Ranma

The manga "Ranma" was a pretty good comic. It was kind of light hearted and silly; almost to the point of too much. I only say that because the instances where Ranma got soaked in water got a little bit old quickly. Even so, I liked how the relationship slowly develops between the new main characters, and this story really makes you think about the differences between men and women, and how other people view whats proper behavior for the different sexes. The art stile was pretty good, if a bit similar to a lot of other manga I've read like InuYasha.

Skip Beat

The manga I read this week was called Skip Beat. For the most part, I actually really enjoyed the series a lot. There was a certain kind of wicked humor to it that I don't normally see in a lot of manga. Also, the life of the main character felt very similar to what I'm sure a lot of students (especially ones in the artistic industry) feel, the ones who are also trying to get noticed by the more powerful people who judge if you are talented enough to be a part of them. I really felt a connection with the main character, and the other characters are also very likeable, even when they aren't really suppose to be.  I only had a bit of a problem with the layout. Occasionally I would get confused with who was talking. There were also times where people were talking "over" one another and I would sometimes forget what was said by some person previously. Though I really liked the art style, the artist also seems to have a bad habit of making "same faces". Sometimes certain characters look so similar that I'm not sure who is who. I wouldn't have had such a big issue with it if it only happened to the minor characters, but he's also made near doppelgangers to the main characters as well.

Battle Angel Alita

Reading Japanese manga is usually a bit odd for me. I usually think of the Asian culture as being very reserved. However, whenever I read manga, especially the ones that are like Battle Angel Alita, I can't help but think Japan's very weird, maybe a bit more so than Americans in some cases. The sexy half woman half machine character that can do pretty much anything seems to be very popular within Japanese manga. My problem with these types of characters (the very strong fighter ones that can do anything) this usually sets up a very typical story line that I see a lot within the action genre. Hero goes off on an adventure, hero finds friends, hero gets into a battle that they have trouble, mid battle the hero SOMEHOW gets stronger and wins. In some Manga it works for me, in most I've gotten bored quickly. That happened here too.

Maus

Maus was a very enjoyable read. For me, if felt very much as though I were reading an actual book. Usually, I very much hate reading stories that have to do with the Nazis. I tend to feel that the stories are far too depressing. However, the way the writer went about it; Him writing about the time WHILE he was writing his comic as the father spoke about his tale, was very interesting and even lessened the usual dark edge to these stories. The fact that he drew them as mice probably helped a lot with that too, making it a little more friendly for those who are probably just starting to learn about the Nazi camps. The art was simple, not overly impressive, but it did manage to convey everything it wanted to.

A contract with God

I very much enjoyed "a contract with God". Both the art and the stories were very well done. There was a lot of appealing art work in the comics, and Will Eisner did a great job showing the characters emotions throughout the different stories. I was sometimes disappointed with how abrupt some of the stories ended though. It had be hooked during the beginning and middle, but the endings sometimes felt like they came out of no where, like there wasn't a lot of thought put into how things would wrap up.

Scrooge McDuck

I've read a few short comic strips with Scrooge before. I'm ok with the story, but I've never been overly fond of it. Scrooge has always been annoying to me, and though he does have his redeeming qualities, he's just far too greedy for me to ever like him. I do like the triplets and donald of coarse, but in the end it just isn't a comic that has ever appealed to me.

Haunt of Fear

Story wise, I enjoyed reading the EC comics. They were fun campfire horror stories that weren't totally frightening, but unpleasant enough to keep things interesting. I kind of liked the stories with the moral undertones a bit more than the flat out monster stories. At least then there was some level of satisfaction when someone was killed off (usually the wrongdoer thankfully). I wasn't terribly impressed with the art, but that kind of realistic style never really appealed to me.

Little Nemo

Little Nemo really was one of the more imaginative comics I've read in a while. Despite the simplicity of the child Nemo, the story (or rather, the world inside the story) really managed to draw me in. It really made me wish I had dreams that were as interesting as Nemos, and it even had me picturing myself as a child running through this fantasy land. I enjoyed some of the strange characters that appeared throughout the story (and in a way, a lot of them made me think of a child friendly version of Alice in Wonderland) The running gag of the child waking up at the end of every panel did get a bit old quickly, (I imagine it was frustrating for Nemo as well)  but I understand that it helps end each section in a clean way.

Krazy Kat

Krazy Kat was a pretty fun and cute comic to read. I had to seriously concentrate on reading to figure out what the cat was saying, but I didn't feel like that took away from the enjoyment of it. Infact, I almost felt like I was playing a word game, like "Sound out the letters to figure out the message". I also was interested in the fact that for once, the mouse was a bit of a bully to the cat instead of the typical cat bullies the mouse scenario. The gags were simple, short, and funny, which complimented the difficulty of the cats speech (and the time it took to figure it out).

Understanding comics

Understanding comics was an interesting read. There were quite a few points that the artist made that really made me think about comics in a new light. One of the points that I found really interesting was when he said that when characters are drawn in a more cartoon-ish fashion, people will project themselves onto the character. They imagine themselves as the one having the adventure, and relate to the character more. When the character is drawn more realistically, the viewer will see it as following or watching someone else. At first, I really wasn't sure I agreed with what the artist was saying. However, he managed to make his point by drawing himself more realistic, and asking "would you have listened to me if I had drawn myself like this?" And the answer was no, I probably would have been less likely to listen to him if he had been rendered that way throughout the book. I was pleased that he had managed to prove his point in such a way, and what I liked about this book is that he was able to show and draw what he meant as he was explaining comics.

The Arrival

I had mixed feelings on the comic "The Arrival". The art was definitely the best part about the comic. It was beautifully rendered; both the people and the environments had gorgeous detail. Although in some cases I felt a little confused with what was going on in the story. Although I think I got the overall gist of what was going on, parts where they switched to what happened to different characters sometimes put me off balance. In those moments I wished that there was some sort of dialog to explain what was happening, as well as explain why those monster-like creatures were there. The whole thing had a very surreal feel to it. The realistic people, paired with the fantastic environment and the cartoonish creatures.  Overall, I wasn't sure I liked the story, and the thing that really made me enjoy the comic was the art itself.