolves around Steve, a comic book writer who has just been offered Superman for his next project. The comic is an original take on autobiography, as Steve comes to terms with both Huntington's Disease (which runs in his family), and his inability to related to superman. These two situations are inextricably tied together, as Steve learns to cope with Huntington's as he also begins to understand Superman. I absolutely loved this comic. The art style, writing and overall concept were beautiful. All the subjects Seagle touches upon are very complex, yet speak so deeply and truly to the reader. Though the comic book is not very well, it took me awhile to read it, as I found myself taking time to really understand each page. Though Superman has a fascinating history and is the longest running superhero title, he's not a very popular hero in today's comic world (at least I don't think). The superman movies have never been as popular as other characters, and people tend to flock more towards the Batman comic stories. My friend once described Superman as being "really dull." For some reason, I was never much of a fan of Superman either, yet he is deeply tied into our culture. Seagle explores the different aspects of the Superman myth in an extremely honest and interesting way. I really enjoyed that Steven's story was interspersed with his various musings on Superman, which in turn were related to his feelings on Huntington's. Each Superman story which he wrote addressed a variety of topics.
The cover shows Steve walking though the streets of a strange looking city. Everyone around him bears the Superman logo. He holds a notebad and pen and is writing. The surrounding figures are drawn in a different style and are a bit less colored. Their faces are emotionless. The cover seems to express how the protagonist feels; alienated from soceity. A piece of ripped notebook paper lies in the top left corner, three lines are crossed out and only one remains - It's a Bird. The title is derived from one of the many classic sayings used in conjunction with Superman: "It's a bird, it's a plane, no, it's Superman!!!!"
Teddy Kristiansen's artwork parallels the complex and interesting storyline. He won an Eisner for his work on It's A Bird, and it's no wonder! I noticed that throughout the story there was an extensive use of red. I thought this was interesting to compare to the story about the colors of Superman's uniform, one of which is red. Most of the other colors were subdued, but red is a prevailing color. His style is also very unique, as most of it is painted. The style of the art also changed with the different stories, and varied from extremely abstract (like in "The Costume") to very detailed (like in "Leaving Krypton"). He also creates very interesting panels.
It's hard for me to pick a favorite section, as I loved all the superman stories. My favorites would have to be his analyzation of the letter S, his analyzation of color, and "The Outsider." The first two reminded me of things we learned how to do in Scott McCloud's books (ha!), and the other really showcased the contradictions between Superman and the normal citizens he tries to live among. His perfection and invulnerability leave people completely unable to relate to him. There were so many meanings to each story because of the ways in which they paralleled Steve's real life story.
I'm curious as to what stories Steve came up with in the end...