I think the most interesting thing to me about the Little Nemo comics is their context. From what I have seen in regards to 'Sunday Comics', very few comic creators stray away from snappy, quick humor or punchlines. Many of the art styles and stories are simple and rely on efficiency. With Winsor McCay and Little Nemo comics, however, a short story with very specific stylistic decisions is what makes them stand out from most Sunday comics. While the basic premise of Nemo falling asleep, having a dream that transforms into a nightmare, and jolting awake with the aid of one of his parents does not change, McCay still makes a successful effort to provide to the readers a world with depth. Additionally, we get to see more and more of the dream world with each new comic, rather than see the same generic setting that many artists default to in their comics. Furthermore, the art that Winsor McCay uses for his comic is not simply a quick and easily copied drawing. His style is refined and thought out; it is a couple steps away from realism (similar to the theme of his comic), his use of line-weight as a form of creating depth is perfect, and the colors he uses goes very well with the tone of each part of the comic. His display of uniqueness in art style also shows in his panel layouts. Some time the mishaps of Nemo by being offset from one another, while others break the grid of Sunday comics by putting an illustrated centerpiece in the middle of the page. Overall, I would say his work was unique and well thought out amongst other Sunday comic artists.
For the week that we read these, we were asked to discuss whether the comics we read should be considered literary or not. My first reaction was to break down what made something 'literary'. I was inclined to say that as long as something had words and was telling a story with some amount of depth, then that was what I considered literary. However, I realized while talking with team members about this question that I had a new consideration of literary comics. I like to think of comics the same way I think about art, and that is that anything can be art. I do not think that we have to tie down the constraints of what is and is not literary because that can put writers who just want to create into a bubble. Whether I used my old definition or my new definition, I think My Favorite Thing is Monsters is definitely a literary comic. It masterfully uses its media to tell a fantastic and relatable story. Everything about the comic felt real and was very engaging, the art felt in sync...
Comments
Post a Comment