V for Vendetta

So the end of V for Vendetta... pretty cheesy. And alot of unanswered questions. Could V have prevented himself from being shot, but didn't? Is Evey going to train that boy to be the new her and she will be the new V?

In our smaller group discussions in Mondays class, we came up with a couple of interesting ideas. Throughout the novel, I had a hard time keeping straight which political figure was which. Someone in my group kind of brought to my attention that this might have been intentional, to kind of say that all government people are interchangeable and equally corrupt. Like who's wife became the whore when she was widowed or what was the deal with the guy's wife who was all conniving and hookerish as well?

One of the most frustrating things for me was the way that the thuggish street bullies spoke. I honestly could not understand their dialect and skipped over all of their bubbles, which may explain why I'm still a little confused by some of the end events.

My group especially appreciated the color in the novel. I really liked how certain environments had certain hues and definitely contributed to the atmosphere of the frames. Although to me the art was a bit too sketchy to fit my "comic-style" stereotype, I did think the art was clever and fit the novel well.

My original vision of comic art compared to the art in V for Vendetta.



Bright vs. Dark
Distinct lines vs. Sketchy
Traditional muscular hero vs. Unusual masked figure

Back to blogging...

So that SCUM manifesto? Wow. You've gotta be pretty pissed about something to be a manifesto writer. My manifesto? Not so much. Yes, I have a strong dislike towards Craig in Blankets, but I suck at manifesto style writing. I am way too used to formal essays to write in a different style. Regardless, I don't think it's too bad.

So V for Vendetta. I've seen the movie and honestly, was not too excited to read this novel. The movie was alright, but I felt like it wasn't pieced together correctly. However, so far, I really enjoy the graphic novel. I'm starting to realize that a medium such as a graphic novel can so way more than books or movies. I noticed this in the Watchmen too, but I really enjoy how a frame can be narrated by something that is occurring in a completely different time or scene. Like when Mrs. Almond's thoughts are being said over the frames of her acting contradictory. This happens a few other times and it really is a technique that can be used explicitly in graphic novels.

I'm not crazy about the art though in V. I much rather preferred the art in Watchmen, as the page texture and colors were more suited for a comic. I like V as an unusual type of superhero, as he doesn't seem to fit into the usual stereotypes. I like that he physically can do superhero like things, but looks totally unfit as a typical hero. A Guy Fawkes mask with longer hair? Kind of weird. I mean, would you usually want to be rescued by a guy that looks like this?

Watchmen Chapters 5-12

Watchmen was awesome.

There were so many intertwining and subtle elements that made me respect the hell out of this graphic novel. I thought the overlapping of narration between Shea's comic book along with the conversations held amongst the individuals at the news stand fit so perfect and showed an awesome parallel between the insanity of both worlds. The whole overlapping of two different story lines was also clever when Dan and Laurie were attempting to get it on and the news was playing in the background. It reminded me of Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 with sexual narration going on from an outside source. Kind of humorous, but also, pretty embarrassing for Dan.

After Thursday's class, when we talked about whether the graphics of the panels were better analyzed when there was no text, I started to pay more attention to the art. I noticed that in many of these chapters, there were several pages that included no text at all. At first I made a conscious effort to study these panels, but as I continued reading it became natural. I also noticed that throughout random conversations in the novel, certain words were in bold. I tried pathetically to draw a connection between the words, however, I'm still hella confused. Overall, I really really really hope the next graphic novels we read resemble more of Watchmen and no more pathetic girly men like sad old Craig.

2/5 McCloud 4-5

Well, I honestly don't understand how McCloud still has more to say about comic books, but, thank god, there's still three more chapters! I get it, graphic novels are complex. However, his information does seem to stick in my brain as I've been able to notice his explanations elsewhere. Shit weather and contagious roommates have confined me to my apartment where I've been able to watch every single one of my favorite movies on my road to recovery.

While watching Kill Bill the other day, I couldn't help but be reminded of some of McCloud's jive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URNEy3zT9kk

During the O-Ren anime scene there are several instances that are relatable to the book. Even though it isn't all still frame, there are several instances of aspect to aspect, subject to subject, and some of the other comic transitions. The style of art is also very typical of Asian comics. Elements involving motion such as horizontal lines to portray movement are used in some situations as well as word bubbles to show a noise being made. Good job, Quentin.

2/2/08 WATCHMEN Ch. 1-4

Ok now this is what I was expecting when I heard we were studying graphic novels. So far, I loooove Watchmen. I like how it has superheroes that are living in a world that is a lot like ours with slight deviations. The way history is incorporated and influenced by the intervention of superheroes while still producing the same outcomes is crazy. I like how in this novel, superheroes led us to victory in war.

I was a little confused in chapter 4 with Jon's crazy concept of time. His continual bouncing between different events and time lost me a bit but at the end of it, I appreciated its creativity. I also really enjoy Hollis Mason's intermittent autobiography. I thought the story in which he opens his book was real clever and definitely made it easier to read large blocks of text between graphics.

A few questions... ok, so does Laurie smoke a crack pipe? Page 2 of chapter 2, whatever it is she's smoking, I'm pretty sure it's not legal. And I'm not crazy about Jon's choice to alter his costume into a thong. Superhero or not, no man should wear a thong.

Finally, Rorschach is a badass. He reminds me of the Marv character in the movie Sin City, just a big bullying badass. Kind of excited to see what happens next.