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.