Week 6: Underground Comics

This past week we covered some works of the underground comics movement.  This period in comics happened during the 1960’s, and was a direct result of  the turmoil and civil unrest happening in the United States at the time.  In several college campuses around the nation comic strips began to be published in their school newspapers.  From there they grew to small publications that were selling in at lot of head shops and small comic book stores.  Uncensored and unapologetic are two of the best ways to describe the movement which took the freedom of expression to a whole other level, and put out many things that were taboo topics for many people in the U.S.

We looked at the work of one particular and infamous underground comic book artist named Robert Crumb.  The word offensive might come to mind upon first glance of panels of Crumb’s artwork.  But I think that is a small part.  Yes, it is offensive and crazy looking, but after understanding a bit more about the artist’s personality we begin to see why his work is how it is.  It is almost as if his work is a stark contrast to the impression he gives off.  He is a reserved, quiet, even dork-like seeming person, with a friendly disposition.  But in his comics he reveals demented visions of sexual depravity mixed with witty humor and remarks.  One thing I will say is that he was honest.  He put into his work, however disturbed the images were, honest representations from his imagination.  Even so, my favorite of all his comics or other artworks was his series of old blues artists.  Old blues music was a big influence on his throughout his life, and on a personal note I’ve always wanted to create a series of works were I incorporate old salsa musicians which was a huge influence in my upbringing.

I found an example of a modern comic that owes a lot to the underground comic movement is Aaron McGruder’s Boondocks.  It started also as a college newspaper publication at the University of Maryland, and it deals with a lot of social issues, some of which are still around from way before the underground comics movement in the 1960’s.  If it wasn’t for the people that put those works out back in those days, and risked political persecution, many of the works we might consider wild nowadays may have a had a harder time becoming published and accepted.

Week Five: Eisner and Thompson

Looking into the work of the artists we were assigned this week reminded me of why I love to be studying what I am studying here at art college.  I’ve always been fascinated by cinema and storytelling.  My first initial pursuit was that of computer animation, but as I found out it wasn’t my desire to render characters out in a computer for the rest of my life I looked into illustration and there was no turning back.  I found out the possibility of creating my own stories, and bringing their scenes to life through my illustration work. Both Will Eisner and Craig Thompson have very different and distinct drawing styles, but in their own way, they both capture the reader’s attention as if you were watching animated scenes come to life before your eyes.

After looking at some of Will Eisner’s works I am inspired to eventually do some graphic novel work of my own.  I read his graphic novel A Life Force.  Set in the 1930’s depression era in New York City, A Life Force tells the story of several characters throughout the city, Jacob and his family, and Elton Shaftsbury II among others dealing with the major changes in their life due to the economic meltdown.  I really enjoyed reading this novel.  From one scene to the next it is almost like watching a movie.  His expressions, figure gestures, and overall layout and composition of scenes is beautiful.  His use of the ink medium was also masterful.  Darker bolder areas bring attention to individual focal points in the scenes, while lighter more separate use of ink lines depicted backgrounds, cars, cityscapes and skyscrapers.  It is crazy, but I believe the mark of a true artist, to be able to transport you to a whole different time and place, like New York City in the Depression, through the use of such a simple medium like pen and ink.  For example, in “Shabbasgoy” Chapter 4 of the graphic novel, Eisner depicts Elton Shaftsbury II standing by the street selling apples during a snowy day…you can almost feel the cold and the whole atmosphere surrounding the streets of the city at the moment.

Also I looked into Craig Thompson's Carnet de Voyage.  In this work by Thompson, he gives us a travel journal illustrated book of his days while traveling through Europe and Morocco during the spring of 2004.  Although very different from Eisner, Thompson does not fail to deliver emotion in his simple doodle-like style ink images.  Even though when he does want to he hits us with a sketch of buildings or other objects that are very nicely rendered, still keeping to his style and go along great with his work.  It is a fun read and I would recommend it to anybody interested in travel and graphic novels.

Week Three: The Comic Strip

This week we looked at the work of Winsor McCay in his "Little Nemo" comic strips.  I remember seeing some images of Winsor McCay's art in our History of Illustration class, but I had never looked at his comic strips before.  I'm not the type of person to use words like "whimsical", but it's the only word I could think of that describes the feeling of his "Little Nemo" comic strips.  Before I even begin reading the dialogue, his illustrations jump out and take over my view.  As an artist who strives to get as top quality of illustration that I can, I really appreciate what he created.  His attention to detail in proportions, and the interesting scene composition are things that I consider rare in the quality of comic strips in the present.  His "Little Nemo in Slumberland" series is just an opportunity for him to create magical settings and characters which are in the dreams of Nemo.
Also  I looked into Charles M. Schulz "Peanuts" comic strips.  Although completely different in illustrative style than McCay's , the series of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the Peanuts gang are iconic.  The strips are still humorous and seem to have a timeless quality to them.  Children and people of all ages still would enjoy reading these to this day and for years to come.  It is good to see an old series that didn't rely on profanity or senseless plots to stay relevant and after decades of being published it is still a common part of elementary level education and our daily newspapers.  It is fun for me to study these strips because it was once an interest for me to one day create a good comic strip back in my homeland where there hasn't been one with such an appeal created locally.
Finally I looked over some of the Boondocks comic strips in Aaron McGruder's "A Right to be Hostile, The Boondocks Treasury".  The main thing I love about his work is that not only do I find it hilarious, but it is great that he successfully created a series that brings a contemporary feel to it.  In contrast to McCay's work, most of the panels aren't even that detailed as far as their illustrations go, but they never fail to be funny, throwing in elements of recent events, and even the current political status of the country to bring a fresh perspective on a recent comic series based from the point of view of a family from the black community.