Miriam Libicki describes her form of writing as Gonzo in her Memoirs... article and I think it is rather accurate. She mentioned she has exagerate some events but mostly it was accurate. She was by far the most interesting article in that text so far. While the fact that most of it was illustrated probably helped I think it was also the way she stayed direct and informal in her explaination. I have started to get the feeling other essays have been worried about presenting themselves and their topics as "serious" writing and have been trying to hard to impress instead of express.
I was also quite pleased to see Robert Crumb listed among those she felt as inspirational since he is going to be part of the focus of my research paper. I had been wondering about the tone of his comments on the back of Jobnik! and after reading of her appreciation of his work I think his comments on her book were intending in a light hearted and playful manner. For those who missed it he complimented her ability to draw the human form realistically but said he was suprised she had never met anyone who was not short and stout basically.
Speaking of short and stout, at the fantastic Fruhead concert and convention it seems we saw the only nice guy to cross Miriams path. Unfortunately just like in the past where she used her brother to brush him off, she again ignores his advances even though he fawns over her. While yes he does constantly dress in old T-shirts (Thudercats!!!) and seems a little more stout then the typical man in Jobnik, he is one of the only people she seems to actually have something in common with and have a chance of starting a non self-destructive relationship with I think. I wonder what happened the next year when they met...
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Jobnik!
I really am sorry I missed the discussions for Jobnik! this week. I have to say it was probably the most unusual of our writings to date. Miriam Libicki never really went into details about her psychological profile and what it is that keeps her from having a more "important" role in the IDF but it seems clear from her flashbacks, actions and thoughts that her insecurities and desire for approval that comes out in her poor choice in men that is the problem.
It is interesting that her progressive and tolerant upbringing is what she looks at as having caused her so much trouble as a child. The fact that she did not look like the other children since she was allowed to dress herself at an early age is given as her reason for doubting her own worth, even her reason to claim she was destined to be a slut, even if she still clings to her virginity.
There are a few children at my son's elementary school I can see having the same issues some day. There is a boy in his Kindergarten class with a small ear plug and shaved head for instance. I personally don't have an issue with body art but this child who has been given free reign to mimic his parents has already been forced into the role of an outsider from his peers and rarely smiles. I know another boy whose parent doesn't believe in discipline, they want their child to be a free spirit. Now at age 7 or 8 he still uses his closet as a toilet and a range of other "naughty" behaviors. It's a strange balancing act to encourage individuality and yet help a child see what social pressures they may face for their choices even at a young age.
Miriam doesn't go into her relationship with her parents in Jobnik much which is such a shift after Maus and I think it would be interesting to learn more about this part of her life! She certain has been fearless and daring enough to reveal the dark parts of her life and to put her failings out there for others to judge or be amused by and while I found her writing style to be without a clear linear purpose it was unique and fascinating and I enjoyed it very much.
It is interesting that her progressive and tolerant upbringing is what she looks at as having caused her so much trouble as a child. The fact that she did not look like the other children since she was allowed to dress herself at an early age is given as her reason for doubting her own worth, even her reason to claim she was destined to be a slut, even if she still clings to her virginity.
There are a few children at my son's elementary school I can see having the same issues some day. There is a boy in his Kindergarten class with a small ear plug and shaved head for instance. I personally don't have an issue with body art but this child who has been given free reign to mimic his parents has already been forced into the role of an outsider from his peers and rarely smiles. I know another boy whose parent doesn't believe in discipline, they want their child to be a free spirit. Now at age 7 or 8 he still uses his closet as a toilet and a range of other "naughty" behaviors. It's a strange balancing act to encourage individuality and yet help a child see what social pressures they may face for their choices even at a young age.
Miriam doesn't go into her relationship with her parents in Jobnik much which is such a shift after Maus and I think it would be interesting to learn more about this part of her life! She certain has been fearless and daring enough to reveal the dark parts of her life and to put her failings out there for others to judge or be amused by and while I found her writing style to be without a clear linear purpose it was unique and fascinating and I enjoyed it very much.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Maus II
I finished Art Spiegelman's Maus II this weekend and it was hard to imagine that this was released and published as two separate works. I wonder how odd that was to spend so much time in between the two having left the story only half told!
It was nice to see Spiegelman address all the questions about the impact of his work at the start of this second volume. When he made the point that he thinks many companies that exploited the Jews in Germany are still in business and making fine profits today it reminded me of the difficult struggles that were going on (and may be still) to recover personal items and treasures stolen by the Nazi's and then secured in Swiss banks. It was quite the issue for a while where the Jewish owners could not reclaim the property stolen from them as the Banks were bound by their service agreements to hold them for the people or entities that deposited them even if they were stolen.
Further when Art's father mentioned how Jews tried to return home and were killed by the Germans who enjoyed their ill gotten homes and businesses it was a harsh reminder that the hatred that Nazi Germany created did not die overnight just because the war was over. Having been to Germany in the past decade though and having seen the steps they take as a nation to insure the crimes are not brushed aside or forgotten I sincerely respect where they have gone as a nation and people since those dark days though!
It was nice to see Spiegelman address all the questions about the impact of his work at the start of this second volume. When he made the point that he thinks many companies that exploited the Jews in Germany are still in business and making fine profits today it reminded me of the difficult struggles that were going on (and may be still) to recover personal items and treasures stolen by the Nazi's and then secured in Swiss banks. It was quite the issue for a while where the Jewish owners could not reclaim the property stolen from them as the Banks were bound by their service agreements to hold them for the people or entities that deposited them even if they were stolen.
Further when Art's father mentioned how Jews tried to return home and were killed by the Germans who enjoyed their ill gotten homes and businesses it was a harsh reminder that the hatred that Nazi Germany created did not die overnight just because the war was over. Having been to Germany in the past decade though and having seen the steps they take as a nation to insure the crimes are not brushed aside or forgotten I sincerely respect where they have gone as a nation and people since those dark days though!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Maus and Robert Crumb
After reading the first half of Art Spiegelmans Maus series I was very impressed with the intensity of he story. Much as Eisner gave a gritty and honest portrayal of what he saw as real life, Spiegelman wrote a story that did not pull any punches and allows resemblance to stereotypes to exist where he honestly saw them. I haven't begun the second half yet but I think the story will come around to show it is more about Art then his father.
Earlier this week I watched a film by Robert Crumb, based on and named after his Fritz the Cat character. While Crumb was not Jewish himself he married two women who were and he seems to have a great respect for the culture if not the religion. With Judaism as well as Islam that seems to be a tricky separation. Often traits which are cultural and not tied to the religion get attributed to it anyways.
Crumb also drew people as animals and assigned some individual animals to human groups and races. The Police were pigs (cliche but amusing), African Americans were crows (Jim Crow laws came to mind) and Fritz since he was cool had to be a cat. Now what was surprising was the fact that most of the traditional Jews at a temple were portrayed as older male lions. An interesting choice which casts them as an aging power or perhaps just a noble creature? A case could be made they were a revered and stronger version of the cat who was the title role and perhaps the character Crumb associated with himself?
I think it might make an interesting research topic to look further into Robert Crumb and see how the portrayal of Jews or religion by a non-Jew played out during the Silver Age and beyond. I have checked out several panels of his new Genesis work, a five year project where he illustrates the book of Genesis and seems to stay very neutral on interpretations. Any opinions out there on a way to refine and shape these topics?
Earlier this week I watched a film by Robert Crumb, based on and named after his Fritz the Cat character. While Crumb was not Jewish himself he married two women who were and he seems to have a great respect for the culture if not the religion. With Judaism as well as Islam that seems to be a tricky separation. Often traits which are cultural and not tied to the religion get attributed to it anyways.
Crumb also drew people as animals and assigned some individual animals to human groups and races. The Police were pigs (cliche but amusing), African Americans were crows (Jim Crow laws came to mind) and Fritz since he was cool had to be a cat. Now what was surprising was the fact that most of the traditional Jews at a temple were portrayed as older male lions. An interesting choice which casts them as an aging power or perhaps just a noble creature? A case could be made they were a revered and stronger version of the cat who was the title role and perhaps the character Crumb associated with himself?
I think it might make an interesting research topic to look further into Robert Crumb and see how the portrayal of Jews or religion by a non-Jew played out during the Silver Age and beyond. I have checked out several panels of his new Genesis work, a five year project where he illustrates the book of Genesis and seems to stay very neutral on interpretations. Any opinions out there on a way to refine and shape these topics?
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Back from the Artwalk
Well that was fun! I got to see a fair number of local artists and their work and spent much of the time talking with a local comic book artist about his work and even spent a bit of time getting his perspective on some of the things we talked about in class. He gave me some recommendations for additional authors with a great spiritual context to their works that might be ones to look into for my research paper. I'll have to look them up tomorrow and see if they will generate an idea for my research paper. A topic still eludes me as I haven't found a narrow enough topic that actually interests me yet. Hopefully as we continue with the class readings something will jump out at me. I am anxious to get started on the extra reading so I can work on it more now while I have the free time.
I picked up a copy of the recent movie adaptation for The Spirit today at the video store. I did not hear a lot of good things about it when it first came out but it came out at the theaters around the same time as Watchmen so it may have just been the competition. I enjoyed Eisners A Contract With God but I am sure this will be in a much different vein. I believe it was in a video we watched in class where The Spirit was mentioned as having been drawn in a cinematic style and considering its long time popularity I have high hopes for this movie yet. If it lives up to them I'll port about it tomorrow!
I picked up a copy of the recent movie adaptation for The Spirit today at the video store. I did not hear a lot of good things about it when it first came out but it came out at the theaters around the same time as Watchmen so it may have just been the competition. I enjoyed Eisners A Contract With God but I am sure this will be in a much different vein. I believe it was in a video we watched in class where The Spirit was mentioned as having been drawn in a cinematic style and considering its long time popularity I have high hopes for this movie yet. If it lives up to them I'll port about it tomorrow!
The Silver Age
So we got through the Silver Age of comics this week. It was a rather interesting shift from the start to this maturing middle stage.
I was not familiar with many comics from this time period and was amused to find out the back story behind the arrival of Krypto the super dog. My son was a fan of Krypto a few years back and occasionally they still have guest appearances by Batdog! The Krakow to Krypton text seemed to state that the DC comic line made these sort of cross overs in a contrived fashion only driven by the desire to grow sales across fan bases and iw ould have to agree. Two things have always made Marvel my favorite, first the interconnected Universe that made the world seem "real" and alive. A unified setting where each characters actions potential affected another, and where villians didn't always harass the same hero always.
The second attraction to the Marvel comics was the human elements of the characters. I remember an old Spiderman comic book that I used to own that had Spidey literally pacing the walls of his apartment stressing out and eventually having problems with stress ulcers. It was this real person element that made him great.
One other facet of the Silver Age I found interesting was how process of comic creation final began to seem more deliberate. At least that is how I felt it was presented. In the Golden Age it seemed any trash printed was going to be snatched up but in the start of the Silver Age the market had contracted and a quality comic that was tailored towards individual markets were required.
So that leaves me interested to see what the third and final Age of comics will be... Perhaps it will again be defined by further growth, an increase in the use of the medium for something besides simple entertainment?
I was not familiar with many comics from this time period and was amused to find out the back story behind the arrival of Krypto the super dog. My son was a fan of Krypto a few years back and occasionally they still have guest appearances by Batdog! The Krakow to Krypton text seemed to state that the DC comic line made these sort of cross overs in a contrived fashion only driven by the desire to grow sales across fan bases and iw ould have to agree. Two things have always made Marvel my favorite, first the interconnected Universe that made the world seem "real" and alive. A unified setting where each characters actions potential affected another, and where villians didn't always harass the same hero always.
The second attraction to the Marvel comics was the human elements of the characters. I remember an old Spiderman comic book that I used to own that had Spidey literally pacing the walls of his apartment stressing out and eventually having problems with stress ulcers. It was this real person element that made him great.
One other facet of the Silver Age I found interesting was how process of comic creation final began to seem more deliberate. At least that is how I felt it was presented. In the Golden Age it seemed any trash printed was going to be snatched up but in the start of the Silver Age the market had contracted and a quality comic that was tailored towards individual markets were required.
So that leaves me interested to see what the third and final Age of comics will be... Perhaps it will again be defined by further growth, an increase in the use of the medium for something besides simple entertainment?
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