Dirie of A Domanactrix

     Dirie of A Domanactrix, was a fun short comic. I liked the random playful thing throughout the book, like the cutout doll at the beginning or the "how to"s throughout it. They were probably my favorite aspect of the hole comic, the interactive aspect of them is always something i enjoy seeing in books. I feel the illustrations worked really well with the story and I just loved the way Zelda was drawn. You can really just see her personalty.

       The story however did feel vary short to me. Although dealing with a vary explicit part of the character life. I didn't feel the story really got in depth with the main characters story. It was just overall a little to short for me. However I still think it was a great little read and really was fun, every page had some humor in it.

Little Nemo

  
   Really love that Winsor Mccay used dreams as the main aspect to focus his Little Nemo story's around. That is an idea that has always been vary interesting to me. All Little Nemo story's I have had a chance to read have been vary cute and fun story's. I have yet to read one story that wasn't.

   Of course Mccay's art work is amazing as well. I have such a huge respect for his work, especially after seeing his work up close at the galore. It's just amazing, I don't think I could ever get bored of looking at Winsor Maccays work.

Johnny the Homicidal Maniac

   As a kid growing up I used to watch invader Zim, so once I had started reading Johnny the Homicidal Manic I was already familiar with Jhonen Vasquez work. As all of Vasquez work Johnny seems to have a "gross" looking art style about it which really adds to the story. The story is ridiculous and dark of course as a teenager that's just what I wanted to read.

    I will say I have always been a little more of a fan of Vasquez comic "I Feel Sick" which is pretty much the same as all Vasquez work, but the main character is Johnny's girl friend. I'm not sure what it is about "I Feel Sick" that appeals to me more than Johnny the Homicidal Manic perhaps its just the hole female main character thing haha.

Tiny Kitten Teeth

   

  Let me start by saying the art work is freaking adorable and I love the color pallet used throughout the panels. The name as well is just such a great name for such a cute little comic. The character designs are so fun looking. They really embodies the different animals that each character depicts. I can almost see some of the animals in real life, making the same facial expressions as the characters in the comic.

    How ever the story is a little wordy and drags on a bet to much at point. I will say the story did get better as i kept reading. In the end the art work really won me over for this comic, and I enjoyed it so adorable!

Ranma 1/2

   
       I first started read Ranma 1/2 as a kid.  As most of Rumikos work Ranma Is really fun and cute manga, as well is the art work. I have always enjoyed the character to character interaction in Rumikos work. In Ranma this is especially so, seeing how all the character interact with Ranma's two self's is always fun. All though I do enjoy Ranma it is not one of my favorite. The story does get vary repetitive and dull over time. there are only so many times Ranma can all of the sudden tern into a girl right at the worst time. It's still a great manga however and I think anyone can get a lighthearted laugh at it.

Fat Freddy's Cat

   Fat Freddy's Cat was such a fun comic to read. I really enjoyed seeing how in each story something bad always seemed to happen. The sarcastic humor was as well really enjoyable I just love humor like that! The art work its self kind of embodies the vary idea of "underground comic" with its over all grunge look about it. As for the story it flowed vary well, never dragged on for to long always straight to the punch line.

  I have to say underground comics is probably my favorite genre of comics. The "no rules" aspect of them is vary appealing to me and Fat Freddy's Cat definitely has that aspect about it. Fat Freddy's Cat was a vary fun read.

Maus

   Spiegelman's depiction of different races as animals within the book really asses the the story. By doing so it had a kind of "sugar coating" effect on the story. At first glance your just reading a story with cute animals completely unaware of the fact that your actually readying a story about the holocaust. I really appreciate the fact that animals were used to depict the character it made the story a lot less depressing and easier to stomach for me. Maus is a great example that a graphic novels are more than just fun stories about super hero's made for kids, its real literature. Sometimes adults just like fun pictures to go along with there story's!

   All though Maus essentially is a story of cats and mice its a very real and meaningful story about an historical event. The story is vary well written and at no point did i find myself losing interest in it. The overall simplistic art work is something i really enjoyed. The simpler art style really balanced out the hole book for me, I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it as much if the artwork had been more graphic and realistic (might be a little overwhelming for me haha). All in all Maus was a great read and I really enjoyed it!

Watchmen

First of let me start by saying the movie didn't do the graphic novel any justes. I can see why Alan Moore doesn't like movies to be made from his books.

The graphic novel was great however the characters were vary divers and had great developed personalty that really just kept me wanting to read more. I found myself not able to put the book down. I just wanted to keep reading and learn more about each of the characters. I enjoyed the fact that the characters all though "super hero's" were just normal people, and just like normal people you would have to be a little crazy to even considering trying to be a "super hero". Watchmen was a great read, I have a lot of respect for Alan Moore's work.

Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis"

Persepolis was a fun comic to read, and easy to fallow/understand. I really enjoyed the books simplistic artwork. While it may not be the "best" artwork, it was vary pleasing to the eye and really made the story that much easier to understand. Getting to see the world that Persepolis lived in threw her eyes as a child was vary interesting. Persepolis is such a fun character to read about as well, she has such a spunky way about her it add so much more to the story. Persepolis is one those books that everyone should read at lest once in there life.

Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman"

Sandman has been one of my favorite graphic novels for meany years! My older cousin was the first to introduce me to the comic as a kid and I have loved it ever since. I really enjoy the way Gaiman uses mythology within the story and makes it more relatable to real life. The characters are so well developed by far one of my favorite aspects of the book. I can honestly say there is not one character i did not fall in love with. As well as the story being fantastic written, the art work is always fun and different. I really appreciate the fact that they change up the illustrators, its like a little surprise every volume! Sandman will probably always be one of my favorite graphic novels, something i would recommend to any comic lover.

Walt Disney’s “Uncle Scrooge in Crown of the Mayas”

Because this piece carries the Walt Disney name, it is no surprise that the drawings are very well done. The characters are cute but not too childish looking. The panels are well organized and the plot, though lengthy has many interesting twists and turns to keep the reader’s attention. The coloring and backgrounds of each panel seem to blend seamlessly into one another which help to keep the story moving along. Despite the predictable Disney “crime doesn’t pay” plot driving theme, the piece doesn’t come across as being too campy or cheesy and therefore should appeal to adults and children alike.

"A Week of Kindness or The Seven Deadly Elements" by Max Ernst

In the fifth and last book in the series, Max Ernst’s surrealistic novel in collage A Week of Kindness or The Seven Deadly Elements, the artist defines Thursday by the element he calls “Blackness”.  In this novel in collage, all the illustrations began with a base illustration drawn by another artist from a popular novel or publication widely known at the time and incorporated one or more unexpected or found elements into the scene to create a disordered, unexpected or even sometimes disturbing amalgam of the two artist’s work. The artist provides two groups of example collage illustrations to define the element blackness. The first group he subtitles “Example: The Rooster’s Laughter”. Each base illustration within this first grouping depicts a different scene of human suffering, death and despair in which he has incorporated the image of at least one rooster. The inclusion of roosters in such an emotionally distressing human situation seems not only surreal, but also irreverent and completely out of place. The second group of collage illustrations under Thursday’s element Blackness he subtitles “Example: Easter Island”. Each base illustration within this group depicts a scene of rape, sexually charged violence, prostitution, vanity or other similar form of human depravity in which he has added an illustrated version of one of the carved stone heads that had been discovered on Easter Island. The unexpected illustration of a chiseled stone head from Easter Island replacing the face of one of the perpetrators in the midst of an illustration depicting a sexually violent scene, or the irreverent placement of a rooster in the middle of an illustration which portraits human suffering and death is a perfect example of surrealism.  These seemingly random augmented illustrations when grouped into a novel of colleges tell the story of the birth of the surrealistic movement through the work of its founding father.

"Frank in the River" by Jim Woodring

Jim Woodring surprisingly used bright luminously hued, often primary colors to illustrate this comic story with such a mature subject matter. The innocently juvenile appearance of the cover panel gives a reader who may be unfamiliar with the author’s work, the impression that they are about to experience a “G-rated” comic story appropriate for a younger reader . This could not be further from the truth. While the artist did incorporate a simplistic child like style and dramatically brilliant colors to illustrate the story of Frank in the River, the illustrations and plot are most definitely meant for a more mature audience. While I found the plot to be convoluted and difficult to follow at best, I believe that the artist’s illustrative choices were brilliant. The child like illustration of the naked “Hog Man” who seems to (not so clandestinely) symbolize Frank’s employer, when contrasted by his ever present bare buttocks and bulging scrotum is enough to give any child who mistakenly happened upon this comic story full blown nightmares. The ironically dark subject matter of Frank killing, burying and subsequently being given the same bloody monster body parts to eat by his Hog Man employer being illustrated with the use of brightly colored simplistic drawings normally reserved for children’s books is just one more example of the artist’s intent to suspend your beliefs, get you out of your comfort zone, shake up your sense of security and examine the motives and aspirations of Frank’s (your) employer.  While I am not sure that every reader will consciously understand the artist’s message of discontent, my impression is that Jim Woodring, using only his artistic talent and illustrative choices was able to shock you, get your attention and impart his sense of distain for “the establishment” and “the status quo” without the use of a single word.       

"The Arrival" by Shaun Tan

This beautifully detailed graphic novel leads it's "readers" through the fears, struggles and triumphs of people who have had to leave the country of their birth due to oppression, war or poverty and immigrate to another country for a better life. The stories are told through the eyes of the main character, who the artist dedicated to his father. Without the use of written words, the artist Shaun Tan masterfully blends the use of fantasy to illustrate the unknown or unfamiliar, with realistic drawings of the actual people and places in the main character’s life. This is not a graphic novel that you will just want to thumb through; there is so much detail in each frame that you will be afraid that you might miss something. Through the contrast of fantasy and realism, you are able to experience what the people in each story must have felt when coming to a new country where they did not speak the language, know the customs or have any money to provide for their own basic needs. The artist's choice of using an aged looking paper with sepia toned or black and white drawings adds to the reader's overall impression that these stories are really the main character's memories which took place many years ago. Shaun Tan demonstrates through his illustrations in this novel that these recollections of immigration are not unique to one family or one country, but that they transcend borders and ethnicity. These stories are excellent examples of the indomitable human spirit to overcome adversity regardless of ethnic background or country of origin. The reader is sure to enjoy Shaun Tan’s artistic talent throughout the entire novel as each frame within The Arrival is such a beautifully detailed illustration, that it could stand alone as a framed work of art in any gallery.