On Will Eisner

                  I read The Spirit, and it holds up to time, a testament to Will Eisner’s skill and expertise in the medium of comic books. I noticed that ebony is a blatantly racist depiction of an African American. Through the lens of someone reading it at the time though, it might not have been so apparent.

                  And so, looking past those stereotypes, the comic is a fun adventure altogether. The Spirit, from what I can see, barely counts as a costumed hero. He’s more of a private eye with a small mask. I presume this might have been a product of the age, when costumed heroes perhaps started to sell well, after the official debut of Superman in 1933.

                  Part of Will Eisner’s genius is the importance of story over art. His ego as an artist doesn’t carry through, although that is not to say he isn’t great. On the contrary, he’s an amazing artist to look at, particularly if one is interested in the ways in which emotion can be conveyed effectively in the comic medium. He relies mainly on body language to tell us how a character is feeling, be it joy, anger or sadness. Eisner is a writer first and foremost, and his stories were a joy to read. Like Hergé, his panels are very regular in size; the camera angles are consistent too.

                  It stood out to me that splash pages are usually used as an eye catcher, as opposed to comics today, where they are used for dramatic effect. The more dramatic panels in The Spirit have slightly larger panels, but the heights are kept consistent.

                  I remember working on comic pages for Mr. Barker a while ago, and he gave me his copy of the Will Eisner textbook. Today, I still refer to it from time to time, and it’s just as relevant now as it ever was. The images and diagrams Eisner provides make the experience that much more accessible. It reminds me of some history books I read as a kid, which were more enjoyable due to the occasional comics inside. On the other hand, there is my current history textbook, which attempts to make up for the lack of images with descriptions like, “The right hand’s index finger points upwards, as the middle finger is placed upon the thumb”. Even the orange I’m currently munching on could tell which is a better read. In the spirit of Will Eisner, I must agree then, that comics make for a good entryway into reading

The Comic Book - Tintin

The Comic Book

                  The comic book is one of my favorite forms of entertainment, as it allows me to experience stories, without being completely inactive in the entire process. The joy of reading a comic, for me, is the experience of seeing the images move, while being able to dictate what the pacing is like, what the characters sound like, and how the story unfolds to a certain degree; akin to having a guided tour through a playground, you play on the apparatus in order, but how you play is it up to you. The gaps from panel to panel are filled in with one’s imagination, making it a back and forth conversation between medium and reader.

                  I joined the comic book train a little late in the game, having grown up in Asia, I was exposed to manga a lot earlier than I was to the western world. I read a variety of comics this week, featuring Captain Marvel, the Marvel Family, Dr. Fate, the Specter, and Jay Garrick as the Flash…the list goes on. I decided to pick up Tintin in the light of diversity. I do not regret reading it one bit.

                  Tintin as a comic features well-defined backgrounds which allows the reader to enter the world, while projecting their own identity onto the protagonist Tintin. Tintin, as I’ve come to realize, has been drawn in medium shots almost all the way through the comic. Hergé’s use of medium shots establishes a very stable rhythm to the story, and peppers the strip with close-ups and long shots very selectively. It is clear from this, that Hergé’s priority lies on the storytelling aspect of the comic, and allows the art to take the back seat on the adventure.

                  This is supported further, as most of the panels, if not all, follow a rectangular grid system, where the heights of all the panels are either exactly the same, or exactly half in measurement. Once again, this makes it easier for the reader to follow the story, placing less emphasis on the stylistic choices Hergé could have made, and instead, shows the adventure in an almost plain, matter-of-factly behavior.

                  Another device Hergé employs is the use of black outline around all the major elements. Clarity over style seems to be his motto, which seeps into the rest of his comic, including the speech bubbles. The speech bubbles are outlined, and shaped in a rectangle. There is a minimum use of stylistic extras. This is not to say that the comic is dull, as it most certainly isn’t. It wasn’t a comic that made me want to pick my pencil up and draw right away, but it kept me in for a long adventure with a sore bum from sitting on the edge of my seat. A mystery as lighthearted as this is a rare treat in my comic collection, and I would most certainly consider picking a copy of Tintin the next time I visit the comic store.   

On Little Nemo in Slumberland

Little Nemo in Slumberland

Of the three comic lines we were given at the end of the last class session, I liked Little Nemo in Slumberland most. Krazy Kat was fun, but I found it difficult to get into the written accents, especially considering the fact that I was finding something to read before going to bed. Dream of the Rarebit fiend was great, but of McCay’s works, I still preferred Little Nemo in Slumberland.

I’ve only really read a few pages in the past, having seen one or two pages at an exhibition, and a theatrical performance of the strip, so it was a real treat to finally dive into more of Little Nemo’s adventures. I found Nemo an easy character to delve into. The true magic, at least on a personal level, lies in the appearance of Nemo. His features are universally cute. The keyword here is universally, because to describe Nemo, is like trying to describe plain bread; there is nothing to Nemo that makes him uniquely him. It is almost safe to say, Nemo is so plain, that apart from his occasional display of interest in other girls, he looks somewhat androgynous. This is not to say that he has a weak design, on the contrary, this allows the reader to put him or herself in his shoes, or bed in the case, as he travels to Slumberland every night.

McCay also employs and experiments different techniques of frame play. The frames of the panels are irregular, and help ease the readers into the comic’s world. By doing so, instead of utilizing thought bubbles or a cut, the readers are able to experience what Nemo is experiencing first hand, making the comic more immersive as an experience.

From the these aspects, and the emphasis on child-like imagination, McCay’s Little Nemo in Slumberland is appeals to young children of the time, and now, to interested parties of all ages. I believe that even in today’s light, Little Nemo in Slumberland will still hold up perfectly as a classic comic strip, a testament to the strength of McCay’s mastery over the comic medium.