Reinventing Comics

Patrick Vogelpohl English 120 17 December 2014 In the essay, “In Defense of Graphic Novels”, Kathryn Strong Hansen explains the different opinions about using graphic novels in a classroom. When most people hear of a graphic novel, they assume it’s a comic book and that it has no relevance in a classroom. Because they have pictures, they also assume that they are meant for children. Hansen explains, however, that students can analyze graphic novels the same way they would a prose-only novel. She also

The graphic novel The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka and adapted by Peter Kuper, depicts the tale of a man, Gregor Samsa, who awakens from a dream to discover he is a giant insect. Samsa struggles to comprehend his transformation, while worrying about how his change will affect his family and how his manager shall respond. Samsa’s overall situation is inane, and Kuper’s illustrations provide risible scenes that stresses the ridiculousness, yet tragic story Kafka has created. By using grotesque humor

When it comes to reading comics, it takes patience and understanding. Since this was my first time reading a true comic book, I have a new appreciation for comic books. With the reading of Scott McCloud’s, Understanding Comics, there are many elements that go into making a comic book a true comic. Applying the teaching of color that McCloud taught in his book to the comic, Batman: Year One, the color scheme that is used in certain panels help bring the story off the page and is another form of

DC Comics’ Digital Firsts award us an in-depth look at one of the most fascinating figures from the hit television series Arrow. The secret life of Malcolm Merlyn is explored in the pages of Arrow: The Dark Archer. What makes the book even more interesting is the fact that the actor who portrays the character on the show is one of the writers of the title. John Barrowman partners with his sister, novelist Carole E. Barrowman, to bring the adventures of this complex character to the comics. Daniel

Comic books can portray one thing and mean another. The reader, while reading, doesn’t think about the shading or spacing as they read a comic book, but it could change the whole outcome because of the setting or characters mood. Scott McCloud showed many examples of different concepts based on image, language, and composition. All of these concepts seen in Kindred by Octavia E. Butler are transition, the connection between image and language, and lastly closure. The others that can catch a reader's

Why Study Comics Storytelling is a part of human culture. As Barthes (1966) explains that stories are told through “articulated language, whether oral or written, pictures, still or moving” (p.237), and in that includes comics. Comic books have become part of our storytelling tradition. One unique aspect of comic books in their storytelling is that it does not follow a normal passage of time, especially when it comes to superheroes. Over the years, there have been several stories of the same superheroes

Clowns and Cubicles      (A look at workplace stereotypes through their appearance in comic strips)            Stereotypes can be found in just about every aspect of society. A person engaging in any type of social interaction is either consciously or unconsciously engaging or affected by the many ways we stereotype people. Stereotypes while usually given a negative connotation seem to be an inherent part of human nature

consider. In general, graphic novels are seen as low-brow, mass culture entertainment or as pedagogical tools (Long 6). In recent years graphic novels have proven to be worthy of being considered great literature and valuable tools in the classroom. Comic books should not be viewed simply as aesthetic objects, but rather as texts which function when read by their audience within a specific context. Our education curriculums are heavily relied on reading comprehension, which has proven to be a struggle

to study the fandom of The Walking Dead. For the purpose of this paper, I will refer to The Walking Dead as a comic, a video game, and a TV show series. The focus of this ethnography is to understand how the comic book culture influences many fans. Since the series is based on a graphic novel series, and some of the fans are schooled in comic culture; they arrive with literacy in comic storytelling. Others who are not fans may recognize the visually and narrative of zombie films, in the horror

Albeit a majority of Snoopy fans spent a large amount of time reading and enjoying in the funny stories in the comics, most of them seldom noticed that a certain sum of the plots in the comic strips are related to the life of its illustrator, Charles Schulz, including not only his daily-life events but also his life experiences. As a matter of fact, the settings of each character in this comic all contained lots of effort that the cartoonist paid due to his intention to convey his own standpoint and