LitComics_SalvadorCasellas

Maus by Art Spiegelman is a great graphic novel detailing the relationship between a son and a father, the journey of a Jewish man during the second world war and the horrible crimes committed by the Nazis. It manages to tell all of these stories in such a human and compelling way while also using mice as Jews, Cats as Nazis and pigs as the polish people. I most definitely think that this anthropomorphization of the animals reflects on how the different parties, Jews, Nazis, Poles all saw each other through the war, not as humans but as different species. Something else that really stood out to me was the artwork from this graphic novel. It really surprised me that there was so much detail in every single panel, while also remaining very simple and straightforward to understand. From simple things like drawing characters face with a line on the profile to make it seem like they are worried about something or someone, to important details like the armbands they used to identify jews dra...

For this assignment, I read Mr. Natural. I really liked the art style of this series, it was kind of goofy and wacky, also touching on some very disturbing material at times. The first story that I read was Sunny Side Up with Mr. Natural. What I found interesting about this one is the fact that he seems to be breaking the fourth wall most of the time. Pointing at us and even talking to us, an example of this is on the third panel. Also, it seems as if there are some real meta things going on in this one, like the person peeking from under the grass in the first panel, making it seem like its just a prop, some sort of cloth printed to seem like grass. Made me think of whats behind this stage like backdrop that we see. I then went on to read the rest of the stories in the comic, and wow, I never thought a comic would be so dirty. Even after being warned by the teacher in class, I was completely shocked at the materials they put in this comics. I was expecting a little sex or someone ...

When reading A Contract With God by Will Eisner, a story about a Jewish boy who always followed the will of God and made a contract with God, he moved to New York City and grew up there until he was a grown man, he adopted an orphaned baby who he named Rachel. After many years Rachel died of an illness and he was left all alone, so he threw his contract away and decided to buy the building he was living in and renounce his religious ways. He became a tycoon, buying up buildings. One day he decides to come back to his faith, so he asks the priests from his synagogue to draw up a new contract between him and god in return for the ownership of the very first building he bought, the one he lived in with Rachel. After the deal was complete he dies of a heart attack. Something that really stood out to me from this Novel, apart from the really interesting story and the way it made me want to keep reading and knowing more was the way it was laid out on the page, no panels, just one illustrat...

When reading Action Comics #1 I really liked the way they used the space on the page, the layout of the panels and the variety of the sizes for the panels really help the flow of how I read the stories. Speaking specifically about Superman, I enjoyed the way they introduced Superman and the way they clearly laid out all the groundwork for what he was to become and what he is. From simple things like the panel stating "A scientific explanation of Clark Kent's amazing strength" or his showmanship on panels 60 through panel 70.  As well as the basis for the costume and secret identity of our beloved superhero. Something I also found interesting is the difference between the Superman artwork, very colorful and alive. Using distinct colors for the foreground, background, and details and then reading the Chuck Dawson which did not have any color, it seemed like it was harder for them to make that distinction between foreground and background and opted to use a lot of empty ...

"Little Nemo in Slumberland" by Winsor McCay is a collection of weekly comic strips that follow the character it is named after throughout different fantastical adventures. One of the first things I noticed while reading these comic strips, was the way in which images and panels were used to enhance the story. I liked how in most comic the very first panel was used as a title. This way, the story is introduced with a long panel, which sets as in a place and time, with an image,  and also uses type, which creates a cinematic feeling to it.  The second thing that stood out to me is that at the end of every episode, Little Nemo wakes back to reality. McCay uses the same frame of the kid falling out of bed and waking up every single time. That is why I think it is very interesting to see all these comic strips one next to each other because it shows how the author thought about the great variety of things a child can imagine. Every comic has a different plot, location, and ch...

When reading the book "Understanding Comics" by Scott McCloud several things that stood out to me that were very interesting. The first is the use of space on each page, how he uses different sized panels to emphasize another panel or the use of breaking the character away from the panel, similarly in page 9 where the character's arm breaks the space and moves from one panel to another. However, as I mentioned in class another thing that stood out to me was when he started talking about how faces in comics are just symbols and the simpler the face the easier it is to projects oneself into the character. This is something that is taught in phycology classes when learning about the human psyche, where humans have a natural instinct to project oneself onto others as well as inanimate objects, that is why we are able to recognize faces so easily even when there is no face actually present. On page 64 there is a panel that I found very interesting and it is the one that ta...