Briana's Blog

Ranxerox It didn't take much from starting to read this comic that it was definitely more for an adult audience. One of the first things that gave it away was the dialogue. Swear words and other vulgar language was used throughout the comic which definitely gave it more of an "adult story" feeling. In addition to this, though styles can vary and still be applicable to a wide range of audience, this style in particular seemed to be more grunge and intense. The way men and women were portrayed was very rough around the edges (literally) and the colors were not bright and happy. Things appeared to be almost dirty throughout the pages. Moreover, the characters themselves looked tired, oddly dressed, and greasy...I don't know why greasy came to mind but that was my initial reaction. Sexual themes were also spread out through the comic as well, of course a lot of it being directed towards young female characters. Violence was also very prevalent in this comic as well. A...

Stereotypes are everywhere and they can affect everybody - at least to a certain degree. From my own  perspective and opinion on the topic, I view them to be mostly bad, but sometimes based on a percent of truth. The reason I say this is because in many ways, stereotypes derive from some fraction of truth. Obviously with a disclaimer of: Stereotypes, when handled in humor, should be handled at a VERY specific degree, and with the acknowledgment of the true  nature of persons belonging to the background the joke pertains to. In many cases, people belonging to the group that is being stereotyped can share laughs about these kinds of jokes. However, I can really only speak for myself. Recently, a friend asked me if it was ok to tell me a "racially insensitive" black joke. I said sure, because I was curious about what it would be and if I'd even be offended (typically I try not to let things like that offend me because I know the truth and am pretty comfortable in my colo...

This weeks reading of Maus was interesting. It was a comic that told a deeper story even through its somewhat child-like cartoon style. To me, the overall style was what made this comic so impactful. Some of my favorite stories are ones that are told through simplistic styles of art with the compliment of a more serious undertone. I find that by doing this, there is a good balance between what the reader is seeing and what they're understanding. Sometimes I find that stories with complex details in the art can take away the attention from the story because the reader is so caught up in analyzing the visuals. In addition to this, it was interesting that even though the story was being told by animals, (mice to be specific), the reader still got the sense of human-like qualities from them. Personally, I was able to completely overlook the fact that they were animals and focus on the story with no problems. What was also interesting was the subject matter of the characters convers...