Underground comics redone

This week we read some examples of underground comics.  This by far was my favorite week.  Some of the comics I read were Tits and Clits, Tijuana Bibles, and The Furry Freak Brothers.  These comics covered everything from sex and drugs to rock and roll.  The best part about the The Furry Freak Brothers was the story line about Fat Freddy’s cat.  The story line about the Furry Freak Brothers themselves was stoners getting into everyday trouble.  But the cat seemed to have more character development. 

Tijuana Bibles were funny.  It was kind of poorly drawn, but still gave a style that was easy to follow.  They were short and to the point, which was nice.  Looking at the way they treat the sexual encounters with women were a bit sexist.  It is so outrageous it is difficult not to take these comics’ view on women as a joke.  They are there to do nothing more then please the men involved, especially in the “Erroll Slim: Shoots an Arrow?”  I think it would have been better if the women were more then just a means to an end.  None the less these comics were entertaining. 

*edited:

I think after going through the entire class, these comics are important because of the history they hold.  As you read them, it is sometimes difficult to remember they are older, because they are funny.  To me, a funny comic makes for a timeless one.  I went through and re-read some of the Tijuana Bibles and I thought that these helped not take the work we are reading in this class too seriously.  It is hard to not do this when you are learning how important this genre has some become in contemporary literature.  It has only been taken seriously as a respected writing art form as of recently.  It is important to take note of the intention of the comic you are reading, it is not supposed to make you laugh, if it does anyway.  I don’t think I like the stories that take themselves too seriously.  To me, this equates to dry and boring and therefore impossible to get through reading.  The underground comics genre does a great job at informing people of the time period in which they were made and keeping the message light and enjoyable.  Underground comics are about sex, and no one takes sex too seriously when its not happening.  It is fun, it is quirky, and it is something you can laugh at, everything I was looking for in this class. 

Octopus Pie and Tiny Kitten Teeth

I will continuing to read both Octopus Pie and Tiny Kitten Teeth well after this class is over.  Octopus Pie is that 20-something hipster that lives in the big city that has an adorable little cat.  The situations Eve gets in are so stereotypical, but the comic just takes it to the next level, which is why I just simply love to read it.  I will be graduating this semester and it seems only fitting to read this hilariously cynical comic.  Meredith Gran did a beautiful job of telling this depressing story of a girl with the stoner roommate because of necessity in a horribly self-depricating state of mind.  The employment situation Eve is in really hits home.  My biggest fear is to end up like Eve; good god, I mean I’m just one cat short of this. 

Tiny Kitten Teeth is just adorable.  The illustrations are adorable, the Tigerbuttah story line makes me want to melt.  Sometimes I have a hard time reading the comic because of the composition and font choice, but it is not always necessary to read it because the images are expressive enough to carry the story.  Plus it does not require a ton of mind power to enjoy this comic, which I love.  It reminds me of something I would have read as a child. 

Watchmen

In the graphic novel watchmen, it is interesting to learn about it as a metaphor for the turmoil that was happening at the time around Alan Moore.  After hearing his words and opinions on the novel and his life, it completely changed my mind on this story.  I started relating it back to Orson Well’s 1984.  They were both dystopian stories set in the 1980’s.   I think my first encounter with watchmen was watching the movie back in high school.  It was really the first graphic novel to movie adaptation that left me feeling not happy.  I don’t mean it was not a great story line.  I thought the movie was well done, but the idea of the hero was completely changed in my mind. 

With this comic, it is important to do some research about Alan Moore and the surrounding situations in the political arena in real life.  It was a graphically intriguing comic.  The illustrations were well executed, just like the story line.  It was different.  The outcast superhero is such a backwards concept, especially because the traditional thought on superheroes is that they uphold the law.  Compositionally, I thought Alan Moore is very successful because if you look at the images individually they are photographically composed.  The rule of thirds was employed often and there was a kind of symmetry that I can appreciate.  The lighting employed is very much like a dramatic lighting style that I use often in my work, so it felt very natural and well executed.

Diary of a Dominatrix

Diary of a Dominatrix was such a fun read.  It was truly a comic in the sense that I was constantly laughing with it.  Even if you are not a dominatrix it is humor most women understand and can relate to it.  I think this is mainly due to the fact a woman wrote it.  And by no means do I intend to say that men cannot relate to women on this kind of level.  It was hilarious how grooming etiquette was covered and how there is a certain expectation of her to act.  More importantly we got her thoughts and inner feelings.  Without the point of view used, the story would have been very different.  

This strong woman is so ready to kick some ass at the drop of a hat, only she gets to do it for money.  And she is disappointed man after man after man in her professional life, but still has a personal boyfriend she can enjoy.  I think it is a true testament to the feelings of not needing a man but enjoying one.  She is self-sufficient and can make her own way in life.  She is not afraid and stand on her own two feet.  This includes emotionally and against the traditional jobs society depict the single woman should have.  It was just such a beautiful comic too.  The drawing was on point and the exaggerated butt, hips, and chest was for the fist time not offensive to me.   I loved it and this is one of my favorite comics from the entire semester so far. 

Ghost World

I watched the movie Ghost World before I ever had the opportunity to read the comic.  I have to say I appreciated both in different ways.   In the comic, I was a bale to project all the dryness and sarcasm my little heart desired.  In the movie, the acting cast did this for me.  It was an accurate (in some ways depressingly so) depiction of a post-graduate’s life where all there is left to do is work.  This was literally my life and friends the summer before I got to Ringling right after I graduated high school.  And I have Enid as my best friend (only in male format in real life).  However, the way they grow up is the most depressing part.  It feels like Rebecca just leaves Enid behind in pursuit of the boyfriend’s affections.  This leaves Enid no choice but to find a way to be happy without her best friend and ends up leaving her to go to another town all together.  The friends you make in high school are never the ones you keep when you leave.  It is like you must leave behind your own life and it feels like it is nothing more then a ghost world. 

I think it is interesting that Daniel Clowes used two female characters to depict his semi-biographical story.  I think his story is unique and he was successful in not making his female characters look or act stereotypical.  At no point did I think this story was jabbing at women.  It never really focused on gender anyway.  Clowes was incredibly successful at his female character development.