Revised on Peanuts with an establishing review on Calvin and Hobbes

Each character is bigger than life with their individual personalities, that spark great humor. These two pieces have so much charm that they continue to live on and on. What I think is so great about these characters are their childhood thinking is justified but are also relatable to older audiences with the cynicism on life and relationships, it's actually quite endearing. The punchline to the comics are always heartwarming with it's humor, and the characters progress with simplicity. A big difference in these pieces is that Hobbes, as much as he feels real, is imaginary, and him and Calvin go on many adventures together. Even though they use similar humor and setups, they way it's told is different. What I think is most fascinating is how neither of these scripts are visually simple, yet they are defined and different from one another in a way that they become iconic for their simplicity.

Scott Pilgrim

Scott Pilgrim is amazingly fast pace, and simply put, fun. I think O'Malley did something nearly impossible, which is have every single character be likeable. Scott Pilgrim is familiar. What I mean by that is that the dialogue shared between the characters is familiar to how I think a lot of us relate and converse with the people around us. Their is this youthfulness energy that I think also adds to the likeness for this work, as well as the pace and the overall tone. Everything about this book is sincere and genuine. I think the author combines the elements of a coming-of-age story and a fantastical action pack story together brilliantly. Another reason the characters, especially Scott, are likeable is because of the bit of selfish tendencies he has at first. It's because he makes mistakes, yet grows from them. Even though I don't really agree with some of Scott's actions at first, I do like him and empathize with him enough to follow him on his journey.

Daytripper

Daytripper was one of my favorite pieces that I read. Every single aspect of it is truly well thought out and detailed and unique. I love the way the story is told. It sets itself apart from other works and it grabbed me from the very beginning and I was hooked throughout. What I think shows the talents of the author is how each chapter ends the same, with the demise of Bras. Even though after the first couple of times it is to be expected, the story and illustrations are so interesting, that you are still somewhat surprised at the end. I love the overall energy of this story. Each chapter is a fragment of Bras's life, but always an important moment in his life. I feel like the "twist" at the end could get repetitive, but because of the theme that is stated through subtext, which is in my opinion....that even the tiniest decisions can lead to huge consequences.

Exit Wounds

I really enjoy the overall story and tone of Exit Wounds, even though I think that the characters could have been fleshed out more so. The things I enjoy is how personal this story is. As much as I appreciate fantastical and epic stories, I appreciate using the medium of comic books and graphic novels to tell a realistic depiction of heavy subject matter in a fantastical medium. I also enjoy that amount of knowledge I gain on other cultures, by just reading about these characters. It's extremely similar to observing people with different cultures in real life. It's rich and fascinating the way the author is able to convey so much through an overall tone, even though it does deal with a culture identity, it is more about the loss of strong personal connections. I think the way the author is able to create a character, the character of the father, without actually really ever seeing him is fascinating and really brilliant, and truly matches the authors talent at character development with Koby. The actual artwork is interesting for sure. It's not to detailed, especially in the faces, but the dynamic scale that is used is completely subjective, placing you both in the midst of everything, but also as an observer.

Persepolis

This is a story that could be read by a lot of people, but the way it was told and the techniques used to tell it made it extremely more visceral to connect to. One of the aspects that I found interesting, which is something I thought a lot about after I read it, but while reading, was the fact that she had to hide music under her coat out of fear. That is something I think American's cannot really grasp, and it was a great tool, even though it was her reality, to help readers really understand the massive importance and insanity that these people had to live through. This also made the rebellion seem much more dynamic, in terms of being a reader. I loved reading in the perspective of a young girl. Not only was it easy to follow, but also easy to relate to. I also love how the author thinks very detailedly about the use of text and the use of illustrations. At some points no words are needed, and the simple images does the story and the characters justice, and other times it is the complete opposite. It seemed very thought out, but also very in the moment.

Fun Home

I eat 'memoir's' up. I enjoy them as much as reading fiction, maybe even more some times. So I was extra excited to read a memoir in graphic novel form. As well as reading it from a female writer and a female protagonist point of view. I love graphic novels, don't get me wrong, but sometimes as a huge reader, I get thrown off by the straight-to-the-point mumbo jumbo dialogue sometimes used in graphic novel form, so I was in so much bliss that the way Bechdel wrote was with so much beautiful prose. I always love to read about families, because even though usually they are heart-wrenching stories, they always sort of make you feel extremely connected to something. At least if you have come from a broken home, or a dysfunctional family of sorts, which a lot of people do.

Another reason why I loved this was because of the perfect balance between humor and emotional ranges. I feel like the best stories, the best tones, are to have a really organic, but hilarious situation or moment come right after a completely devastating emotional moment. And that is what she did. It was structured rather interestingly that I think could have been disfigured, but because it was so precise in detail and character development, it worked perfectly.

Maus

I think a conscious choice that Art Spiegelman made was to depict the characters as animals. I think this is a brilliant choice because immersed in a story about the Holocaust can be tremendously difficult. Even though it was still difficult to read, it sort of created a barrier between the reader and the characters. I first read Maus in high school for my history class. I ate through the pages. I connected with the story, and could not stop reading. This was completely different from how I responded to a story like The Diary of Anne Frank. I connected with her story but it was extremely difficult to read, and I was constantly having to separate myself from it. I also love the way he starts the story. A simple story of a child asking their father about how they met their mother. It's a common question, and I think it starts such a huge and iconic story in a way that is simple and realistic. Some times these stories are so weighed down with facts that it loses the humanity from the time, and I think Spiegelman found a great way to write a story dealing with heavy subject matter in a way that is universally relatable, because at the end of the day it is a story about love and survival.