Reading Due September 22nd
This reading was very interesting for me as someone who has enjoyed what little experience that I have had with comics, but never really thought about them that much. I found the section about time frames to be especially interesting. As a major in film studies, I have always been really interested in film and taken for granted (especially when it comes to adaptations of comic books) that a film can show more than a comic. I found myself questioning this. Is it possible for a comic to show more? A single frame of a comic can take one moment of time for the reader to examine for an infinite amount of time. The reader may even go back and look at that one specific moment of time if he or she wishes. The person that creates this comic can fill this single frame with as much information, and the reader can process all of it (the character in the foreground speaking, someone in the background having a reaction, a hidden item on the bookshelf in the corner, the wristband that one of the characters is wearing, etc).
I also found the point made about people seeing themselves in everything to be interesting, but I cannot help wondering. I have read comics before that I have really liked, but I have also watched movies that I have really liked. I always really enjoy it when I can feel a connection with a character, but this connection does not necessarily have anything to do with physical appearance. I tend to respond more to the things that a character is going through or his or her reactions. I wonder if people agree with me. Do people respond more to a character’s physical similarities, or do people tend to see it the way that I do?
I wonder whether there is a difference between the terms comic book and graphic novel. I must admit that I have always associated comics with humor both because of their name and because my first experiences were with the Sunday funnies. But comics can have value aside from making a reader laugh. I found an interview in which Scott McCloud speaks of one such comic called “Nancy.”
