Lit of Comics & Graphic Narratives

 So I have a confession... I knew Jeffrey Dahmer was a serial killer but I actually didn't know what in specific he did. I remember I heard this title came out as a movie back in 2017-2018 and I watched the trailer for it. It seemed really interesting, but I didn't know it was based on this comic that was a real account of a guy knowing this horrible person. Wow, was that a ride. Well, Backderf does an amazing job retelling this through his comic. I think he's riding a slippery slope by creating art based off of a serial killer, but he did it very eloquently. And he states multiple times that he made it as a critique of society and how we treat kids, but that getting this experience he has genuinely lived through in his life was worth sharing. I would have to agree, I mean, can you imagine being Backderf? Imagine knowing this kid and knowing something about him is off so you try not to get involved and kind of do anyway, but then the kid eventually goes down as one of the m...

  This story was extremely insightful. It’s best to read as an American since we are so ill-informed of other countries, especially Middle Eastern destinations. It was fascinating to learn about Persian culture and how it evolved just throughout Marjane’s life alone. By the end of the war, I was still a little confused how some women could be all dolled up with their hair visible and makeup on, but majorly had to stick to the regime other times. I think when Marjane met them they were hanging out in private, but I’m unsure. Either way, learning about the mental toll it took on our protagonist to have to mold yourself to fit in with different cultures at just 14 is unimaginable. I wasn’t surprised to see her indulge herself in drugs and get caught in depression later, it was such a hard thing for her to have to go through. Additionally, there’s A TON of political talk that I wasn’t fully understanding but got the gist for the most part. And yes, there’s also a lot I did not agree wi...

  This piece was beautifully illustrated and written, and really knew how to pack a punch right to the heart-strings. The way they constructed the narrative of the little girl being the one to tie all of these people together is brilliantly done. Sadly, the story itself is not really an uplifting one.  I wasn't aware of what happened to other countries during WWII. When they taught us in school they spoke about only the bombing of Pearl Harbor and told us that the holocaust was the worst thing to happen in human history. But getting to know the finer details of things is really what makes us educated and I had no idea what was happening in the Eastern countries. I'm touched that at the end of Nanking, the woman says she forgave the Japanese for what happened because nothing good could come out of war anyway. But she had lost everything and everyone she had in that awful siege of Nanking. They may have took all she had that was left, but thankfully she had people who were there...

 There's one thing that really gets my blood boiling, and that would be war. Stories from war that depict the truth behind it- the lives we lose to war, the carnage of the lands it's touched, the ever lasting effects on those who are exposed to the harmful shock, bombings, gas, etc. Everything about war just adds into the sick and twisted desires of those who orchestrate it. I would say that that is just my personal opinion on the matter, but I think these stories introduce the proof that nothing good comes out of war. Keiji Nakasawa does a beautiful job of illustrating the misfortune he experienced during the WWII era. It really hits me hard knowing that Hiroshima was a city filled with people who had their own lives and were just barely managing to get by. And for what... just so we can destroy it all? I feel so bad for Keiji and his family, and for anyone who was affected by the war in any way. The grief he must have felt- or in fact lack there-of due to his and his mother...

 I never thought I would be typing out that sentence as the title to one of my assignments in my senior year of college. Anyway, what a hell of a ride that was. Admittedly I did look for one of the most obscene titles I could read and review for this week. I have no problem with NSFW artwork or comics, so it was not actually obscene as I thought it would be (though it definitely was up there). Mostly what I thought of these comics was that there was some kind of weird innocence behind them. Like the women that wrote them usually either wrote them to portray some kind of fantasy, to make a commentary on how simple some men are, or to share their sexual experiences, none of which I can really deem 'obscene' or 'offensive'. Possibly to men, but I would doubt even that.  The only jarring things I saw were how normal the mentions of rape were, which is pretty sad because I think it's only JUST starting to become a thing that is taken more seriously in society. Ironically...

This story almost brought me to tears.  I don't know if it was because I was listening to Lofi while reading this which is known for making me feel sentimental, but I think it was mostly because Craig Thompson really knew how to hit you right in the gut with his storytelling. Each character is very different, but all of them share the same kind of longing. Whether it be for a change of scenery, a loved one, grief, companionship, or to even just find a better life with a meaningful career, they're all longing for something. Thompson really made sure that this brief little story made sure you understood just how each character felt. It's something everyone can relate to, no matter what age, since it goes through so many different characters who all are going through something we as people are bound to experience someday. You feel the hurt with them. I never thought a tiny turtle man named Chunky Rice and his rat girlfriend would make me want to cry. Even the twins were great....

 In Last Day of Vietnam, we find a retelling of some stories inspired by Will Eisner's trip to Korea and Vietnam. We have stories depicting how those soldiers who fought in the wars were affected in their daily lives. From the Major who had a kind of blind positivity about the war, to a man who is seduced by a native woman who leaves a grenade under his bed. There's a lot of warped sense of perception being portrayed by these characters that Eisner created.  Maybe it's because I was not raised in a family of vets (although my grandparents did work in the wars) so my views of veterans and war efforts are not really 'shining'. But I'd like to think that Eisner also thought what he was seeing was the brainwashing of those in the war. Because no matter how life-threatening the situations be, these men still saw them as a thing that should be praised or repeated. In The Periphery, the guide even proves how dispassionate the journalists are until they know someone inv...