Final Post

Revised previous post:

Eisner and Thompson

I was able to read A Contract with God and the other short story, The Street Singer. That  story had a bit more to hold my attention; an alcoholic bookkeeper gets coached by a has-been diva. I do like the happy ending though! The title story was very simple, and seemed even a bit underdeveloped in a way, but that may simply be that he couldn't reach the potential depth of the story because of the comic genre.

What I really loved about this piece, besides the interesting stories, was the black and white pen work. Ever sense I was little I've always loved drawing done in pen since that's the way my grandpa always draws; he was an engineer and I always tried to copy his work. The facial expressions on his characters though are just fantastic and have such great detail.

In the preface, Eisner states that his goal was to create an art work in which there's "no interruption in the flow of narrative because the picture and the text are so totally dependent on each other as to be inseparable." I think he was really successful in that regard, but what I didn't like was the type that he used. Well, I guess it's a type now but it's simply his own handwriting. I just don't think it fits with the content of the story, which is pretty depressing and serious and the lettering is all cheerful and kittens and butterflies.

I'm sure when this was released back in the day it was new and interesting, but it's surprisingly simple. The artwork was fun and beautifully illustrated. I also loved how the text is not just superimposed on top of the art, it's actually a part of the design as a whole. I love the facial expressions on his characters, and just all of the detail throughout the whole piece. I respect him too for the realism involved in the nudity and sex parts of his stories, which is not something that you see many comic artists from that time

I think it's pretty curious just how unsympathetic Eisner is on his view of living in poverty, especially knowing that he himself was raised this way. Even though this is considered a sort of autobiography, the piece really isn't about Eisner himself. He doesn't focus on the details of his life that he half-remembers, but spends his time trying to pinpoint his characters.


Craig Thompson, Blankets

I enjoyed Blankets more than Eisner's work. I did enjoy how both works were autobiographical, but had more of a connect with Thompson's work. Plus, I just love coming-of-age stories.

I think I was lucky that I grew up in a household where religion was not forced upon us; I visited Sunday school and attended church once in a while if I was feeling up to it, but my parents never dragged or forced us there. They hated seeing kids throwing tantrums and screaming because their parents made them come, and they didn't feel that religion was something that should be forced on someone. My mom I know always wished for us to grow to love God, but she recognized that we are our own person and by forcing us would simply make us shun it. My close cousins all went to Catholic schools all the way through high school, and some of their classes were ridiculous; my one cousin told me how their 'science' teacher told them that evolution was a myth and the Devil's work. I found it ironic cause at the time in my science class we were reading the work of Charles Darwin. But, I won't really say much more about religion, simply because I'll get carried away and no one wants to hear a rant on religion.


I really enjoyed the love/hate relationship he has going on with his brother, it's really similar to my younger brother; even though he drives me crazy a lot of the time and I want to strangle him, there's still a ton of love there. There were quite a few moments where I had to stop reading and realized how much I could relate to it.

The art was really enjoyable too, the drawings are fairly realistic but have their own unique style at the same time. I haven't read anything by Thompson before so I can't compare it to his other works. Using only black and white also seems to make the content of the story stand out more and become more the main focus.