I found the art and overall visual aesthetics to be absolutely fascinating in this book, more so than the rest of the books we have read thus far. I say this because of the detail faces, coloring, shading, and wide landscaped dartboards. In Understanding Comics, McCloud mentioned that the outside views from afar and angled are not common across all countries- I found it fascinating that the authors in this book included many of those types. What are your thoughts on the art and overall visual aesthetics of this book?
The story is extremely heavy in this book. From all the books we have read so far, how would you rate this on intensity? Do you think a graphic novel was a good platform to put this kind of story on? Why or why not? The images were even a little more violent and almost surreal than all the books we have read so far, as well (at least in my opinion). Do you agree or disagree?
Finally, even though this was technically a fiction-based book, something a little different than what we have done, it seemed just as real to me and believable as all the other stories we have read. What are your thoughts on this? Would this seem more real if it was in a regular chapter book and not a graphic novel?
I really liked the art in this book as well. I find it interesting that a book that captures the conflict between black and white race in southern America was drawn using the black and white binary scheme. Even more interesting was the fact that the depictions of race did were not binary at all. I think the fact that the reader has to pay attention to much more subtle features of each character in order to determine race is one of the most powerful ways the book gets it's message across.
ReplyDeleteI think this book's story was definitely the heaviest that we have read so far and quite a few of the scenes were pretty violent. Just like Amerian born Chinese, I think Incognegro does a great job of using it's art style to get the point regarding race across to the reader. However where American Born Chinese uses satire and caricature to be provocative, Incognegro is much more gritty as it realistically captures some of the horrors of the time.
I think the medium for which the story was told was appropriate. I think we've seen a lot of heavy topics throughout this course depicted through graphic novel forms, and I do think that's an extremely effective way to "show, not tell" what is going on. If you think about it, most people are visual learners and this type of medium for story telling is effective for that majority of individuals.
ReplyDeleteI would rate the intensity at a 7; I cannot minimize the other stories, as they all tell very different stories, all of which are important, but I understand what you mean about this feeling the heaviest.
I think the medium for which the story was told was appropriate. I think we've seen a lot of heavy topics throughout this course depicted through graphic novel forms, and I do think that's an extremely effective way to "show, not tell" what is going on. If you think about it, most people are visual learners and this type of medium for story telling is effective for that majority of individuals.
ReplyDeleteI would rate the intensity at a 7; I cannot minimize the other stories, as they all tell very different stories, all of which are important, but I understand what you mean about this feeling the heaviest.
I think this comic seems so heavy because the obstacles illustrated are still pretty relevant in the media today. While it is not as extreme, and our culture has definitely advanced from the racism shown in Incognegro, but but the same kind of issues are still apparent.
ReplyDeleteI think using a graphic novel as a medium is an extremely effective choice. I know a lot of information is lost from these kind of narratives if they are only written novels. The visuals add another dimension of reality, even though the aesthetic of the illustrations are a little more stylized or surreal, they become a little more tactile.