tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31298425796743280522024-03-13T20:21:04.884-07:00Vitamin Brockfantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.comBlogger173125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-26875850317497538922013-08-04T19:27:00.001-07:002013-08-04T19:27:23.103-07:00Kirbyana<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7sBogLvbR2M/Uf8Lf3RQ97I/AAAAAAAAAVk/WXS2UwjtX0s/s1600/hand+of+fire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7sBogLvbR2M/Uf8Lf3RQ97I/AAAAAAAAAVk/WXS2UwjtX0s/s400/hand+of+fire.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
I remember trying to read the Fantastic Four starting from issue #1 several years ago and managed to read about four before I tired of the style. I felt that Stan Lee was too wordy and the illustrations by Kirby felt outdated. I think if I were to try reading FF again I might make it a little further, but not much.<br />
<br />
Charles Hatfield goes a long way in showing the importance that Kirby had on the superhero genre in the 60s and 70s. Kirby's importance should not be understated, his ability to pencil over three issues worth of comics a month is staggering, and his explosive genius on the page is mind-boggling. Kirby was prolific for several decades, and should be remembered as foundational for the Marvel universe and for the core of the DC universe.<br />
<br />
I liked most how Hatfield set up his talk of Kirby with an underlying theory and method that would inform his approach to Kirby's art and narrative techniques. Though I became bored when he began talking about Kirby's work. Hatfield mentions it, and I must admit to it, that I never really found Kirby's art style to be beautiful or pleasing. I am not alone in this regard, but the work he produced is heavily influential on modern comics and for that it should be studied. I just find it hard to read those early comics which feel so outdated compared to modern iterations of the same characters. Apparently late period Kirby (1977-85) was also criticized by his fans for being outdated even as he was working on characters that he had created decades earlier. I appreciate Kirby for all of the ideas he brought to the genre, I just find it difficult to enjoy his work.fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-72266193373012585022013-07-19T15:19:00.002-07:002013-07-19T15:19:55.277-07:00Comic Book Scare<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I0ETBnMpN2M/Uem59qzReOI/AAAAAAAAAVM/DlP0tjXtKxM/s1600/ten+cent+plague.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I0ETBnMpN2M/Uem59qzReOI/AAAAAAAAAVM/DlP0tjXtKxM/s1600/ten+cent+plague.jpg" /></a></div>
I bought this history book, not because I felt I needed to read it, but because Charles Burns had drawn the cover. I remember I was told not to judge by the cover. I was happy with my choice. This book is about comics and the eventual creation of the Comic Code in 1954, but there is more than comics here for the reader. It is really a story about censorship, scaremongering, scapegoating, and the age old struggle of nature vs. nurture.<br />
<br />
So in the late 40s people started blaming comics for juvenile delinquency and had comic-book burnings across the country. Book burnings, and in less than a decade since the Nazis! People would bad mouth the art, the perverse stories, and try and ban them. Legislation would ban them, the post office refused delivery of anything that they felt was immoral. The artists and writers were ashamed of their profession and would often not admit to having anything to do with comics. This was a shameful time in our history, and David Hadju does a splendid job of finding sources and documents to tell this story of censorship. It is all the more amazing since there are not many books written on comic history, so I can imagine the amount of footwork Hadju had to make to create this book.fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-82144050014305526122013-06-27T17:05:00.001-07:002013-06-27T17:05:20.859-07:00Jack Cole<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L-GYEgTFiqw/UczRBZgYxwI/AAAAAAAAAU0/V8zakQW5maA/s269/Plastic+Man.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L-GYEgTFiqw/UczRBZgYxwI/AAAAAAAAAU0/V8zakQW5maA/s269/Plastic+Man.jpg" /></a></div>
It has been a while since I have written anything. Mostly I have been reading books on semiotics and theories derived from semiotics to help explain how comics make meaning. I have also been reading history books on comics. And though many of this has been helpful and interesting. I just didn't feel like writing on it.<br />
<br />
But I just finished a book on Jack Cole that was written by Art Spiegelman, of <i>Maus</i> fame. This was more of an essay interspersed with issues of Plastic Man and True Crime stories, as well as several images from Cole's years as a Playboy artist. I wanted more writing from Spiegelman, especially on how Cole was a masterful artist and storyteller for Plastic Man. What really came through was a humanizing of Cole. I'm not quite sure how Spiegelman did it, but when I came near the end and read about Cole's suicide my heart leaped in pain for Cole and those that loved him. I can only imagine Hugh Hefner was devastated, as he was the recipient of one of the suicide letters. This is a quick book, about 4 hours to read, but there is enough in here to love the work of Cole, and question his sudden end. <br />
<br />
The pieces selected are either important to comic history, "Murder, Morphine, and Me" or show an artist apparently screaming through his narratives. Maybe the perfect selections helped to reveal an artist asking for help but no one had any idea, and this created a much more human and complicated characterization. It was no accident that Spiegelman chose these stories, and I wonder if he is manipulating the reader or he reads comics as a Freudian.fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-37064406570551688332013-04-08T21:13:00.002-07:002013-04-08T21:13:48.423-07:00Frank Miller and everything 80s<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l6oXZCS2a9Q/UWOUJm996VI/AAAAAAAAAR4/WTrtjnNpwGg/s1600/ronin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l6oXZCS2a9Q/UWOUJm996VI/AAAAAAAAAR4/WTrtjnNpwGg/s400/ronin.jpg" width="280" /></a></div>
I have been reading a lot of 80s Frank Miller lately: Ronin, TDKR, Daredevil: Born Again, Batman: Year One, and DK2. When he was on his game he was the best writer in comics. Better than Gaiman and Alan Moore at their respective bests. My preference is for the Miller storytelling through brooding narration and the redefining of the superhero.<br />
One I read for the first time recently was Ronin (1983) which was an amazing book that reminded me of Aeon Flux, and has inspired me to rewatch Samurai Jack, which is a basic reworking of Miller's text. (I'm on episode 3 of season 1 right now!)<br />
I have seminar papers to write, but all I want to do is read another Miller story, or re-read which seems to be the case now. I wish he had written more. I also wish he hadn't lost his touch, looking your way All Star Batman and the Boy Wonder, and Holy Terror. When he goes wrong, he goes wrong like no one else. But nothing he does can take away from his brilliant decade of the 80s.fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-22093523438955557582013-03-25T12:48:00.001-07:002013-03-25T12:48:03.269-07:00Pounding it.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C-FWQ4gfj24/UVCpXQnMzaI/AAAAAAAAARo/1-w3qD2SeYY/s1600/ABC-of-Reading-214x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C-FWQ4gfj24/UVCpXQnMzaI/AAAAAAAAARo/1-w3qD2SeYY/s1600/ABC-of-Reading-214x300.jpg" /></a></div>
I didn't think I would like reading criticism from Ezra Pound, but this books was pretty funny. This was a required class text, otherwise I may never have read this book. Pound is so sure of himself, that when he makes bold assertions it comes off as hilarious. I really liked how he dissed Shakespeare in favor of Chaucer, as having lived more was was less provencal. Way to go Chaucer, still impressing after all these years.<br />
<br />
Not much more I can say about this text than the funny assertions and the suggestions on how to read literature like a boss.fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-11375604632908482172013-03-09T15:43:00.002-08:002013-03-09T15:43:38.890-08:00McLuhan MassageThis must be one of the more interesting books on media that I have read. Everything varied, nothing was constant, which I expect is meant to imitate the expanding role of media in society. I don't want to say this is a book of platitudes, but more about short comments on how media is changing YOU. Most of the book was images expanding or portraying the message that was written. The relation between image and text was interesting, and sometimes the meaning was obscure. I must say it was gripping and amazingly prescient considering it was written in 1967 and seemed to be talking about the internet. I kept thinking about my tendency to browse Reddit, and McLuhan seems to have anticipated the internet. Quite amazing.<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--matlhlu_C0/UTvHsz8qqlI/AAAAAAAAARc/MYQJeHGO9gc/s1600/medium+is+the+massage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--matlhlu_C0/UTvHsz8qqlI/AAAAAAAAARc/MYQJeHGO9gc/s320/medium+is+the+massage.jpg" width="188" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
</div>
</div>
fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-18732209568088754602013-02-28T08:53:00.002-08:002013-02-28T08:53:33.415-08:00Batman wrote a book on Multimodality?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fP1_YDJX4T4/US-KC0uRsaI/AAAAAAAAARE/dUulqlmDN0k/s1600/Multimodality-Bateman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fP1_YDJX4T4/US-KC0uRsaI/AAAAAAAAARE/dUulqlmDN0k/s320/Multimodality-Bateman.jpg" width="204" /></a></div>
Oh…its Bateman, guess I should read a little closer. The first of several disappointments.<br />
<br />
This is the first entry for foundational reading concerning my dissertation. Wanting to do graphic narratives I should probably learn the theories of layout and semiotics. So I started with this book of multimodality which was nearly 300 pages of very dry text. I didn't choose it because Bateman is an accepted scholar in his field, but because this happened to be cheaper than the books of the leading scholar, Kress. What I found almost immediately is that the first 100 pages Bateman is arguing with Kress, and is trying to establish an empirical approach to multimodality, while dismissing logic that would seem to say that an empirical approach to semiotics probably won't ever ever ever work. What I have also come to notice about Bateman is that he is never cited in other essays on multimedia. I'm starting to wonder about this lack of presence in the field of multimodality. Looks like I will have to fork out the cash for the books written by Gunther Kress.<br />
<br />
Ah Bateman, if only your name was Batman and you kicked ass.fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-28822198382407766672013-01-21T14:41:00.001-08:002013-01-21T14:41:03.873-08:00Learning how to WriteIt would seem that today I am using to finally clear out all of those books I started in a moment of excitement, but never finished. The fourth book finished on the day is <i>The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics</i> by none other than <i>Green Lantern and Green Arrow</i> scribe, Denny O'neil. I mainly purchased this book because of O'neil's attachment.<br />
<br />
O'neil writes as a writer and an editor at DC, which puts him in a place to give advice. Unfortunately the advice seemed regressive and harmful for any person wanting to write creatively. He offers pragmatic advice by avoiding taking risks with stories and by following the comics formula. This was written 12 years ago, but I imagine the safe story telling is still in vogue today, and may help explain the declining comic book market. This period in mainstream media should be called the <i>Age of Pragmatism</i> because I am tired of art that plays it safe. I don't want the sequel or the typical comic anymore. O'neil seems content to preach the <i>status quo</i>. I can't fault him too much because he is working within an industry where the status is maintained, and as an editor that doesn't want to lose his job he has to play it safe and only occasionally take a calculated risk. I imagine the hardcore fans, much like the extreme teapartiers, will make themselves heard at an imagined misstep.<br />
<br />
Reading this guide to writing has brought my frustrations to the surface with what I perceive as problems endemic in mainstream anything. Guess if I want original and experimental I will have to keep reading independent publishers.fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-68862648903295409502013-01-21T12:48:00.003-08:002013-01-21T12:48:39.615-08:00Holy Superheroes!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z_u3MZrtWUM/UP2ovzfb3CI/AAAAAAAAAQo/YFywyuJ5C8A/s1600/holy+superheroes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z_u3MZrtWUM/UP2ovzfb3CI/AAAAAAAAAQo/YFywyuJ5C8A/s320/holy+superheroes.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I started this book awhile and then stalled on it. I couldn't really find much to value from it since it wasn't what I was looking for. The book is about superheroes. Or really I should say the book uses superheroes as a way to illuminate some of the more important lessons to be gained from Christianity. This is a spiritual book disguised as a theory book. Garrett would bring up a lesson from history like 9/11 and show how some (not all) superheroes reacted to that tragedy. he would then show how those superheroes were behaving as though they asked WWJD. This is the basic formula for each chapter. Bring up pedestrian philosophical point and then show how superheroes follow said philosophic point. I need to make a point to read Amazon reviews. sigh.fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-63559973436004598972013-01-21T10:51:00.002-08:002013-01-21T10:51:54.316-08:00Voyeurs - Gabrielle Bell Part II<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mz7IlOZL3KQ/UP2M1bMNG1I/AAAAAAAAAQU/daNWZ1cZT2c/s1600/voyeurs_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mz7IlOZL3KQ/UP2M1bMNG1I/AAAAAAAAAQU/daNWZ1cZT2c/s320/voyeurs_4.jpg" width="318" /></a></div>
I realize that the year is still young, and yet here is the second book I've read by Gabrielle Bell. Titled <i>The Voyeurs</i>, the book is an autobiographical account of a thirty-something woman trying to make sense of the world and herself in it. She is an artist that isn't sure what her purpose is and what she wants. The character on the page is exceedingly complex and hard to define. Maybe the complexity is what draws me to Bell's narratives. The premise is not something that I am attracted to, but the execution makes all the difference. I already have another of her books in the mail, and wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't appear in this blog in February.<br />
<br />
In the meantime I need to focus my energies on theory. I need to show restraint and save the next Bell book until I finish <i>Metafiction</i>. Lets see how well I restrain myself. Taking bets.fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-22701890269787370502013-01-13T11:44:00.002-08:002013-01-13T11:44:40.424-08:00Green Lantern and Green Arrow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nwovNtMKOEg/UPMNb2yZvqI/AAAAAAAAAP0/xhv0EUypPMo/s1600/green+lantern+and+green+arrow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nwovNtMKOEg/UPMNb2yZvqI/AAAAAAAAAP0/xhv0EUypPMo/s320/green+lantern+and+green+arrow.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I finally got around to finishing this collection of Neal Adams (artist) and Dennis O'Neal (Writer) who paired the two green characters from DC to fight social problems like racism, drug abuse, environmental destruction, violence, and propaganda. Some of the writing lacked subtlety and felt very heavy handed. One of the characters was supposed to be a liberal and the other was a conservative, but they would often be confused in their varying approaches that neither seemed to fit any mold perfectly. I think Green Lantern was supposed to be more liberal, but I am unsure.<br />
<br />
Though I do enjoy Neal Adams rather evocative art. He is the artist that was told that any book he illustrated would not receive the comic code of approval just by the way he drew his female figures. They were not exceedingly curvy, but there faces often betrayed something sexual. I imagine that threat came about by his handling of Dinah Lance (Black Canary). It is easy to forget the majority of the comics here were written in 1970-72. fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-52395834110429623612013-01-11T08:59:00.001-08:002013-01-11T08:59:23.050-08:00The Art of Amanda Connor<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ySBOVWB3noY/UPBDIIyhrVI/AAAAAAAAAPg/3WOu_LvTAM0/s1600/connor+powergirl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="299" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ySBOVWB3noY/UPBDIIyhrVI/AAAAAAAAAPg/3WOu_LvTAM0/s400/connor+powergirl.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
I wanted to have a better look at how a women in the mainstream comics industry drew superhero comics so I purchased a large folio/book that showed and also talked about the art of Amanda Connor, one of the top illustrators today. I was really interested in how she would draw women, since she was a woman. The zaftig females she draws are far more voluptuous and alluring than the ones drawn by men. I have seen her pictures used in articles condemning comics for portraying women as sexual objects. Though those articles failed to mention the pictures were drawn by a female.<br />
<br />
Putting aside her female figures, her drawings also feel very human. Her characters evoke charm, warmth, and emotion. Connor's characters are not ultra realistic, but have a sort of cartoony quality. I would place her art next to any artist working and show how her art better conveys the story than most other artists that take pride in their hyper realism. I am a fan of hers, I just wish she would work with writers that I enjoy reading.fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-71373858840051226752013-01-10T21:03:00.002-08:002013-01-10T21:03:43.598-08:00What You See Is What You Get (wysiwyg)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V_N7vw1-liU/UO-Z0BD2BxI/AAAAAAAAAPM/V4E7eH0qIuw/s1600/wizzywig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V_N7vw1-liU/UO-Z0BD2BxI/AAAAAAAAAPM/V4E7eH0qIuw/s1600/wizzywig.jpg" /></a></div>
It snowed about 6 inches today, so I was locked in all day. But thankfully UPS delivers in all sorts of crazy weather. Around 1pm today I received a package from Amazon containing this book about a prolific hacker. I could not put it down today, well I did have an intermission for dinner and <i>Inception</i>. But I picked it back up and finished it today. Nearly 300 pages and just over four hours of reading here I am. Piskor often details the steps that Kevin (hacker) takes when he was phreaking, or taking on new identities. While reading I was wondering if some of these hacks still work. I probably won't try and get a dead person's birth certificate, but it was fun reading about past hacks. Though the main character did feel distant and without much personality. So when he is being brutalized in prison I found myself not really caring about him.<br />
<br />
This was a nice independent graphic novel. I must remember to keep my eyes on the small publishers.fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-35062915258672848312013-01-09T18:50:00.000-08:002013-01-09T18:50:17.993-08:00Beta Testing the Apocalypse<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YSBRsBNHe8w/UO4rFfJwa1I/AAAAAAAAAO4/JZjpVol_b-U/s1600/beta+testing+apocalypse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YSBRsBNHe8w/UO4rFfJwa1I/AAAAAAAAAO4/JZjpVol_b-U/s320/beta+testing+apocalypse.jpg" width="229" /></a></div>
Mostly I was intrigued to purchase this collection of short stories based on the title alone. Intriguing. I was also intrigued that this was a collection of short stories written in sequential art. What I didn't expect was a graphic narrative heavily laden with postmodern theory, architectural theory, and quantum theory. The purpose controlled the plots of the stories, which tended to depict a cynical world where people are reified. I will have to read this collection again to better grasp the concepts.fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-15922165658868643222013-01-08T11:05:00.000-08:002013-01-08T11:05:18.446-08:00Lucky<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xhttOL3lrgk/UOxsQtJIX1I/AAAAAAAAAOk/W0MoSHo0vrg/s1600/Lucky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xhttOL3lrgk/UOxsQtJIX1I/AAAAAAAAAOk/W0MoSHo0vrg/s1600/Lucky.jpg" /></a></div>
I'm trying to read more independent comic book artists/writers so that I don't get stuck reading about Batman and Superman all the time. I especially want to read more female writers, who seem far too scarce in the medium. First up this year is a semi-autobiographical account of Gabrielle Bell's introduction and rise in the art industry. Well, that may be too simplistic a description of the book. It also shows her insecurities, loves, failings, trials, and everything else that may seem to plague a twenty-something living in New York with little direction.<br />
<br />
Her art is simple, yet eerily effective in its simplicity, and her stories are everyday, yet compellingly executed. This is a gem of a book that chronicles three different periods in her twenties and how she was trying to be a professional artist. Part of me did want her to explain her artistic choices as a sort of <i>treatise</i> of her style. As is, this is a lovely graphic narrative with the occasional touch of humor.fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-23072744776695910992013-01-07T13:21:00.002-08:002013-01-07T13:21:51.340-08:00First Post of 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-undQfCAwJHs/UOs7IqUAFiI/AAAAAAAAAOM/Ges0Z4lZYAk/s1600/what+the+best+college+teacehrs+do.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-undQfCAwJHs/UOs7IqUAFiI/AAAAAAAAAOM/Ges0Z4lZYAk/s1600/what+the+best+college+teacehrs+do.jpg" /></a></div>
So I fell short of 100 by about 10 books. 90 is not too bad. I'm hoping I can do a little better, and hopefully my classes this semester will have me reading actual books and not a huge assortment of random essays like last semester. I can't include essays in this blog, no matter how amazing.<br />
<br />
So to start the new year I have read one of my books for the upcoming semester. This is a slim book of nearly 180 pages about how some teachers excel where others fail miserably. I couldn't help but constantly visualize myself as a teacher in Korea doing everything wrong. Whenever Bain would point out poor practices of not-so-good teachers I remembered myself doing those exact same things in Korea. Like the ever popular, "guess what the teacher is thinking" game. Or the motivation through grades and exams routine. How I wish I could go back and rectify my style. I feel over the years that I have improved and was closer to what Bain was talking about, though not nearly as successful as the teachers he mentioned. I know I still have miles to go before I am a good college teacher. This was an great way to start the year.fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-53633276159133975452012-12-19T15:21:00.000-08:002012-12-19T15:21:21.016-08:0090 the new X-MenJust finished the semester and also Grant Morrison's amazing run on the X-men. The massive omnibus was over a 1000 pages of pure fun. The comic read like a soap opera, the characters were interesting and sincere. The comic dealt a lot with the students at Xavier's School for Mutants, and you really started to care for a useless mutant called Beak, with no power other than looking like an ugly bird. He couldn't really fly either, I guess not all mutants are powerful is the message here, some are just wierd looking. Now I have about 3 weeks to explore books I didn't have a chance to look through the last 4 months.fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-24195341131763552922012-12-09T19:00:00.002-08:002012-12-09T19:00:32.083-08:00My First Seminar Paper
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style>
<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
<o:AllowPNG/>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:WordDocument>
<w:View>Normal</w:View>
<w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom>
<w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves>
<w:TrackFormatting/>
<w:PunctuationKerning/>
<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/>
<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>
<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent>
<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>
<w:DoNotPromoteQF/>
<w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther>
<w:LidThemeAsian>JA</w:LidThemeAsian>
<w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript>
<w:Compatibility>
<w:BreakWrappedTables/>
<w:SnapToGridInCell/>
<w:WrapTextWithPunct/>
<w:UseAsianBreakRules/>
<w:DontGrowAutofit/>
<w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/>
<w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/>
<w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/>
<w:OverrideTableStyleHps/>
<w:UseFELayout/>
</w:Compatibility>
<m:mathPr>
<m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/>
<m:brkBin m:val="before"/>
<m:brkBinSub m:val="--"/>
<m:smallFrac m:val="off"/>
<m:dispDef/>
<m:lMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:rMargin m:val="0"/>
<m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/>
<m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/>
<m:intLim m:val="subSup"/>
<m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/>
</m:mathPr></w:WordDocument>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" DefUnhideWhenUsed="true"
DefSemiHidden="true" DefQFormat="false" DefPriority="99"
LatentStyleCount="276">
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="0" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Normal"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="heading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="9" QFormat="true" Name="heading 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="toc 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="35" QFormat="true" Name="caption"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="10" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" Name="Default Paragraph Font"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="59" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" SemiHidden="false"
UnhideWhenUsed="false" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
</w:LatentStyles>
</xml><![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
<style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style>
<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1035"/>
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1"/>
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> This is the first completed seminar paper in my grad study. I am calling it complete Dec 9, 2012. i hope I get a good grade on this.</o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Metafiction in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex Mentallo</i>: Creation of a Shared Reality between Artifact and
Audience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Beginning in the early 80s, comics
shifted towards a darker and morally ambiguous representation of
superheroes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Superheroes began to exhibit
anti-social behaviors, became more violent, and were considered to be more
realistic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The once optimistic tone that
defined the comics of earlier ages had turned towards a more pessimistic nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The year 1986 saw the arrival of Frank
Miller’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark Knight Returns </i>and
Alan Moore’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Watchmen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>These two comics became the standard
bearers for gritty realism and pessimism within the superhero genre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Miller and Moore deconstructed the superhero
and in the process removed from them the characteristics that made them
admirable in the first place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Miller’s
Batman was at times sadistic, secretive, paranoid, obsessive, fascistic,
masochistic, and violent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While Miller’s
graphic novel did not receive universal praise at the time, it is now considered
one of the finest works in the superhero medium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moore’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Watchmen</i>
was dark in tone and at times graphically violent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The narrator of the work was the misanthropic
vigilante Rorschach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike Batman,
Rorschach had no qualms with killing people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His far right wing conservatism and his ultraviolent attitude towards
crime made him a unique and more realistic character than was in contemporary
comics at the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Miller and Moore
began an industry wide trend that was picked up by artists and writers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Superheroes began to develop darker
personalities and were losing the virtuous sheen of previous decades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is during this period that Grant Morrison
felt he had to bring the superhero to a time before the Dark Age of comics in his
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex Mentallo </i>(1996).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The character of Flex Mentallo has gone
through a half dozen iterations that have bounced from reality to fiction to
reality in a dizzying history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
character really begins as Charles Atlas, the bodybuilder whose advertisements
in Golden Age comics in the 50s were directed at insecure men and
weaklings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His ads were in the form of a
comic where Atlas appears as a hypermasculine image trying to encourage men to
become strong and masculine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These ads
were part of the reading experience for many comic book readers, and reflected
the superhero material within the comics the ads appeared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely parodied the
image and ideas behind the ads and applied them to great metafictional use in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex Mentallo: Man of Muscle Mystery</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By reinventing an iconic ad as fiction,
Morrison is able to explore the meanings of comics, the reading experience, and
give a commentary on current representations of superheroes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His hope is to create fiction that has a
positive power in the reality of the reader.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Flex
Mentallo </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">is at times
autobiographical which shows the reader how to understand and react to comics
by using Morrison’s own experience as a model. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Autobiography adds a personal importance to
the chronology and commentary on the major historical ages of comics: Golden,
Silver, and Dark<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3129842579674328052#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reader is not meant to see himself
as the narrator, but he is meant to learn the same message along with the
narrator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The graphic novel serves a
history lesson for the narrator and the reader, with both learning together
through recalled memories of older comics and the intervention of Flex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book does occasionally address the reader
in several key moments in the person of Flex.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Morrison and Quitely have three
strains of metafiction running parallel throughout the novel: Flex, the
Narrator, and the visual design.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The use
of metafiction draws the reader’s attention to the object of the comic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This gives Morrison the opportunity to
criticize current trends in comics and talk of the potential hidden within the
meanings of the archetypal superhero.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Morrison sees comics in a similar way that Joseph Campbell viewed myths,
“as a primary way of understanding the world” (Karen Armstrong qtd. in Garrett
x).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Superheroes contain many of the
potent Jungian archetypes of classical myths, and this is where their true
power resides. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morrison is seeking a
return to the life affirming archetype that isn’t ambiguous</span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">or dark.<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; page-break-after: avoid; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Influences on the Reader<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The ads by Charles Atlas usually involved
similar plots of a weak boy named Mac being insulted by a stronger masculine
man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mac’s girlfriend usually echoes the
insult, thereby shaming him further.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Rather than address the rudeness of the bully and dismiss the girl as
shallow and unsympathetic, the boy instead resolves to “gamble a stamp” on an
Atlas book and become strong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
usually changes the boy into a strong man that then resolves the plot by going
up to the bully and punching him squarely in the face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story usually ends with the boy walking
away with his girlfriend, who now admires him for fighting and holding a
grudge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The values implied in the ads
were ones usually mirrored in the Golden Age comics where superheroes resolved
conflict with violence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The themes of
overcoming greater odds and standing up for yourself were fairly common.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The ads reflected the chisel physiques of
the heroes with Altas’s body, creating a “homoerotic fantasy” (Landon 200) for
the reader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Atlas was using the medium
of comics as a way for the reader to participate and be influenced in ways that
Fredric Wertham had described a decade later in his seminal book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Seduction of the Innocent</i> (1954)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Wertham argued that children reading these comic books would in turn act
out the violence on the page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morrison
takes the ideas of Wertham and critiques them by creating a superhero that uses
Muscle Mystery to fight crime, which involves Flex flexing certain
muscles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When a muscle contracts Flex
can cause the Pentagon to turn into a circle, a piece of ground to shake, or
his glowing insignia “Hero of the Beach” appears above his head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flex does not use violence, is always kind,
and has no romantic attachments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
is not one punch thrown in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">real</i>
part of the narrative where Flex exists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He is a hero that resolves any issue with dialogue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morrison’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex Mentallo</i> defies the Wertham interpretation by undercutting it
with a pacifist hero taken from the very comics that Wertham condemned in the
Senate hearings in 1954.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The narrator of
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex Mentallo</i>, who calls himself
Wallace Sage, at one point insists that, “Fredric Wertham was fucking right!” (iss.
3)<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3129842579674328052#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The narrator would counteract this statement
when he later finds awareness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The issue
becomes not that comics are reflected in the reader, but that the reader
reflects the comics onto his world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
becomes a subtle change that allows the narrator to achieve happiness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The idea of comics influencing the active
reality of the reader is hinted at throughout the book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flex as a character situates himself in a
position opposed to Wertham and comics seduction of the innocent. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wallace Sage admits that comics do have a
power, though the totality of that power proves to be of a different
species.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wertham proposed that the
delinquency of the youth had its source in comic’s presentation of malevolent
themes, but Sage explores his reality as being perverted through his
fetishizing comics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Throughout the book Sage
begins to question the reality of his own existence while talking on a suicide
hotline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The utopian perfection of
comics has hyperstimulated Sage to a point that his life has become dull in
comparison.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He confesses that: “When it
all comes down to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How could you love
anybody the way you loved Thundergirl? / You try and it’s like heaven. / But
it’s only like heaven. / It’s not heaven is it” (iss. 3)?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem for Sage is not that he acts out
the comics, but he fetishizes the world the comics represent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing in his life can ever reach the glossy
finish of a Thundergirl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a
problem that Morrison is trying to resolve, and the implications go beyond the
pages of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex Mentallo</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is all the more urgent, as Sage is in part
a representation of Morrison.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Returning then to the Atlas ads and what
they mean for the book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ads are a
male fantasy for something that seems attainable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The idea of being “The world’s most perfectly
developed man” is presented as something attainable; what is neglected here is
that no matter how much a person tries, Atlas has a unique body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not everyone can achieve that level of physical
perfection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ads, as a fantasy, offer
a hope that cannot reasonably be achieved, and this is the problem that Sage
expresses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bodies are never as perfect
as they are in the comics, or love is never as clean and beautiful as it is in
fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Representations have
consequences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morrison and Quitely
depict an idealized superhero that is drawn in a manner that is not realistic
and not traditional. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are able to
shift the message of the ads to a more palatable image for the reader by making
a superhero that is the essence of hyperbole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This shifting message is an abstraction of Charles Atlas to a fictional
character beyond the ads. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Atlas had the
body the reader wants, but Flex does not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His body is grotesquely cartoonish as to be undesirable, allowing the
reader to want him to succeed without wanting to be him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morrison is trying to recreate the Golden Age
of comics using iconic ads with a superhero that is far too peaceful as to defy
placement in any age.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Brace yourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prepare to become fictional.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: right;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">-Flex
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">iss. 3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Grant Morrison has a tendency of
placing himself into his writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
literally placed himself into <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Animal Man</i>
as the writer of the character of Buddy Baker (Animal Man).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The character of King Mob and Morrison were
mirrors of each other throughout his run on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Invisibles</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In many of his writings,
Morrison admits to using personal details.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For him, writing comics is a personal experience that invites him to use
moments from his own life and beliefs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His history of comics <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supergods</i>
(2011) is more of a personal history of comics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Morrison explores the four ages of comics and his relation to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex
Mentallo</i> can be seen as an early forerunner to his autobiographical/history
book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supergods<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3129842579674328052#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">[3]</span></b></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a></i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is no wonder that throughout the book
Morrison constantly references <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex
Mentallo</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supergods</i>, which arrived 15 years after <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex</i>, makes it clear that his graphic novel was a personal musing
on the power and purpose of comics. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
use of metafiction creates a link between the author and the fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By looking inwards at the world of the comic,
Morrison also invites the readers to share in his contemplation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He says of his graphic novel: “In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex Mentallo</i> I wanted to answer the
question that writers are always asked: ‘Where do you get your ideas?’ …Flex
was an attempt to lay out that process on the page” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supergods </i>267).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The connection between Morrison and
his fictive world is in the role of the narrator, Wallace Sage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the question of autobiography, Morrison
writes: “The book was part biography, real and imagined” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supergods</i> 270).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morrison is
sometimes clear which aspects of Sage are part of his life, and at other times
it is vague.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are definite
similarities between the author and Sage that should be considered more than
coincidental.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morrison used the analogy
of Sage representing the Grant Morrison of Earth-2 (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supergods </i>270).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a
reference to the Earth-2 in the DC Multiverse where everything is slightly
different, but reasonably similar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Interpreting the narrator as strictly autobiographical would create
conflicts, but enough is there to see it as a semi-autobiographical
character.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By situating the character as
an inhabitant of Earth-2 Morrison is creating another level of interpreted
reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are 52 universes in the
DC Multiverse, and it is possible for the fiction in one universe to be the
reality of another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sage could be
fiction on our Earth, known as Earth Prime, but may be a reality on Earth-2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The preface of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex Mentallo </i>contains a pseudo-history of the character known as
Flex Mentallo throughout the first three ages of comics. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each age shows the maturation of Flex as a
character, as well as being characterized by that age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flex becomes a reflection of the era that he
is written.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Drugs, colors, and themes
represent each age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It isn’t until the
Silver Age that the writer Wallace Sage becomes the definitive writer for Flex
until his untimely death in 1982.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
narrator, whose story frames the graphic novel, assumes the name of Wallace
Sage while talking with the suicide operator, “You can call me Wallace Sage” (iss.
1).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He then immediately throws some
doubt on his identity, “Course it’s not real…it’s, um, it’s my secret identity”
(iss. 1).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morrison never reveals the
true name of the narrator, leaving that open to interpretation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The narrator assumes the name of the writer
of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex</i> in the Silver Age of comics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His identity is one of confusion as he
frequently asks who he is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In one
particular LSD fueled outburst he says, “I’m Flex Mentallo…No, no, he’s a
superhero.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I made him up when I was a
kid” (iss. 3).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though the identity of
the narrator is one of mystery, his role as a creator is probable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As creator he becomes subject to his own
text, and the world of the comic ripples with Sage’s confusion and loss of
meaning. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Meaning is difficult for Sage to
ascertain throughout the novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He makes
his entrance in the novel by looking for his phone amidst the detritus of
youth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sprawled across his coffee table
is drug paraphernalia, and covering his apartment floor are childhood comics he
drew of Flex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These comics from his
childhood show the present day Flex talking with the Lieutenant, which is
happening at the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The narrator
is reading the action of the now, though the drawing is what you would expect
from a child: crude.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having read through
some of his own comics, the narrator lays down on his kitchen floor and
contemplates his suicide and says, “Nothing left to do” (iss. 1).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The narrator is abandoning meaning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Throughout the novel he cannot fathom reality
and finds it easier to give it up than to live it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This in essence is the moral message of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex</i>, to choose to live with meaning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead the meaning given in the stories of
the day include pessimistic realism and ambiguous characters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sage is a reflection of the Dark Age of
comics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The character of the narrator is
a representation of Morrison, and of Morrison’s belief that “we tend to live
our stories” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supergods </i>414).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nowhere is this more evident than in his
series, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Invisibles</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While writing the character of King Mob, he
gave this character a face disease.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
disease then manifested on Morrison’s face (Meaney 12).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The stories Morrison wrote became a reality
for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This feeds into his belief in
chaos magic, which tries to manipulate reality in a plausible way through
thought processes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This also explains
his negative viewpoints of Dark Age comics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If fiction has a power to become real, then the dark comics are creating
negative realities and this is a problem.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Wallace Sage narrates his own
struggle with meaning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first frame
of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex</i> shows a bomb, and then that
bomb exploding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Throughout the comic
random cartoon bombs appear and destroy reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These bombs are probably symptoms of Sage
destroying himself through a suicidal dose of drugs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he falls further into stages of overdose,
reality becomes a sketchy concept.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
blog estimated that there were up to seven “diegetic spaces” (Craft).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would add an eighth level of reality, that
of the world of the reader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These spaces
begin to merge creating just one reality at the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This merging becomes confusing at times as
the reader is unclear which reality is being represented and how it works in
relation to the other realities. By the end of the novel, Sage is shown to be
the bad guy in his own story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His
failure to embrace life has made him a hateful whiney adolescent who destroys
that which he cannot love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His journey
for meaning is paralleled by Flex’s search for truth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Flex and Atlas<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Morrison uses the character of Flex
Mentallo as a method to include the reader in the creation of meaning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Atlas ads used a character called Mac,
which is an obvious stereotype of the average comic reader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ads targeted “insecure youths” (Landon
200) in a direct way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ads addressed
the reader: “Let me PROVE I can make you a man” (Charles).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The comic was reaching out to the
consumer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morrison also addresses the
reader through the medium of his covers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The cover of issue one has Flex jumping towards the reader with the
exclamation: “YOU! Buy this comic NOW or the earth is <u>DOOMED!!</u>” (iss. 1).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both Atlas and Flex are reaching out to the
reader with similar goals, but with different results.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Atlas targets the insecurity of the reader by
portraying some similar “weakling” (Charles), while Flex is asking the reader
for help in saving the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The act of
asking for help creates for the reader some power and control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flex is asking the reader to improve the
world while Atlas wants the reader to improve his own body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This again ties in with Morrison’s belief
that comics have a power to improve reality beyond the page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morrison is obviously mimicking the ads
through an outlandish claim that by buying a comic the reader will save the
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Purchased comics assure Morrison
job security.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The claim is also a theme
running throughout the novel that the world is falling apart because life
becomes meaningless.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The earth of the
comic is doomed if Sage dies and gives up, and Flex needs the narrator to live
and allow the comic world to continue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Flex is not meant to be a stand in
for the reader; he was not built for that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was created to represent the purest form of the superhero.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flex fights crime with a smile, is kind,
gracious, and desires to help other people in the best possible way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He lacks all of the mental drawbacks and dark
characteristics that were popular in the late 80s and early 90s. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The realism in Miller and Moore troubled
Morrison: “Realism had become confused with a particularly adolescent kind of
pessimism and angry sexuality that I was beginning to find confining” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supergods</i> 233).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flex is a counter argument to Miller’s
revisioning of Batman and Moore’s ambiguous Rorschach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flex would not reflect the dark realism and
pessimism prevalent in the early 90s; instead his character would be cheerful
and kind throughout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He represents the
best that comics can offer while the narrator portrays the worst.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the end of the comic it is the narrator
that changes and accepts comic book superheroes like Flex and creates more in a
similar strain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nowhere is Flex brought
down or influenced by the grime of the world around him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is as it should be for Morrison’s
message to mean something.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a
consistent theme of Morrison in all of his comics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The world around may be grimy, dark, and
violent, but his protagonists maintain their integrity and values.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Flex is a typical superhero with
powers beyond the mortal man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He accepts
his responsibility and does not go about harming and terrorizing people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is dragged into mystery in the first few
pages when he sees “the Fact” drop a bomb in the food court of a mall. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rest of the graphic novel is Flex searching
for “the Fact” and trying to understand why he is throwing bombs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is constantly walking the streets that
Sage is also on, though the two never cross paths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flex is searching for truth in the form of
“the Fact”, while Sage is narrating his personal history of comics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flex follows the trail to the space
headquarters of the Legion of Legions to confront Sage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The confrontation between the two
protagonists is an attempt by Morrison to reconcile Mac with Atlas, and the
reader with comics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Chaos Magic<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Flex and Sage are related to each
other just as Charles Atlas is to Mac.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Flex and Sage are the comic abstractions of the earlier
advertisements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morrison uses this
relationship as a foil for his main characters, and ultimately as the symbolic
apparatus to resolve the conflict.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Morrison is a practitioner of Chaos Magic, and one of his tenants is as
follows, “Anything you can imagine, anything you can symbolize, can be made to
produce magical changes in your environment” (“Pop” 16).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His explanation is no different than his use
of it in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex Mentallo</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Sage is defeated and given advice on how
to live better, then the world becomes better for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is spiritually saved by Flex and has
gained a new existential awareness that allows him to live happily, and for
fiction to become real.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morrison does
not mean that Superman will fly off the page, but rather the reader can share
the values of superheroes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morrison has
a pragmatic use of magic that requires a positive outlook.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sage is the bad guy in the comic, and as
a bad guy he wears a half moon face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
the interpretational realm of magic, the half moon card has associations with
confusion, dreaming, and imagination (“The Moon”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are characteristics that Sage exhibits
throughout the novel as the creator and subject of the comic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His evil persona is as a confused deity that
is willing the end of the world through thought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Morrison says the opposite can happen,
that by using chaos magic a person can influence the world around him in a
positive way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He uses Flex as an Atlas
stand-in to reach the character of Sage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What Flex is selling is a way of life that is more interior than what
Atlas was advertising.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
final confrontation involves dialogue and not superheroics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the process Sage reveals his identity by
taking his moon mask off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reader is
shown the petulant face of Sage while he screams, “There!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So now you know my secret identity!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So What?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It doesn’t matter!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s all shit!
/ Pathetic fucking power fantasies for lonely wankers who’ve had so much sand
kicked in their faces” (iss. 4).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is
an obvious allusion to the Atlas ads with the mention of sand being kicked in
their faces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here Sage is becoming Mac,
and now Flex must become Atlas to achieve some connection with the relationship
these two have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two panels later Flex
quotes the ads, “Gamble a stamp. / I can show you how to be a real man” (iss. 4).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This panel is drawn from the perspective of
Sage, which allows the message to be directed at Sage and the reader simultaneously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flex breaks through the panel as he reaches
towards the reader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flex is not offering
a physical change here, but one of personality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He does not want the reader to have a body like his, but a disposition
like his.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flex gets a chance to help a
troubled person realize his potential.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>On the level of reality, this is the comic helping the reader understand
the potential of comics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sage laments
that, “The world’s going to end. / I made the world to end” (iss. 4).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sage must accept life by finding his meaning
in it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he finds meaning he can then
will the world to continue. Flex offers his advice to the struggling Sage,
“Being clever’s a fine thing, but sometimes a boy needs to get out of the house
and meet some girls” (iss. 4).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is
also directed at writers like Miller and Moore who need to realize that comics
do not have to be so gritty and realistic, they can also be fun escapist
superhero stories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The message given, Sage almost
immediately understands the problem: “Why should I want to commit suicide? I’ve
got a brilliant life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was me aged 16.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’d have killed me if it wasn’t for Flex” (iss.
4).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The change in Sage has been
made.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the first chapter Sage takes a
lethal amount of drugs to commit suicide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By chapter three, reality begins to become questionable and he starts to
wonder if the drugs were M+Ms instead, but is still unsure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After talking with Flex he states plainly,
“It was M+Ms” (iss. 4).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This statement
is an uplifting one of choosing life over death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is also imposing on his created reality
something favorable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sage wants the
drugs to be M+Ms and so they are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
may not be the reality, but it is now his accepted reality. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The world of reality shifts again to Sage as
narrator and shows the ending of the phone conversation, “Do you believe in
superheroes?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Imagine it real” (iss. 4).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here is where he lives up to his namesake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He talks a little longer and then the phone
batteries die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His story ends with a bright
yellow light exploding from his chest and then hundreds of superheroes flying
across a full page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the genesis
of superheroes in his world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They become
real for Sage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather than mock them as
he mocked Flex, he has embraced the virtues and qualities that superhero stories
convey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The superhero has been redeemed
from Miller and Moore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Form as Metafiction<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The two protagonists each have their
own goals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flex is searching for “the
Fact” and Sage is looking for meaning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Their stories overlap and confront one another in the medium of the
graphic novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pictures and
allusions that escape the notice of the two main characters are there for the
reader to see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morrison displays the
history of comics and deconstructs the form as another way to lend meaning to
the main story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this meaning is lost
if the reader does not know what to look for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Patricia Waugh says that, “To be successfully decoded, then,
experimental fiction of any variety requires an audience which is
self-conscious about its linguistic practices” (64).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The audience for this comic is of course
somewhat selective, with only the more knowledgeable readers grasping some of
the more subtle references.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It does not
exclude meaning for the beginning reader, but the meaning becomes less
relevant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark knight Returns</i> there are
several iconic images, one of which is Batman jumping from a rooftop with
searing lightning in the background.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This marked the dramatic return of Batman after ten years of
seclusion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A similar image appears in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex</i>, but instead of Batman a plane
flies through a panel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather than be
iconic and important, the absence of anything of worth creates a new
meaning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The absence of Batman, or any
other superhero flying across the panel reveals the loss of superheroes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The picture is drab and lacks purpose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quitely parodies Miller here showing that
after Miller the superhero is absent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Miller killed the best part of the superhero.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A couple of scenes later, thugs that look
like the Mutants, villains from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Dark
Knight Returns</i>, attack a female pedestrian while the narrator on the phone
watches dispassionately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Batman does not
rescue the woman; no one seems to help her at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later Sage wonders what happened to her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this point in comics no one seems to care
enough about the victim to want to help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The pleasure comes from the violence itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The references to contemporary works
highlight the problems that Sage is going through: the absence of social values
in comics or in people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sage could have
tried to help her, or at least offer her some advice before walking down a dark
alley.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His passive role betrays his
inability to take any virtues from the comics he is talking about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without knowledge of the comics Morrison is
arguing against, half of the debate is missing, and the beginning reader is
left guessing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Morrison and Quitely reference and
parody styles from the three ages of comics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By deconstructing the history of comics through comics, Morrison and
Quitely are making the reader aware of comics as artifacts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The form provides a “critique of their own
methods of construction …[and] they also explore the possible fictionality of
the world outside the literary fictional text” (Waugh 2).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fictionality of the graphic novel keeps
the reader from enjoying the work as though it was just another superhero
yarn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The novel requires readers to
focus on the artifact so that the message can be applied to the reader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those empty spaces begin to get filled as the
story nears it end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Superheroes can be
seen walking in the background, and start to force themselves into the life of
Sage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They emerge from his subconscious
and forgotten memories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the end, the
novel starts to plot like a more traditional comic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The construction of the fourth chapter has a
typical superhero story that involves good overcoming evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a far cry from the ambiguity of the
story from the first three chapters in the novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The form of the graphic novel has emerged by
the end to coincide with the meeting of Flex and Sage.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Fiction as Remembered<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Morrison and Quitely are not
creating a new form of comic divorced from the past, but one that lives because
of the past. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The characters must retain
what it was that made them special in the first place. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is little to find comforting in Moore’s
violent Rorschach or Miller’s sadistic Batman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This apparent loss of praiseworthy values is depicted in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex</i> as a forgotten past that the
narrator is trying to uncover.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
narrator slowly recalls his past, which involved superheroes and a forgotten
magical word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the fourth issue Sage
picks up an incomplete crossword that Flex had dropped earlier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the word God spoke to bring the
universe into being and the narrator has to remember it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The crossword has most of the word completed:
S-H-A-__-A-__ except for two letters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
forgotten word is reproduced as a puzzle that invites the reader to complete it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the clue to solve the crossword is
concealed from the reader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reader
has no starting point for completing the crossword, and is forced to make an
educated guess based on the various allusions to Captain Marvel that preceded
the presentation of the crossword. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morrison
purposefully left those two spaces empty causing the reader to imagine the word
to be “SHAZAM”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the
transformative word that turned Billy Batson into Captain Marvel, a superhero
rivaled only by Superman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this word
is only limited to the transformation of Batson, and does not affect the
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This transformation recalls the
relationship between Charles Atlas and Mac.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This magical word is then too limiting for Morrison to use, and he must
seek a different word that transforms both the speaker and the world beyond the
speaker.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The magical word will not be revealed
until Sage and the reader are prepared to know it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its revelation must be when Sage is prepared
to utter it based on his awareness of the power of fiction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If given too early Sage will discard the
meaning and not use it because he has no belief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Sage gains belief he remembers that the
word is SHAMAN and is able to finish the puzzle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the word is spoken, the magic of fiction
becomes real.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is able to interact
with the spiritual world and altered realities in order to shape his current
reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is made possible through
the intervention of Nanoman and his wife.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The two shrink down to the size of quanta and exist at the quantum
level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And like quanta, they behave like
sub atomic particles by simultaneously existing in all places and all times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They await the initial belief from Sage
before they make fiction into reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This process is described even more in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All Star Superman</i> (2008), another graphic novel by Morrison, by
having Lex Luthor physically look at the quantum level and realize, ““The
fundamental forces are all yoked by thought alone” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">All Star </i>287).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The energy
that binds the theories of relativity and quantum mechanics together is thought
itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex, </i>thought is replaced with Nanoman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The potential of fiction, according to Morrison’s
hopeful reasoning, can physically transform the world through the reader’s
thought power alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The incantations
are used with differing levels of success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>SHAZAM transforms the speaker; SHAMAN transforms the world around the
speaker. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The expectations of the reader when
they first see the incomplete word are of changing yourself only, but by the
end the reader is hopefully prepared to accept the full extent of the
message.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The incomplete rendering of the
word is a reflection of the incomplete understanding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morrison has to inform the reader before they
too can know the word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The novel becomes
a learning experience by playing with inferred expectations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sage, as creator and reader, is the
shaman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a shared role between
the writer and reader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The writer acts
as the shaman to give an opportunity for the reader to enact the transformation
of fiction into something real.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The three strains of metafiction in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex Mentallo</i> work together to construct
a new form of comics for the reader to follow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Each strain is a criticism through parody of what Morrison feels does
not suit the nature of comics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flex
critiques the ads of Atlas and the interpretations of Wertham, while
symbolizing the pure superhero.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wallace
Sage is a criticism of writers of realism like Miller and Moore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the artifact of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex </i>portrays the various techniques and styles used in mainstream
comics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Morrison wants to break away
from the current Dark Age and start, what he called it in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supergods</i>, the Renaissance Age in comics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To achieve this he has to move on from the
past and embrace a future with archetypal superheroes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The journey of Sage from suicidal to aware is
just such a move.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reader must leave
behind the deconstructed superhero of Miller and embrace the superhero as
someone greater than man, which Sage has done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Morrison has given the reader all of the keys to do this through his graphic
novel; it remains for the readers to accept Morrison’s interpretation and
beliefs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> </span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Works Cited<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Charles
Atlas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Advertisement. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Toptenz.net.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>13 November 2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Web.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Craft,
Jason.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Annotated </i>Flex Mentallo: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A
Reading Guide</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Web.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>20 Nov. 2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><http://www.earthx.org/flex/commentary/index.html>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Garrett,
Greg.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Holy Superheroes!: Exploring the Sacred in Comics, Graphic Novels, and
Film</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Louisville,
KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Print.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Landon,
Richard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“A Half-Naked Muscleman in
Trunks: Charles Atlas, Superheroes, and <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Comic
Book Masculinity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Journal of the Fantastic</i> 18.2 (2007): 200-16.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Print.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">McCloud,
Scott.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Understanding Comics</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New
York: Harper Collins, 1993.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Print.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Morrison,
Grant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quitely, Frank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex
Mentallo: Man of Muscle Mystery</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New
York: DC <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Comics,
2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Print.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Morrison,
Grant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supergods</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New York: Spiegel
& Grau, 2012.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Print.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Morrison,
Grant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Pop Magic!”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Book of
Lies: The Disinformation Guide to Magick and the <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Occult</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New York:
Disinormation, 2003.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Print.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Waugh,
Patricia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Metafiction: The Theory and Practice of Self-Conscious Fiction</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>London: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Methuen,
1984.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Print.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="mso-element: footnote-list;">
<!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<div id="ftn1" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3129842579674328052#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn1;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> I
am using Morrison’s terminology and definitions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3129842579674328052#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn2;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a>
The collected edition of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex Mentallo</i>,
released in 2012,<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>used has no page
numbers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have opted to use issue
numbers for reference instead.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn3" style="mso-element: footnote;">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3129842579674328052#_ftnref3" name="_ftn3" style="mso-footnote-id: ftn3;" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="mso-special-character: footnote;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flex Mentallo, Man of Muscle Mystery</i> can
be seen as a template for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supergods</i>” (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Supergods </i>268).<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
</div>
<!--EndFragment-->fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-22076719084788974402012-12-02T18:45:00.001-08:002012-12-02T18:45:10.120-08:00Justice is done.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cXMlxRVZvtg/ULwRCg3xFfI/AAAAAAAAAN0/aR9rNbeuabk/s1600/Justice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cXMlxRVZvtg/ULwRCg3xFfI/AAAAAAAAAN0/aR9rNbeuabk/s400/Justice.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
This is another beautiful graphic novel pencilled and painted (watercolor) by Alex Ross. This is an epic story where Lex Luthor and Brainiac team up to defeat the JLA. They almost do. There are moments where the heroes talk about having to lose sometime. But no one dies, well except millions of human. I guess they don't count. No one of import in the comic world dies. Luthor goes to prison, Brainiac flies off into deep space, and Aquaman grows his brain back. That's right, Aquaman can regrow the portion of brain that Brainiac cut out. I guess we can add that power to his already accomplished resume. The story was engaging enough, but I bought it to see Ross' beautiful artwork. If only Ross would work with some of the industry's best writers that would be something really beautiful.fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-39894945513473092122012-11-23T19:24:00.003-08:002012-11-23T19:24:57.809-08:00Alex Ross portfolio<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vM1vVZniaUI/ULA8yt7Bn5I/AAAAAAAAANg/rFab6iO2lL4/s1600/kingdom+come.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="299" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vM1vVZniaUI/ULA8yt7Bn5I/AAAAAAAAANg/rFab6iO2lL4/s400/kingdom+come.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
The main reason to buy a comic with Alex Ross involved is because of the amazing art work involved. The plot can be terrible, but the artwork never will be. Thankfully this comic had a decent plot, but it is Ross that makes this book really work. Ross works from still photos of his friends and family and paints them in beautiful watercolors for each panel. he captures emotion better than any comic book artist I have seen. The characters of Superman and Batman achieve a new level of depth under the brush of Ross. We can truly see a disingenuous Bruce Wayne smile that betrays the words coming from his mouth. Or a wearied and humbled Superman. Ross brings a level of artistry and understanding to his characters that goes beyond the words given him. He is one of the few artists I will read a comic for, the rest of the time I am reading writers.fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-10802842910168495282012-11-23T19:19:00.000-08:002012-11-23T19:19:07.074-08:00Supergods<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tjQE7mkekGM/ULA7dbnABWI/AAAAAAAAANY/Ohh5iBcriZk/s1600/supergods.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tjQE7mkekGM/ULA7dbnABWI/AAAAAAAAANY/Ohh5iBcriZk/s1600/supergods.jpg" /></a></div>
I am on a Morrison kick right now. Having read the majority of his graphic novels I gave his history of comics a chance. And expecting a dry account of what comics are about, this book is an autobiography disguised as history. In a way it kind of felt like the history teacher from <i>Waterland</i> giving an autobiography as history. This is more accurately a history of Morrison's relation to the varying stages of comics. He might start a chapter on Frank Miller and end the chapter talking about his father. I would estimate that nearly half of the stuff in this book is about Morrison, or Morrison's comics. I liked it, but the title is misleading if you are expecting a history with an absent author. Morrison is all over the place here, popping up wherever his stream of conscious leads him. I like his style of writing and his amazing understanding of the medium he works in. he is one of the top writers in the industry for the simple reason that he knows his comics and literary theory. And at 425 pages, there is a lot of history here.fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-11822085747028676362012-11-14T08:38:00.005-08:002012-11-14T08:38:59.405-08:00#86 Teaching Writing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nE2TZALTUmA/UKPITI4-9LI/AAAAAAAAANE/PoU51TGB_tw/s1600/St.+Martins+teaching+writing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nE2TZALTUmA/UKPITI4-9LI/AAAAAAAAANE/PoU51TGB_tw/s1600/St.+Martins+teaching+writing.jpg" /></a></div>
I guess this is my first official theory book assigned in school to make my blog. All the other ones we only read sections and I doubt I will finish any of them on my own. This book basically goes through the process of teaching a college freshman composition class in America. Extremely helpful, and also seems like it would have been helpful when I was in Korea. Some good ideas here, I wish I had taught my classes in Korea as though my students were more mature. Maybe emphasize collaborative projects at the beginning and portfolios as well. I'll just have to keep this in mind for my next time round in Korea, which I find I miss deeply (Probably won't happen until I am finished with school here). fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-76026390580351199522012-11-05T21:42:00.001-08:002012-11-05T21:42:04.274-08:00Allstar Shut-Up-Man and the Boy Brat (Snot)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zlv8uVIFIj0/UJig-rOdCgI/AAAAAAAAAMw/WtYYELdhkXc/s1600/allstar+batman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zlv8uVIFIj0/UJig-rOdCgI/AAAAAAAAAMw/WtYYELdhkXc/s320/allstar+batman.jpg" width="317" /></a></div>
All Star Batman and the Boy Wonder<br />
<br />
Oh Frank Miller, how have you fallen. It is a bad sign when your graphic novel's most famous line is ridiculed and mocked. "Are you retarded? I'm the goddamn Batman." I understand what Miller was trying to accomplish by making Batman a psychopath. This is an extreme interpretation of Bruce Wayne and his imbalances. But what doesn't jive is that Miller still retained Wayne as an amazing detective and extremely intelligent, but he talks like a street thug. I lost count of how many times he tells people to shut up. His inner monologues are simplistic in diction, and veering towards the crazy most of he time. I love re-imaginings of characters, it keeps the medium alive, but this was a misfire. The characters do not work as psychos, street thugs, geniuses, compassionate, vigilante, and wise. This cannot be contained in one character! You can't have it all Miller. It doesn't help that the story arc was left unfinished, probably because Miller realized his own misdirection here. Maybe if it was completed the appearance of Black Canary, the Joker, and Batgirl would be better explained rather than as name dropping. Well, in the case of Black Canary, it seems her only purpose was to look sexy all over the place. This is one of those depressingly bad books that make you sad because of the lost potential. having said this, a failure by Frank Miller is far more interesting than a success by a lesser writer. All that is wrong with this book, and there is a lot wrong, leaves the reader wondering at the miscues. This wondering forces the reader to deconstruct the idea of Batman and the character of Bruce Wayne. Lemonade here folks.fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-69682565353681025902012-10-29T17:56:00.003-07:002012-10-29T17:56:38.211-07:00#84 JLAHaven't been able to finish a book lately. Mostly reading selections of theory and essays. Got to say I am really not enjoying Derrida. What is the deal with that guy?<br />
<br />
The latest book I have been able to complete in my spare time, which is sparse these days, is the complete JLA run by Grant Morrison. He came in and reinvigorated the Justice League of America with his frenetic impending disaster narrative style. The book was exhausting with each page bringing in another element of armageddon and it wouldn't relent. I have rarely read such a sustained effort to overwhelm a reader than this book. These were not simple capers, but evil designed and placed throughout time and dimensional universes which sometimes threatened spacetime itself. Few books set out at such a fast pace and maintain that speed for 41 issues. There was never time between world saving exploits for friendly banter or rest. Right on the heels came another global threat. I must say the experience was something that I am glad to have gone through, but I could not sustain myself on comics like these, I think I like a slower pace these days.<br />
<br />
Morrison's JLA: Earth 2 is the slower pace I enjoy. Here the characters are more important and dialogue is not occurring amidst a galactic battle. The drawings are by Frank Quitely, and absolutely beautiful. This is the storytelling I can love, and a pace that doesn't overwhelm. These are characters that deserve sympathy because they emote a sense of the real. I wonder if Morrison wrote this as a contrast. If his JLA was a statement of what he felt comics have become by exaggerating it in a sort of parody. The pace is unlike anything he has done before, perhaps he was making a point.fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3129842579674328052.post-82821925975052134472012-10-10T08:06:00.000-07:002012-10-10T08:06:28.448-07:00Getting busyThis is more of a list than anything. Finding time to make entries is getting difficult these days between teaching class, going to class, reading for class, making presentations, and writing papers. I thought this was going to be a vacation...well not really.<br />
<br />
81- <i>Understanding Comics</i> by Scott Macloud. Great theoretical graphic novel trying to show how the reader interprets the images and words on the comic page. Some really abstract information in here. Was really pleased with what I was able to take away from this.<br />
<br />
82- <i>Wild Life</i> by Molly Gloss. A Northwest writer writing a feminist novel about a woman at the turn of the 20th century in Washington. This is one of those books that crosses many genres.<br />
<br />
83- <i>Elements of Style</i> by Strunk and White. I should have read this tiny volume years ago, it definitely is a great little book despite being 80 years old. I will be teaching from this next semester.fantsmaclehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00326182941010234911noreply@blogger.com1