Thank you and final paper!

Thanks for your insightful comments throughout this semester! Please don't hesitate to be in touch as you complete your final papers if you'd like any feedback (I am happy to look at introductions or early drafts) or have questions. I hope to encounter some of you in class in person in the future!

Stitches

David Small is widely known for his successful children's books. Stitches is obviously a book that is geared towards a more adult audience. This can be seen in both the book's content and his art style. What about this book do you think makes it geared more towards teens/adults. Which of McCloud's concepts relate to this stark difference? You can use samples from his other books such as "Imogene's Antlers" and "Eulalie and the Hopping Head" for reference of some of his other work.

Stitches, By David Small.

The memoir Stitches is tale full of grim insight into David Small’s life. The opening scenes describe a family where each member has their own unique language, His mother had her cough, his dad had his punching bag, his brother had his drums, and he had “getting sick”. Throughout the story there are several parallels that run through the storylines. Both David and his mother express themselves in silence; the silence of course is forced on David by his parents through their lack of medical urgency. However do you believe that David mother’s silence may have been forced on her as well by her own upbringing by Grandma Murphy?

I also thought there was an interesting tension between David being teased as being a homosexual early on in the memoir by the other children for pretending to be Alice from Alice in Wonderland and his mother’s own silenced homosexuality. Additionally Dr. White Rabbit being the person who tells him many truths, one of which being “your mother doesn’t love you”. Is there significance to these things being veiled in the “magical” world of Alice and Wonderland?

And lastly, did anyone read the information about David Smalls mother at the end of the book? Did this change your perspective of his mother at all?

Stitches

Stitches is set in home in Detroit during the 1950's. This was a different time for families and for the way problems were dealt with emotionally. David's mother especially would likely be living a much different life if she were born in a different time period.  What other facets of David's life would have been different if he were born in modern times? How so?

The art in this book is very strange at times, almost reminiscent of a horror film. What do you believe the author is trying to portray with his chosen artistic style? Is he making a statement by using black and white or is there a more simple explanation?

David has a slight obsession with Alice in Wonderland. This manifests in several areas of the book, including his therapist being depicted a the white rabbit. What are the connections between Alice in Wonderland and David's life? Why was the white rabbit chosen, is it simply a character we recognize or does the author suggest a deeper connection between the two?

Comic Extra credit submission

Morning

Sofia Castagna

When making this comic, I came about it sort of in a poetic way. I didn’t want there to be much dialogue, but to use the sequence of imagery to tell the story. I set up the narrative in a way that the viewer sees the character performing the mundane act of preparing breakfast. While the storyline is subtle, I wanted to create perspectives that made the action more interesting. I felt myself composing the panels like a director would compose his cinematic views.

To imitate the gentle light of morning, I tried to draw with low contrast, to create a soft atmosphere. Again, the lack of drama adds to the mundane nature of the action. I wanted to create and ending impression that kind of comes out of nowhere, but again, is not too theatrical or like a movie twist. My aim was to set up an atmosphere that the viewer can pick up on, and then question their own judgement at the end.

Throughout the process, I found myself making the same choices that I do in my other work, not surprisingly. Typically, I make subtle figurative work which captures a candid moment in time. Using comics as a medium allowed me to create more than one still frame, which is typical of my work, but create an ongoing narrative. The excuse that I love doing any kind of assignment that involves art led to me dedicating way too much time to this comic, however it was worth the end result. I had hoped to challenge myself to create a more stylized drawing, but thus is life.

I would love to hear feedback from all of you, Thanks!

Arab of the Future

The Arab of the Future depicts Riad, the child of a French mother and Syrian father, growing up in a family of mixed cultures and customs. This memoir follows Riad and his family through France, Libya, and Syria as they try to settle into a place they all three can call home.

The primary focus of this story seems to be on the father in particular, Abdel-Razak Sattouf, and his struggles to be both a well educated man of Arabic decent and a proud loyalist to his country and cultures customs. It seems that throughout this memoir we see Abdel-Razak constantly struggle in defending his family from the cruelness of his own culture as well as defending his culture and customs to his wife and children.

Abdel is a smart man who knew the dangers of moving his family to Libya and Syria to become a teacher despite having many offers to teach elsewhere, why do you believe he chose to bring his family to these places despite the opportunity to have a better life that he worked very hard to achieve? Additionally, do you sense that his attitudes towards education and his culture shift as the story goes on?

Where do Riad and his mother fit in amongst his father’s story? Despite being in almost every frame, his mother seems to be a secondary character in this memoir, her only true defining scenes being in opposition to her husband’s culture and the things happening around her. Of what importance is her character?

The Arab of the Future

This graphic novel is set in three different countries. Each country is set to a different color: yellow, red or blue. Do you think there is a reason each color was chosen to represent each country? Do the colors represent anything else in regards to the story?

 The Arab of the Future presents a gritty, unflattering depiction of the residents of the countries the story visits. Is the depiction of the characters fair, more so is the depiction racist? What role, if any, does race play within the story? 

The use of time is critical to the story and allows the reader to experience tension in a creative way. Do you believe this type of storytelling works or does it feel forced?  Does this “time travel” help or hinder the characterization of Riad?