Novel Blurb

Talim Cross: First Story

The story of a boy(Tak) and his mother(Talim) wanting to find the boy's father. A game where people slaughter one another. A desire to meet one's true love. A prelude to a bigger plot. The start of the boy's journey to maturity.

Ideas for Final Class Novel

The theme for the graphic novel I want to explore is how a tragedy about another family member can effect a young boy for most of his life. When reading Essex County I was surprised that this theme was explored as well so inspiration may be drawn from that despite the characters in both pieces of literature being under different circumstances. The characters that are to be involved are a young boy, his mother, a killer, and a dog. Those are the four main characters. The plot idea for this novel is about a young boy and mother entering death game so the mother can see the father again (the man she loves). The boy never met the father as he impregnated his mother and left before he was born. A figure known as The Reaper appears in the story and ends up killing the mother. The boy lives by himself for 10 more years with a dog he finds during the death game until the next death game. The graphic novel is gonna explain the world (for good world building) and the rules of the game at the start and for the rest of the pages show the troubles of the boy during the first game. This is a prequel story to a much larger story that details the events of the next game that takes place 10 years after the first one the boy participates in. By the end of the novel the reader is going to know why the boy decides to enter the game again. In terms of character development the reader is going to see how the murder of his mother effects the boy as he gets older.

Transitions in Maus

Art Spiegelman uses a variety of transitions in Maus. He doesn't stick to just one type of transition. In a graphic novel it is important to use a variety of transitions to add more effect in the story and to make the reader more invested in what is going on.

The first example of a transition that Spiegelman uses is on page 62 of Maus in the bottom panels. Vladek is being shot at in one panel and in the very next panel he ducks into a tent. This a good example of Action-to-action because the single subject (Vladek) is peeing in one scene and in the very next panel that subject is going into the tent (which is the second action).

The second example of a transition that Spiegelman uses is on page 55 of Maus in the four middle panels. This depicts Vladek and another individual talking while in bed. They are in the same bed for four panels but each panel they are moving different parts of their body. This is a good example of Moment-to-moment as the characters in the adjacent panels are the same subject characters for all those panels.

The third example of a transition that Spiegelman uses is on pages 46 and 47 of Maus. At the end of page 46 Vladek is getting a physical for the army and the very next page he is on the battlefield. This shows a timelapse between the two and shows the process of getting into the army and how it can feel like to end up on the front lines when at one point physicals were being conducted before. Little reasoning is required to explain the transitions between the two pages.

Art Speigelman is a brillaint author when it comes to using transitions because he does not stick to just one transition. He uses many types of transitions in his work to illustrate the extremeness of the story.

 

COMM343 3 Assinged Graphic Novels

The three Graphic Novels I plan to read are The Walking Dead, Watchmen, and V for Vendetta


The reason I chose the Walking Dead is because I already own the First Compendium (Which I have still not finished) so this will motivate me more to finish it. Also it is the original source work for my favorite tv show. I will gain more knowledge of storytelling with this graphic novel because I always used to think that all American graphic novels were just about super heroes and I am interested in how a graphic novel can tell another story.

The reason I chose Watchmen is because I have heard many good things about this graphic novel from everyone who has read it. I believe I will learn more about transitions as I know that the cover automatically transitions to the first page of the novel.

The reason I chose V for Vendetta is because I am interested in the premise of the story. I am also interested in why it is very popular. I think I will learn how a story can be so widely known. I also want to see variations in artwork that is different than the other graphics novels as well. I want to see how a particular style of art does or does not have to match the story it is telling.

COMM 343 Comparing Maus and Understanding Comcis #1

One of the concepts that is presented in Understanding Comics that is used in Maus is the use of symbols. Symbols are used to represent concepts, ideas, and philosophies according to page 27 of Understand Comics. The example that is clearly seen in Maus is the symbol of the Nazi regime. This symbol is the swastika. The swastika is seen on the front cover of Maus and on page 32. You can tell what the characters in the story feel when they see that symbol on the flag. One does not need to know what ideals the flag represents because they can simply tell by the way the character’s eyes widen when they see it. On page 33 there are several panels where the swastika is in the background. In these finals on the foreground are evil acts being committed. When these two are seen together it is easy to tell that the swastika and the acts being committed in this panel are related. Just from this you can tell what the swastika entails and how it is represented. If the symbol is seen throughout the rest of the story then the reader can know what the symbol means just from looking at it. It is interesting to think that the reader won’t even need to read the text to know how to react when they see this symbol. Also the fact that the members of the Nazi regime are shown as cats and the members of the Jewish faith are shown as mice can also show the superiority and the discrimination that came along with this symbol. The size of the panel on page 32 of Maus also can show the importance of this symbol just by the fact that all the mice are looking at the flag and the panels before showing the terrors in their expressions.