Week 13: redefining the Super Hero

The Joke That Kills

1. My initial reaction to the Killing Joke was that of awe and intrigue as the back story of the Joker character has only ever been shrouded in some mystery as it was only ever hinted at but never explicitly explained. It also one of sympathy as the story really tries to make a long time villain the victim of the story.
2. The connection I made to the story was that this comic was somewhat defiant of the stereotypical "Batman" story as it didn't deal with Batman's side of the story. But rather instead chooses to explore the Joker's psyche, proposing the Idea to the audience that instead all it takes is one bade day for someone to turn out like him. I was able to connect more to the Joker though this story as it paints him as a tragic character that was a product of his environment.
3. The changes that would be made to adapt the story is somewhat minimal as most works or mediums that gain popularity are usually due to its appeal within that genre/medium. To adapt it to a new medium while maintaining the spirit, appeal and overall mood and theme of the story is a difficult task. You either create a 1:1 adaption of the story, it moments and dialogue or you take creative liberties with it to make it truly special but not faithful to the source material at all. (akin Stephen King's the Shining and Stanley Kubrick version). For comics the easiest route to adapt to would be animation as the two are closely related and require no rewrites or major redesigns. 
4. This story differs somewhat greatly from the typical hero power fantasy because it tells the villains side of the story and makes the reader sympathizes with them. Also the main character of the series, Batman, isn't out fighting overpowered villains in this story, instead he is just going around doing detective work on the Joker, he isn't fighting some super powered overpowered beings.  

Week 11: Comics as contemporary litereature

Literary Comics

The comic has been through many iterations and stages throughout its runtime that only up until recently in the west has the comic taken a more serious tone in both its content and  viewership. In the past comics where viewed as just very casual pieces of short digestible content that anyone could pickup and read. This was as to keep the audience as broad as possible so that. But now that the underground comics movement set the precedent for more mature and grotesque content that the comic can truly show its potential as a medium of serious literature. 

For this Week I read Sin City, and Channel Zero with the former being interesting to me as it introduced me personally to the idea of a weekly comic with a hard set overarching story as most comic I had read until then only had loose moment to moment interactions tying them together. I enjoyed this immensely as i reminded me of a serialized novel or book series that each had its own contained story, but in service of a grander tale.

For the Later ,Channel Zero, I found strong particular interest in as I reminded me of some other forms of media like the video game, which can go hand in hand in viewing this comic as the literary piece as a good handful of media works are later interpreted by others in other forms of media. 

In many ways these two pieces are very similar to each other as both share the same messages (Anti-Establishment) and anti capitalist, as well as sharing the world's asthetic.

Week 10: Japanese Comics

Western Vs Eastern Comics

Starting with the Western hemisphere I had noticed that the western comics are made up of interconnected "moments" in there story arcs rather than a singular narrative told through-out as seen in contemporary manga. 

Comics are called many things in different countries. In the West it is often call comic books or graphic novels if the subject material is deemed mature. But this week i wanted to focus on how the two works from the opposite sides of the hemispheres.

The Death in The Family  or Batman comics in general are a good example of this as Batman's identity. A story in which one of his sidekicks are killed. However apart from moments like this he relative stays and acts the same. His story and comic runs are defined by his "moments" rather than his "Overarching" character arc as he needs to same the same as he was day one in order for there to be a "Batman" this is seen mainly throughout the western comics.

Contrasted with the Wests styling of storytelling the Eastern comic shows the opposite in many respects. Instead of moment to moment events the story is rather defined by the "Overarching" plot and characters rather than sequential obstacle. With western comic we see the emphasis on the individual and what they can do in the world. What makes them special. In manga there is the slight opposite. Although yes the main protagonists are seen as being different fro the rest of their respective group. The story arc are almost always defined by the characters and there interactions. In many manga it is typical for villains to later turn to allies as the manga likes to emphasize the group rather than the individual.

These stark differences in story telling are mainly due to how the respective hemispheres deal with comics. In the West the work of making a comic is divided among several people while the manga is usually worked on by one individual person telling their story.