Story: A
Art: A+
Overall: A
Friday, June 13, 2008
Pilot Season
Presentation: A
It looked good.
Story: A
The short stories were interesting, although too comic book hero empty for me.
Art: A+
The styles varied significantly. Not how well each came out.
Overall: A
Story: A
Art: A+
Overall: A
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
Presentation: A
Not too much to say about it. It looks good, and that's what counts.
Story: A+++++++++
There is no story, but it still is an extremely interesting read. I would actually recommend this even to people who don't read comics. I never read comics before taking a Graphic Novel class, and I strongly believe that I would have found this no more interesting than I had now.
Art: A+
Simplistic and effective. Some masterpieces from history were reproduced for the comic, and they came out perfect.
Overall: A+
Story: A+++++++++
Art: A+
Overall: A+
The Trial
Note: There are spoilers. Reader digression is advised. Not really. Just read it.
This is the most surreal story I have ever read. It is a graphic novel adaption of the book of the same name by Franz Kafka. It rivals Nevermore, or rather Adgar Allen Poe's poems, in my opinion. It is about Joseph K, or Mr. K, who was celebrating his birthday when
The artist did something a little different with the panel design. The Trial featured chipped panels, whose debris would fall between the gutters, or right beside where the crack was. On some pages, the panels could be fit together like a puzzle. An elaborate puzzle. I recall that one page used a panel as a mask to a background not in a panel; Joseph was making a call in the background, and all of his body but his face was masked by a panel with a circle cut out close to the side. The rest of the panel was used as a follow up drawing of Joseph's reaction. They were having sex in court, which was acceptable. The jurors even laughed heartily at the gesture.
The art is stylish, and screams insanity. The most memorable page, almost regrettably, was one of the sexual encounters between Joseph and the wife of a judge. It was explicit, and what made it the more disturbing was the penises that adorned the sides of the panels. To top it, the artist made them appear as flowers. The panels had flowering penises growing on them. Along with that, there were grape vines growing breasts. It was just so disturbing.
I have never seen such an extravagant use of exclamation points and question marks. They are used without ceremony: nearly all character's reactions to something, said or unsaid, are expressed with a exclamation or a question mark. Some characters are even devoid of facial expression, and their only method of conveying it is through these marks. What was even more interesting was the sheer variety of designs of the marks. The novel definitely had a standard ! and ? of course, but it often deviated from it too. ! became electricity. ? became a skull once.
Another awkward mechanic employed by The Trial was the use of a mixed cartoony skeleton with a top hat. It was The Trial's avatar. It appeared consistently through the novel, as ornaments, as a symbol, as a method of expression for certain characters, and as a way of "telling" you how to react. The skeleton sometimes starred as an ornament in a room. For example, close to the beginning, it was a piece of furniture on top of a table. It even appeared as furniture: the arms of a chair became the backbone and legs of the avatar. As a symbol, it was mostly limited to it crying a clock and opening its jaw, like it was screaming. It was also used as a way to express a character's emotion, when their expression and lots of exclamation points and question marks couldn't. I tallied the number of times any instance of the skeleton and its parts appeared: 75.
Presentation: A+
Almost all the comics I review get an A+ in presentation. That's because they deserve it. The simplicity of The Trial's basic design is what makes it so superior.
Story: A+
Oddball, perverse, mad, and ultimately thought provoking. It explores so many themes at once, the ones I picked up being the government and existence, that it's easy to get lost. The sexual encounters occurring between Joseph and the many mistresses put a dire feeling of urgency and tension to the entire work.
Art: A+
Stylishly creepy. There is something insane about the artwork. Insane as in actually crazy, which clearly fits the story.
Overall: A+
Among all the amazing pieces I've read, and though a mind boggling hard choice, I have to say this is my favorite graphic novel.
This is the most surreal story I have ever read. It is a graphic novel adaption of the book of the same name by Franz Kafka. It rivals Nevermore, or rather Adgar Allen Poe's poems, in my opinion. It is about Joseph K, or Mr. K, who was celebrating his birthday when
The artist did something a little different with the panel design. The Trial featured chipped panels, whose debris would fall between the gutters, or right beside where the crack was. On some pages, the panels could be fit together like a puzzle. An elaborate puzzle. I recall that one page used a panel as a mask to a background not in a panel; Joseph was making a call in the background, and all of his body but his face was masked by a panel with a circle cut out close to the side. The rest of the panel was used as a follow up drawing of Joseph's reaction. They were having sex in court, which was acceptable. The jurors even laughed heartily at the gesture.
The art is stylish, and screams insanity. The most memorable page, almost regrettably, was one of the sexual encounters between Joseph and the wife of a judge. It was explicit, and what made it the more disturbing was the penises that adorned the sides of the panels. To top it, the artist made them appear as flowers. The panels had flowering penises growing on them. Along with that, there were grape vines growing breasts. It was just so disturbing.
I have never seen such an extravagant use of exclamation points and question marks. They are used without ceremony: nearly all character's reactions to something, said or unsaid, are expressed with a exclamation or a question mark. Some characters are even devoid of facial expression, and their only method of conveying it is through these marks. What was even more interesting was the sheer variety of designs of the marks. The novel definitely had a standard ! and ? of course, but it often deviated from it too. ! became electricity. ? became a skull once.
Another awkward mechanic employed by The Trial was the use of a mixed cartoony skeleton with a top hat. It was The Trial's avatar. It appeared consistently through the novel, as ornaments, as a symbol, as a method of expression for certain characters, and as a way of "telling" you how to react. The skeleton sometimes starred as an ornament in a room. For example, close to the beginning, it was a piece of furniture on top of a table. It even appeared as furniture: the arms of a chair became the backbone and legs of the avatar. As a symbol, it was mostly limited to it crying a clock and opening its jaw, like it was screaming. It was also used as a way to express a character's emotion, when their expression and lots of exclamation points and question marks couldn't. I tallied the number of times any instance of the skeleton and its parts appeared: 75.
Presentation: A+
Story: A+
Art: A+
Overall: A+
Among all the amazing pieces I've read, and though a mind boggling hard choice, I have to say this is my favorite graphic novel.
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