Ezra M.

Rahmey
Graphic Narratives
Prof. Jonathan Bass
September 9, 2014
Graphic Novel Response Paper #1

Gabrielle Bell I Feel Nothing

Bells I Feel Nothing is a unique comic in the way in jumps back and forth
in time. It flash backs to moments in the male characters life, from various points
in time, as well as flashing forward to what the female characters life might be
like if she chooses to stay with the man. This way in which in jumps back and
forth in time reminds me of the book Maus by Art Speigleman. To me whats
most interesting about this comic is the way in which it incorporates words and
images. At some points it feels very text heavy but than towards the end it
becomes more heavily reliant of images. In the text heavy part there less is
closure needed on the readers part because the text keeps it flowing, whereas
the visual heavy requires a bit more attention because there is nothing keeping it
together (especially in the part where she is imagining her future with him). To
me the most successful part of this story is the way in which it conveys character
specifically the man, as I feel like I really get a sense of who he is by the end of
the comic.

Mike Mignola Dr. Carps Experiment

I found myself reading Dr. Carps Experiment a couple times before I
understood (and even now I dont know I fully do). I think whats interesting about
this work is that Hell-Boy is more or less a superhero, yet the actual comic
doesnt feel like one. Yes, there is a lot of action like other superhero comics but
it feels different (at least to me) for some reason. I think one of the reasons is
because the comic is very focused on mood. McCloud talks about the idea of
using Aspect-to-Aspect transitions and how they are good at conveying mood.
This comic does a lot of them, especially towards the beginning where it just
shows images of the house. And then when it starts to show Hell boy fighting it
also feels like its conveying a mood more so than a series of actions. I think
thats what I find most interesting about this comic strip.

Levon Jihanian Danger Country Chapter 1

I found Jihanians Danger Country to be the most whimsical of the three
short graphic pieces I read. I also found it to be the most straight forward of the
three pieces (although it becomes a bit more difficult to follow as it adds a wide
array of characters towards the end). The narrative seemed to be conveyed in a
very linear fashion, and it was easy to find closure in most of the panels. I would
imagine this was in part to three facts. The first being that most of the panels are
linked via either subject to subject or action to action which tend to be the easiest
connections to find closure. The second being that there was a consistency of
text throughout which helped to keep the story connected. And lastly, the very
nature of the composition kept things simple and easy to read.