Connor Lynch

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