Lit of Comics & Graphic Narratives

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Homestuck (7)

I'm surprised it wasn't on the reading list. I know it's still vaguely niche, but I thought it would've been talked about enough to make it on the list. It's so much to read, and I haven't read it in such a long time, so I read up to the 2nd act before stopping. I've read it all before when it was still coming out, but it's such a garbled mess that I don't remember half of it. Is it convoluted and hard to comprehend? Yes. Is it stupidly long? Absolutely. Is it smart? It is. It was so influential to comic culture as we know it, that it has to have some recognition. I don't think there's been a fandom as big as there has been for Homestuck since the height of it's popularity. Everyone somehow got a piece of this pie and had a wild time with it. It's so expansive that if you read it, it's like you have a secret badge of honor you can subtly mention to other people you think have also read it and just understand that person at a much

Suicide Boy (6)

This one was something. I saw the title of it and said, "Alright what the hell is this." I don't know how I feel about this comic! I liked it, but also I felt weird reading it because it was subtly horny and you could TELL. Which is very confusing especially since it's supposed to be talking about serious stuff like self-harm and depression. Like I would be reading it and enjoying it's strange dark humor, but then there would be random really suggestive stuff happening to the main character who is a suicidal TEENAGER and I would feel super gross. Somehow I read the entire thing through to it's up-to-date issue, because I really wanted the main character to get better and you know, have character development with the friends he made, but there's something off here. I literally just googled the title and suggestive pictures of the main character came up, I don't know how I avoided this until right now since whatever I saw was much less obvious, but there

Toilet-Bound Hanako-Kun (6)

(I gave it 6 points because it's pretty long and I'm up to date on it.) This is my current fan favorite manga. My friend texted me and was like "It's really cute you should read it." And honestly, I usually don't just go read stuff like this. Then I was up to date within 3 days and couldn't stop thinking about it. It's about a young girl named Nene Yashiro who tries to summon a ghost who lives in a bathroom stall so she can ask for help with her love-life. To give more context, they're in a school that is known for it's seven supernatural mysteries that are located in different places throughout it, so it's a well-known that you shouldn't do certain things in certain parts of the school. Anyways, she goes to the stall and knocks on it asking for "Hanako-san" which is a Japanese urban legend about a dead girl who haunts the bathrooms. The ghost who comes out ends up being a boy (hence Hanako-kun) around the same age as her and

The Killing Joke (2)

1. What is your reaction to the text you just read? Eh, it was kind of underwhelming. I'm already not a huge superhero fan, but I do think Batman is probably one of the comics I could probably get into the easiest because I think his dynamic with the Joker is interesting. Since it's an origin story of the Joker, I was really hoping it would clear up a lot more than it did. In fact, I think it didn't really clear anything up at all. It left me with more questions than answers. Why are you going to portray this in a way that relies heavily on mental instability and not approach it realistically? I don't mean this as in I was offended by it or anything, either. I purely mean it in a way that even from a superhero perspective, it was trying too hard to be meaningful and fell flat. It just didn't make sense. His wife dies, they literally do not bring her up ever again, the Joker barely shows emotion towards it, and then he falls into a radio active puddle?? And that

Anya's Ghost (5)

I bought this book back in the 6th or 7th grade. I would only buy comics from the book fairs because I would love to look at all the different art styles. I remember when I initially read this book, I didn't like it. I thought it was stupid and that Anya wasn't a likeable character. I haven't picked it back up to read it yet because I was turned off by it when I read it initially, so it's been sitting on my shelf ever since. I brought it from my house specifically for this class and because I've been meaning to re-read it. I think I was just too young when I read it initially because I fully understood it now, and it's not as awful as I thought it was before. Anya is not fitting in her American high school because she's comparing herself to people she will never be. She's trying to get rid of all of her uniqueness to fit in with everyone else. She hates the fact that she's Russian and tries to hide all of her traits that would make her stand out fro

My Brother's Husband (5)

This. This is what representation looks like, not yaoi. This is not a romanticized work, although the bara men are very obviously the author's forte. This is fictional, yes, but one of the most wholesome representations of the gay community. I'm actually really glad Yaichi was homophobic at the beginning because a lot of the plot was centered around changing his ideals and considering the view of those around him. Lot's of great character development! I'm also so glad he included Kana because I read somewhere that said this really well- children learn discrimination from the adults around them. It's a thing they are taught and not something that they inherently believe unless told differently. So I'm genuinely so glad Kana was there to be an unbiased character who steers Yaichi in the better direction to understanding people who are not like him. Mike is just a big lovely man... I love how human he is. "He's not a thing," like Yaichi mentioned in