Bleeding Worlds in Man-Eaters

Man-Eaters Issue 1, Front Cover

***NO SPOILERS. NONE.***

Man-Eaters Issue 1, page 15

You guys, Man-Eaters gets me turnt up. Not only is it feminist AF and breaks the comics code on repeat, but its play with thresholds and boundaries between the narrative world and the real world adds so many more layers to the story.

An important thing to note about me is that I don’t understand the world through my eyes very well, a reason I have long-struggled with the comics medium. I tend to process information primarily through sound. When I read, I feel and hear the words before my brain understands what it’s seeing. I read with my ears. If someone like me gets excited about what’s happening with the art in a comic, you know it’s lit.

Man-Eaters Issue 1, Page 1

Throughout the series, there are items from the diegetic world made into paratext of the material floppy itself. The reveal on the very first page in the entire series (seen left) opens with a perfect example of this. I mean, the Ministry of Trouble is clearly an Orwellian-Rowling hybrid of literary silliness and if we, in the real world, see a cat we don't have to seek shelter immediately (I assume). We know this is fictive so it seems its only function is paratextual, to give weight to the comic as a book.

Man-Eaters Issue 1, Page 12

The reappearance, or braiding, of this image on page twelve creates our readerly awareness of the poster as an artifact from the diegetic world, calling "attention to the text as an artificial construct" (Jones, 2) and retroactively resignifying (Postema, 50) the image, giving us more information about the story and the world it exists within, yet avoiding lengthy, boring, wordy explanations. 

Genette tells us that "more than a boundary or a sealed border, the paratext is, rather, a threshold" (his emphasis, 260), but what exactly are we crossing here? Worlds, people. We are crossing worlds.

In essence, by breaking the fourth wall, these images peppered throughout the narrative bleed into the real world we live in. A world the comic comments on, making the impact all the more palpable. 

By playing with these boundaries, The Ministry of Trouble complicates for readers which world is which, blurring the lines between reality and fiction. This distinction, one that usually helps keep the story distant from our real lives, gets removed and has us considering just how frighteningly similar our world is to the narrative one. 

There are probably hundreds of examples in this series to enjoy and, I promise, totally worth your attention. In fact, the fourth issue is entirely comprised of concepts and artifacts from the narrative world in magazine style.

Man-Eaters Issue 1, Page 2 (my arrows)

Man-Eaters Issue 4, Page 1

Interested in more? Man-Eaters Issue 6 is available at your local comic book shop on February 27th and you can order all the issues from Image Comics.

Man-Eaters Issue 3, Page 2

Intertextuality and Reflexivity in Aaron and Asrar's Conan the Barbarian #1

Intertextuality and Reflexivity In Aaron and Asrar’s Conan the Barbarian #1

Writers of the now venerable Conan series, which has passed between Marvel and Dark Horse since beginning in 1971, have always been aware of the literary tradition started by Conan creator Robert E. Howard in the 1930s. Further complicating the realm of intertextual signification are the two cult Conan movies starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1980s. Therefore, Jason Aaron had three legacies to draw upon when writing the new volume of Conan: those of the original short stories, the older comics and the films. Aaron's writing and Asrar's artwork succeed in drawing together all three in the first issue.

 On the cover a bubble is placed just below the right hand side of the sword that contains the subtitle, and just to the right of king Conan’s head, advertising the inclusion in this issue of “an all-new Conan novella.” This placement makes sure that the bubble catches the eye of the reader. The inclusion of this novella, written by John Hocking, works as a promotion for the revival of Conan literature that Marvel appears to be affecting. The inclusion of Hocking’s novella also draws attention to the differences between the two dominant mediums utilized by Conan authors. This would be an example of reflexivity, by allowing the reader to experience Conan in both the visual and literary mediums, without privileging the older medium or the, admittedly still rather old, medium of comics. This is also an intermedia approach, if we view the novella chapter and comic as inseparable due to their paratextual connection as part of the same physical book.

The opening spread begins with a collage of older Conan comics with the opening words from Howard's "The Phoenix on the Sword" imposed over the images. For a long-time Conan fan such as myself, these images serve to immediately connect this new run with the old tradition, while also transforming the old stories into a mass of primordial stuff from which the new series has essentially evolved. Using the findings of Matthew Jones, I can argue that through my having read Howard’s work and many of the subsequent comics I get more from the experience of reading, as every one of these tactically placed establishing panels acts as a signal that what is coming in the following panels is going to be similar to what I am used to. Using Groensteen’s iconic solidarity, I will relate these images to those following largely unconsciously. In fact, the image of Conan on his throne, resembling a scene featured in the beginning of 1982’s Conan the Barbarian, is in iconic solidarity with a film almost 40 years old! Other panels stand in relation to panels in comics that are roughly 50 years old. Therefore, despite being a reboot of the Conan franchise, Aaron and Asrar’s Conan the Barbarian #1 feels like a sequel as well.

For my third post, I chose to do it on Frankenstein: The Graphic Novel. In this blog post, I will be discussing the use of emanata, the gutter, and panels as well as how they function in the novel. To begin, on page 27 is an example of a beautiful use of emanata. Victor Frankenstein has just woken up for a distressing nightmare of his fiance transforming into the horrifying corpse of his dead mother. In order for the artist to physically show how distressing and horrifying this was for Victor, the author drew sweat beads around his forehead and face to suggest that his dream has left him feeling disturbed and anxious. In this sense, the use of emanata (sweat beads) is used as an effective way to add onto the meaning of the text through showcasing the character's emotions, feelings, and current state of mind. Without the use of emanata, the characters would be devoid of much display of emotions. Secondly, the use of the gutter is depicted on page 54-55 during the first meeting of the monster and Frankenstein. In panel 1, Victor is attacking the monster by attempting to punch him but in the second panel, the reader sees Victor is on the ground in pain. the character has to "observe the parts, but perceive the whole" (Scott McCloud) in the sense that the reader has to imagine what has happened between these two panels, which more than likely is that the monster has pushed Victor to the ground before Victor had the chance of punching him in the face. The space between these 2 panels is called the gutter, the space that connects these 2 panels together and completes them but is not depicted visually on the page. Thus, it is a conceptual area of the reader's mind that he or she applies to make sense of the whole part. Lastly, the use of open panels in the form of a splash page on page 52-23 is used because it is depicting a highly anticipated climax in the novel: the confrontation between the monster and Frankenstein in which this is the first time they meet face to face. The splash page, open border panel is most appropriate because it is dramatic moment in the graphic novel that the reader has been awaiting for, similar to an action scene in a movie. In this sense, the splash gives the attention required for an important scene in the graphic novel.

In this commentary on the second edition of Old Lady Harley, I will be discussing the use of
multimodality and intertextuality in the comic. Intertextuality is the author’s references to other media
(books, flms,etc.) while multimodality is the use of visual, verbal, and other modes in a text.
To begin, one page 2,there is synaesthesia used in which certain words in the comic are depicted
to have a certain color,smell, and appearance. The reader is associating the word “BURRRP!”
coming from the monster with an odour because it is green [rotten smelling], textually, it tells the
reader what sound the monster is creating, and the melting visual element of the word dripping
down the panel makes the word just as much a visual part of the comic as well as textual.
Secondly, On page 1, the author’s inserts a Walking Dead zombie as a character in the comic
that does not originally belong to the world of DC comic superheroes, but rather, it was originally
a comic character of another world created by Robert Kirkman and later turned into a very popular
television series. In this sense, the use of the Walking Dead character is effective because the
reader’s are going to understand the reference, whether from the film or the comics, and thus
understand the connection and influence the Walking Dead has on Old Lady Harley, which is a
threat to human civilization and life. Without prior knowledge to this intertextual reference, the
meaning may be lost or hindered because the author’s intent is not being received by the
reader. Lastly, the use of multimodality is depicted through pictorial metaphors.The Walking
Dead zombie is really symbolic of the racial “Other”, who poses a threat on North American
civilization through the influence they may have on the culture, governing system, and overall
life. Thus, it functions as a literary device because the text does not outright refer to the
zombies attacking the U.S./Canadian border as immigrants, but the visual elements of them
climbing up the wall may be interpreted by readers, especially given our current political climate,
as a metaphor for a racial other.

I picked up the comic strip “Old Lady Harley” to review because I have always loved the characters Harley and the Joker for their cunning and tongue in cheek attitudes. While reading this comic, what stood out to me the most was the layout of the comic and how much meaning is inserted into each frame, chosen color scheme, and lettering of the words. First, frames play an important role in the comic to produce a realistic depiction the events at play. In page 1, the frames are intended to mimic a television screen because the comic scene is that of two journalists giving television news about a zombie attack and about the whereabouts of superheroes. The slightly curved edge of the corners and old-school television lines over the panels works as a stand-in for a television screen as well as it works to suggest the time period. Since televisions have improved in quality, it is safe to assume that the comic exists within the time period of the early 90s. Secondly, the color scheme of the comic also works within a time period. On page 3, there is a flashback memory in a grey-black neutral color pallet, depicting past, dark memories. The exception being the color yellow, which is symbolic for fire. Thus, the choice of coloring is not simply for aesthetic purposes but it is also a symbolic element intended to provide further alternate meaning to the comic scene. In addition, the presence of the color yellow against a grey-black background is intended to give off a dramatic, cinematic effect similar to a car explosion in a movie scene. Lastly, the choice of lettering works very well with the flow of the panels so that the author is not in need of guiding the reader’s eye through the use of arrows or numbers. For example, page 11 is a very action crammed comic scene and there a lot of things to take in at once. Despite this, the organization of the panels does not lead the reader’s eye in the wrong direction of the story because while there are overlapping panels, they still maintain a carefully placed chronological order. The sound effects of “CHOOM!” or “BLAMM!”  are internally placed with the coinciding panel so the reader is not confused to which panel the sound effect belongs to. In this sense, the placement of the lettering in accordance with the flow of panels really elevates the emotional impact of the comic scene because they are complementary to each other rather than distinctive and separate functions.

 

Multi-paneling in 300

Almost everyone has seen or heard of the gory, brutal (and incredibly blue screened) film 300. It is particularly famous for its slow motion sequences, gory deaths, and of course, for kicking people into massive pits. But how would the slow motion fighting that we associate 300 with be achieved in comic form? The answer lies in large amounts of small panels that occur over top of a larger spread, as seen in the image below. Columns that feature a large amounts of smaller panels makes the reader read faster and makes the events occurring in the panels seem more drawn out as more panels are spent detailing the occurrence. In the image below, the large page spread depicts the Spartans battling  from a larger perspective, while the small panels super imposed at the bottom detail the same battle but on a more personal level. There are 3 panels at the bottom that depict one of the enemy soldiers being killed, and with so many panels being used to show one small event, it makes the event seem more drawn out and is very similar to the slow motion effects seen in the 300 movies.

-James Holland

 

Dealings in the Dark: Color and Narrative

Color is something that is often overlooked in comics, it is something that readers don't pay particular attention too. To them, color is as natural in a comic as it is in a movie or TV show. More often then not subtle color changes can be contribute significantly to the narrative of the comic in question. The two images below are taken from Darth Vader #12 and features Vader meeting with his associate Aphra. Aphra, who is introduced in issue #4, could be considered Vader's private investigator with regards to finding information about Luke Skywalker, Vader's son. In this instance, Aphra and Vader meet in a dark cave and discuss the tense employee/employer relationship. In the 4th panel in the image on the right, we see Aphra's features darken so that she is barely recognizable, the same can be said for Vader of the opposing page (but he has such a recognizable silhouette readers wound instantly him). The reason the are meeting in the dark on a faraway planet, is that Vader does not want his superiors to know about his dealings with Aphra, and the color change contributes to this notion of secrecy. We see a return to the normal color palate in the 5th and 6th panels on the second image. This is interesting to note because this takes place immediately after Aphra and Vader strike a new deal. There is no more need for secrecy now that the deed has been done, and the cartoonist returns to the original color scheme to suggest that the need for hidden faces (or masks in Vader's case) is no longer necessary.

-James Holland