Week Seven

MAUS

It's funny, this title was something I always knew existed, but never picked up. I saw this book in my middle school library. Never really paid it any mind, so it was great to finally get into it.

I think its a wonderfully told story, but the style of the book is really what catches my attention, as it would for most people. We're talking about WWII stories told with mice. Definitely an eye-catcher. It's interesting that mice were the chosen avatars for this story. I get why they chose non-human characters, they wanted the story to be, I guess you could say, a lighter look at the subject matter? It's a little less disturbing to see mice deal with these situations than humans. They took the Animal Farm route, which I appreciate. But this book made me realize how much mice are used as characters in a story; especially when retelling stories or telling them from a new angle. This story reminded me of the films "Titanic: The Legend Lives On" and "The Legend of the Titanic". Both films tell the story of the titanic through the eyes of mice.

I suppose for those films, along with Maus, the storytellers wanted a blank slate to work with.

Week Six

Tits & Clits/ Gay Comix

These were quite interesting little gems. I have to be honest, I was a bit uncomfortable with the source material, so I didn't read these all the way through. However, I found the content of the comics to be very eye-opening.

When I think comics, I mainly think Superheroes, along with some of the classics we've discussed in the past (Little Nemo, Scrooge McDuck, etc.). I've been used to comics being portrayed a certain way and having certain censorships. You can understand how shocked (no pun intended) when I flip a page and find a naked man with an erect penis having a power cord shoved up his ass.

Wow.

I totally get shock humor, I absolutely love it. I'm a huge South Park fan. For some reason, the transition to comics rubs me the wrong way. Yeah, in "Air Pirates" it's pretty damn funny to see Mickey talking about how "no one wants to fuck him". That had me giggling hard, but there's still a part of me that's slightly disturbed that its in a comic book. It's the weirdest thing. Maybe its because hard-drawn illustrations feel more personal. I feel more connected to an individual that felt the desire to draw this. Maybe that's what creeps me out. I don't know.

Black Panther #1

So, I'm stupid, because I didn't realize until I finished this that this was the first Black Panther comic ever. It was really special to read the first adventure of such a popular and important character.

I've never really enjoyed Silver Age comics; particularly, the way they're written. Characters often narrate out loud or announce what's going on while it's happening. That always throws me off. When Black Panther kicks the frog from Princess Zanda's hand, she cries "The Frog! He kicked it from my hands!" We know. Stuff like that always takes me out of the story. I get that it was the style of the time, but I feel that it really shows its age. Regardless, you have to respect the classics, as do I.

I liked that this was just a short little adventure. It put me in the mindset of a little kid back in the 60's. Before video games and the internet, this was huge for a kid. This was an epic adventure story told in just 17 pages. I think that's really cool.