Graphic Review

I would first like to take the time to wish everyone a happy new year.  This past year has been interesting, to say the least.  I’m hoping that 2009 will be quite a bit less interesting, and a little bit more normal.  Perhaps life will get a little bit less hectic.  But probably not.

This entry is dedicated to two people, Cassandra and Ruby, for introducing me to a new medium and allowing me to be cheap.

I have recently fallen into a slump regarding my reading.  I haven’t stopped reading altogether, but my choice in books has become somewhat less sophisticated, while at the same time, far more advanced on another level.  I have been redirecting my attention from Possession and Wuthering Heights to a far more entertaining and artistic form of literary expression: Graphic novels.

Since childhood, I’ve always had a tendency to read comic books and graphic novels in my free time, but hardly ever did these light-hearted adventures replace reading complicated books.  I enjoyed the occasional Fantastic Four, Spiderman, Batman, Archie comic, and even Japanese Manga, but I would always continue with my Of Mice and Men, Catch 22, Mark Twain, and all that jazz.  It was not until recently that I realized the extent that graphic novels affected my reading habits. 

I am currently reading both Watchmen and V for Vendetta, conceived from the ingenious mind of Alan Moore.  I have Maus and The Spirit waiting on my desk for me to finish my current tasks.  Although reading these graphic novels is not the same as classic literature, the specific novels that I am reading provide the mind with insightful ideas, and kindling for future thoughts. 

Watchmen is set in the 1980s, and provides an alternate reality for the United States.  It follows the lives of retired superheroes, but shows them in a light that we may not be used to.  When I think back to my old comic book days, I think of Batman in a positive light.  He used his intellect to fight crime, and never possesed any superhuman gifts.  If I were to imagine Batman as a real person, however, I would realize that he was simply an odd little man who ran around the streets of Gotham at night in leotards.  It is this perspective that is somewhat portrayed in Watchmen.  On top of that, each character within Watchmen has a unique mindset, and the reader has the opportunity to see the world through several twisted perspectives of costumed adventurers.  Watchmen is a psychological masterpiece that had me absolutely captivated from the first frame, with twisting side-plots that intermingle and overlap at perfect moments.  Kudos to Time Magazine for voting it one of the 100 best novels. 

V for Vendetta has a similar feel to Watchmen, but is an entirely new entity.  Written in the nineteen eighties, V for Vendetta takes place in the ‘future’, the 1990s, where United Kingdom is run by a totalitarian government.  Dressed in a Guy Fawkes mask and often seen with a dark billowing cape and hat, “V” is a radical anarchist bent on destroying the government that suppresses him.  V for Vendetta shows what the human spirit can achieve while fighting against powerful oppression and for what is right. 

Both of these graphic novels have compelling plots and delve into human psychology in a unique fashion, but that is not the only reason why I have been converted to the world of comics.  The art of graphic novels, specifically Watchmen and V for Vendetta, is constructed in a way that enriches the story to an extent that simply cannot be achieved by text alone.  David Lloyd’s conservative panel layout in V for Vendetta gave the book a completely different feel than it would have had if the layout varied between the pages.  This format also allowed Lloyd to emphasize certain scenes by having the layout drastically change periodically.  In Watchmen, Dave Gibbons has taken an entirely different approach.  The layout is constantly changing, as well as how the pictures fit into each panel.  Sometimes the panels are individual and unrelated, and sometimes they may depict an entire scene between three different panels.  This specific layout enables Gibbons to give the reader perspective of size and depth; it’s hard to show a city scape in a tiny rectangle, but you don’t want a picture of one person’s face taking up an entire page. 

In summary, V for Vendetta and Watchmen are fantastic graphic novels, but they have a depth to them that simply can’t be found with Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead.  However, the graphic novels that I have mentioned are not only for avid comic book collectors and geeks; I have clearly shown how someone looking for a powerful read can put down their novels and pick up these comic books.  So even if you have never read a graphic novel in your life, or if you read them on a daily basis, try reading V for Vendetta or Watchmen.  You can even try Maus or The Spirit, and tell me what you thought of them.  Whatever you decide, I hope that I have somehow affected your decision.  After all, this took a while to write.

 

**Edit:  Please excuse the atrocious spelling that previously dominated this entry.  My spell-check was broken, and my editing skills were not up to par due to a lack of sleep and concentration.  It’s all better now.  Thanks Kat.

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