Connor Lynch

For week twelve I read the graphic novel by the Tamaki Cousins, This One Summer. It was an enjoyable read with beautifully detailed illustrations, and focused on the summer antics of two young girls. There were some darker and more coming of age themes throughout the story, however, and the cousins did an excellent job depicting the awkward transition between childhood and the teenage years, as well as portraying tensions within the main protagonists family.

Asterios Polyp, a graphic novel by David Mazzuchelli is a visually engaging story, with an interesting narrative twist. Instead of the typical first or third person narrative, the story is instead told by Asterios’s deceased twin brother Ignazio. The story follows Asterios’s journey following the loss of his home in a tragic fire, and chronicles his journey as a character. Although the story initially seems to have no real consistency or overarching plot line, but the little details that are shown instead of spoken create a semblance of contingency. Throughout the course of the novel you begin to develop a level of empathy for the protagonist despite his many flaws, which adds a level of realism to the story.

Well i honestly to keep talking a lot of what ive been reading as a kid but i just keep going way back into time to find that first bit of influence that really inspired me to push my goals into the direction i want to this day. So im gonna talk about A webcomic made way back in i think 2000 called Slightly Damned and to be honest i still check it out every so often. keeping up to date is eazy, pages come out at least every 3 to 4 weeks or so give or take but the storyline is about a war between angels and demons fighting against each other opposing gods for rule over the others domaine, heaven and hell. It primarily follows the Character Rhea a squirrel like humanoid cast into hell alongside her friends Buwaro a Demon and Kieri an angel. the plot so far is been slow since then but its still my favorite although at most corny, mostly its just a guilty pleasure. Ive also read a bit of "The Strange Tales of Oscar Zahn" a wonderfully delightful webcomic, although i dislike

Superheros were, is and always will be my jam. it was more of the pinnacle of storytelling that i want to portray in any comics that i ever wanted to write, draw, whatever it really started with Hellboy, i think it was my finest moment in my life when it comes to comics when i owned "Seed of Destruction", others and a hand full of B.P.R.D comics too. hellboy was to me, my childhood hero alongside mike mignola and gealmor del toro ive always stand by the role of the hero in a supernatural gothic setting its my roots in my case really. Hellboy despite his appearance and heritage stands with mankind with a solid goal in mind when ever in the faces of undead nazis, golems or vampires that good will always prevail even when facing the apocalypse itself.  To me this is romance, the superhero venue and all its turns is the most enticing practice ive evern witness, though DC marvel, dark horse, image and so there are countless comics i could indulge myself into. Sandman is anoth

When i was a wee lad i had this 5 part manga book called "Zombie Powder". it was about a couple of bounty hunters acquiring a set number of rings that would render someone immortal but at some incredibly heavy price. It was honestly my gateway at some young age that lead into the beginning of my art drawing in a manga style for a while until i found my own way but that was really my introduction into that world. At first really i didn't have that much of a interest, i wasn't up to date with Naruto, i didn't own any of the death note books, nothing much but as i got older i really started appreciated the sheer abundance of  different stories that came from manga and anime and now im trying to keep up to date. One of them Blackjack and The Story of Buddha and with it the theology sheds light on a otherwise wonderful story.

For this week ive read  some of Valerian by  Jean-Claude Mezieres & Pierre Christin  and a little bit of  Nikopol Trilogy by    Enki Bilal , both ive know about for sometime now but aside from both of them appearing of film both comics are wonderfully creative and for the illustration equally the same in value.

 I personally believe that although stereotyping is unnecessary in order to create a well balanced cast of characters, it is undoubtedly a cornerstone that holds the tropes together.  Characters built around stereotypes are dull, two dimensional, and oftentimes  lack depth, which is the very thing that draws a consumers interest in the first place.  Of course a character can be given necessary development throughout the course of the story, and change their otherwise predictable behavior and tropes, but why not start off from something less basic? It's because building a character off of a trope is the easiest option a creator can have. Although the need to fill certain roles in stories can lead to unintentionally stereotypical characters, a truly talented creator should be able to mix things around in order to create a more stunningly dynamic character. A master could trick the audience into thinking that a character is locked in his role only to change it in a unexpected but nat

1. The text to the comic "whatever happened to the man of steel" how proved that for its time was standard in the quick synopsis of each page condensing every word to a appropriate telling of every needed info. although corny it sets the begging slate of contextual narrative into a more profound writing 2. What connection did you make with the story Discuss the elements of the story with which you were able to make. The only connection I was able to make was that of the future comics and shows and movies a lot of them were based on especially the trope regarding a dead superman is more relevant in today's current media. 3. What changes would you make to adapt this story into another story. i especially believe the emotional weight it would have to show, the human side of superman and even the sympathy of maybe some of the villains.

Maus was written by Art spiegelman. It Depicts the self insert character spiegelman interviewing his father about his experience as a polish jew and Holocaust Survivor. The work employs techniques that represents Jews as mice, Germans as cats and the polish as pigs. It was noted personally to me that maus is probably one of the most prolific storytelling graphic novel ever told, not just because of the subject matter it chooses to represent. But by the visual placement of each character, form and shape. For example there are just so many pages with visuals markers that represent the connection of family, time, and unseen things. For example the connection between the character   spiegelman and his father in the form of body movement. Many panels it would show them mimicking the exact pose or head position to match the two characters in the signification of the father son relation and how many they are alike. When it come to time however the symbolism and placement of the

I really haven't read a lot of underground comics in my time, and the few that I have read I have no honest memory of. Despite this, I have come to enjoy the comic Dr. Atomic,  illustrated by Larry S. Todd. In the time that i've spent reading it I have managed to gather enough info on the most dominant theme in its stories. Dr. Atomic comics were like the solid edgy punk of the 1970s. Its constant references to drugs such as weed, cocaine, and various other hallucinogens give it the foundation of pseudoscience like adventures to take place within the comic. Examples include, creating a spaceship in the backyard, locating the loch ness monster, and creating robots for dispensing drugs and contacting nordic like aliens using crystals. The artwork was effective in that  it had a loose sense of movement, yet was highly detailed and effectively used a color scheme of black of white.  

After reading Blankets, a graphic novel by Craig Thompson, I was particularly drawn to the slice of life take on his religious upbringing. Drawing from his own life experiences, he crafts an emotionally engaging and relatable recollection of his first love, and the heartbreak that inevitably comes with it. His focus on the overbearing nature of the Christian religion in the midwest, displaying the conflict between following your faith or your heart.  Although religion has its own moral benefits, it should never be forced down your throat. After all, when you have too much of a good thing, everything can easily take a nosedive. You should welcome faith into your life willingly, maintaining a healthy balance between religion and your own personal ideals. Living your life based on the words of a book ultimately limits your own abilities to grow and prosper as an individual.

Tintin was an odd one for me back in the days, it was one my first recollection of realizing that comic of the sorts we more towards a "serious story" as that was my understanding of such things was i was reading mostly comedy theme comics. I knew of tintin but never really interested me but after the 3D came out, i looked into it further realizing it had a lot to offer then i anticipated. i enjoyed the main hero tintin and being paired with the alcoholic Cap. Haddock, it was a satisfying paring that drive the character forward into the story or whatever adventure they were in as with many others that were enjoyable too.

Garfield, Calvin and Hobbes, The Far side comics were the major consistency of my early childhood in the form of literature. It was the only interest i truly had when coping with early childhood. later on I found the webcomics that was more generated by individuals compared the the industry of graphic novels and although i truly never strayed from the first iteration of holding a physical copy of a comic i still believe in the valitality of every iteration of a comic through any media or time. 

I believe its truly imperative to read scott mccloud understanding comics, for someone who would start their career in the graphic novel industry or somewhat relative to it. To a beginners its a prolific insight on a more then beginners understanding of the anatomy to comics, to the idea of a audience perspectives, understanding the implications of logos and brands, general history and personal, meaning and resemblance, artistic style, understanding of movement and time and the consensus of what is art and how it can be broken down. It gradually give a better synopsis on the outlook of things that are again important to identify and more importantly timeless in its understanding of comics 

The Arrival that best describes a notion that storytelling can be reduced to the barebones of a single element, that being visual information alone. The Arrival tells the hero's journey that of a father leaving his family behind from his home country to settle and grow a new one in a alien foreign land. With different customs, technology, biodiversity and social constructs he becomes increasingly confound in his new environment. What best keeps the single element to a visual is that with written language found on signs, written paper and so on is all written words in this worlds dialect are non readable for us viewers giveing us and the main character a shared commonality of confusion in this new environment.  Now although the majority of the book is followed in this format, it is especially effective when following the characters plight on identifying with his new world. Only when the character seems to be halfway identifying with the new world the time elapsed seems to transi