Global Graphic Novel Takes on Global Warming

Something that I have noticed lately is this new wave of caring for the earth and the ecosystem. People like Bill Nye and Neil degrasse Tyson have been using their platforms to cry out for help on behalf of the earth. The younger generation has been using their voices too, creating protests and rallies to advocate for climate change. It makes sense to use a graphic novel to bring more awareness to the new generations, since they will soon be the ones making these decisions.

One of my favorite ways that the authors of As the World Burns do this is to have the animals speak for themselves. These animals are literally begging not to be tested on, not to be seen as disposable, not to use their homes as dumping grounds for toxic waste. It's one thing for an academic, scientific journal to discuss these issues at length, but it's something completely different when drawings (however crude) of these animals are begging for help. While I can make the argument that there are too many words on a single panel for my taste, it really captures the essence that there is so much to take in and try to change when it comes to our ecosystem and our eco-footprints.

It's also something that is effecting everyone around the globe. This earth is the only one we have. This planet is the only one that can sustain us and we are slowly killing it. If we don't make a change, it doesn't matter what your nationality, skin tone, or religion is. We won't have a place to live and everyone will die. It's the sad truth, but this graphic novel was pushing for the tough love that may just make some people change.

Comments

Junji Ito and the Art of the Uncanny

As discussed in Chapter 2 of Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics , the Japanese style of comic book art holds several notable quirks. While early manga artists tended to favor simplistic, yet distinct styles that paved the way for a number of internationally renowned characters, contemporary manga artists have since favored a hybrid style that juxtaposes the cutesy, rounded characters of yesteryear with the realistic and richly shaded settings that have since become popular. Building on this, McCloud describes a phenomenon in which Japanese comic artists have used realism to objectify--that is, to emphasize the "otherness" of certain characters, objects, or places--elements of their work and further separate these elements from the reader. I have chosen the work of one of my favorite comic artists, Japanese horror icon Junji Ito, to further illustrate McCloud's point. Though McCloud describes this phenomenon in the context of Japanese comic book art, he is usi...

The Two Faces of Anarchy in V for Vendetta

As someone who has only seen the movie version of V for Vendetta once many years ago and have never read the graphic novel, I wasn’t exactly sure how similar or different the movie version would be to the graphic novel. I was in for a surprise when I discovered just how vastly different, they are from each other. With that being said, they do have some similarities when strictly looking at the motives of the characters. Let’s dive into those motives and how the author and illustrator of V for Vendetta achieved getting these motives across to their readers. In Scott McCloud’s chapter of Understanding Comics “ Blood in the Gutter ” we are presented with different panel – to – panel transitions, and an introduction to the term “gutter” as being the white space between the panels which is where the audience of reader “takes two separate images and transforms them into a single idea” (McCloud, 66). After finishing reading V for Vendetta , several themes or ideas that were most prevalent...

Maus: A New Type of Nonfiction

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of the nonfiction genre is the biography. A thick book full of pages about the life of a specific individual. Barely any visual aids, if any, and a monotonous voice throughout that makes these great to fall asleep to. In summation, I had a very rigid and bland view on the nonfiction genre before reading Maus by Art Spiegelman . This graphic novel is so entertaining that it was hard for me to believe that it is nonfiction. I did not think that nonfiction books could be anything but a glamorized version of a textbook. However, Spiegelman was able to prove everyone that nonfiction was not such an inflexible genre, and could tell a story instead of simply informing. He incorporated many other creative elements to make his story different from all the other Holocaust tales in existence. Firstly, by making the characters animals, he adds a somewhat otherworldly aspect to this retelling of his own father's experiences. I think t...

ENG 4433: Topics in World Lit

Search This Blog