Well guys, it was inevitable. You know those blogs you see everywhere, where people review random crap and you're supposed to care? Well, I just made one of those. Except mine is way better than the "average" review blog.
What? Don't judge me.
The truth is, I've been mulling around the idea of creating a review blog for some time now. At first, I was thinking of integrating it into this one. Then, my brain objected. This is a place for stories, and I want to keep it that way. Instead, I created a separate blog, called *drumroll*...
The name says it all: I'll rate Graphic Novels, Books, and Video Games based on a scale that goes from Good, to Bad, to "Meh". If you're curious or just plain bored, give it a read and tell me what you think. Feedback is greatly appreciated. Also, a word of warning: This blog will concentrate heavily on the Graphic Novel side of things.
Bonus! Speaking of graphic novels, here's an essay I did back in the day about the legitimacy of the genre:
The Graphic Novel and the Canon
We are lucky. Unbeknownst to many,
we live in a very special time: a time where a new, innovative, and explosive
new form of art is emerging. This form of art is known as the graphic novel.
This medium is akin to a comic book, relying on visual aid in accordance with
text to weave a meaningful story. By definition, it is “an extended comic book
that treats nonfictional as well as fictional plots and themes with the depth
and subtlety that [has come to be] expect[ed] of traditional novels and
extended nonfictional text” (Tabachnick 2). Over the past decade, graphic
novels have gained a great prominence within our society. In fact, the graphic
novel is everywhere—from bookstores, to theatres, and even the classroom.
Despite its explosive popularity however, not everyone regards the graphic
novel as a serious literary form. As a result of being associated with the
comic book, the medium is surrounded in misconception and prejudice. Graphic
novels offer a relieving departure from the stereotypical superhero story and
provide the reader with a deep, meaningful story rather than a formulaic comic
book story. Based on this statement, the medium of the graphic novel is qualified
to enter the literary canon, presenting itself as a valid form of serious
literature. As Francisca Goldsmith states in her article, Graphic Novels in
Literature, “Graphic
novels that succeed as literature escape the norm and invite critical
discussion, analysis, and, often, comparison with text-only books featuring
similar situations, climactic crises, or aesthetics” (Goldsmith 986). The graphic novel, V for Vendetta, agrees with
various aspects of the cannon, including age/endurance, influence, and
originality. V for Vendetta is a compelling story about loss of freedom and
identity in a broken, hopeless power-thirsty world, concentrating on the life
of a radical, self-proclaimed anarchist who is determined to bring a
totalitarian England to it’s knees and ultimately, restore freedom through
chaos. Powerful, frightening, and smartly written, Alan Moore, the author of
the book, forces his readers to contemplate prominent social issues and the
very core of human nature itself. It would be a crime not to include such a
masterful piece of work in the literary canon.
To be included in the literary
canon, one of the prerequisites a work must meet is the test of time. Works
included in the canon, offered by authors such as Shakespeare and Austen, are
considered to be “timeless”. Because the graphic novel is still a relatively
new form of literature, one may omit it due to this fact. On the contrary,
while V for Vendetta is still considered “recent” (although originally
published in 1989), it presents weighty social issues and themes such as fate
and justice that are resistant to time. For example, the terrorist known simply
as “V”, both the protagonist and antagonist of the story, reveals his views on
justice and anarchy in a humorous exchange with the statue that sits on top of
the parliament building in London. He treats the statue as a lover, and
orchestrates a scene reminiscent of a play between the two, acting out a
lover’s quarrel. “Her name is anarchy. And she has taught me more as a mistress
then you ever did! She has taught me that justice is meaningless without
freedom. She is honest. She makes no promises and breaks none” (Moore 41). V
views the statue as the very manifestation of justice, and proceeds to “break
up” with her by blowing the statue up, renouncing the justice he once “loved”
and moving on to a new “mistress” representative of anarchy. “The flames of
freedom. How lovely. How just. Ahh, my precious anarchy. O beauty, ‘til now I
never knew thee” (Moore 41). Justice is a concept that is timeless. If a reader
were to read this book several years from now, they would be able to relate to
this idea of justice. V for Vendetta also includes issues pertaining to racism
and prejudice, yet another concept that won’t wither with time. V writes his
own satirical song about the white supremacist totalitarian government in
control of Britain, who, when the party first came in power after a fictional
nuclear war, proceeded to place minorities, homosexuals, and liberals into
concentration camps. “The bulging eyes of puppets, strangled by their strings!
There’s thrills and chills and girls galore, there’s sing-songs and surprises!
There’s something here for everyone, reserve your seat today! There’s mischief
and malarkies...but no queers…or yids…or darkies…within this bastard’s
carnival. This vicious cabaret!” (Moore 92-93). Many literary works in the
canon deal with race issues, and V for Vendetta is no different than these. The
themes presented in the work explore the foolishness of human nature and
darkness present in the human mind. “I heard of an experiment once…they had
volunteers working a shock generator. The volunteers were told that it was
wired to a patient in an adjoining room…they were told to gradually increase
the voltage. The victim began begging them to stop…they were ordinary people,
and they were prepared to torture a stranger to death just because they were
told to by someone in authority.” Issues such as this involve basic human
nature and authority. In this way, V for Vendetta qualifies for the canon
because it can survive the test of time by providing readers with themes and
subjects that can endure against the test of time. In the words of V from the
motion picture, “beneath this mask there is more than flesh. Beneath this mask,
there is an idea…and ideas are bulletproof”.
For a text to be included in the
canon, it must be influential. Several works within the graphic novel medium
have met this criteria—such as Watchmen, Sandman, and Maus—and V for Vendetta
is no exception. Since it’s initial release in 1989, it’s remained a staple in
the graphic novel medium. In 2006, it was made into a major motion picture,
resulting in an explosion of popularity. The porcelain mask that V wears, the Guy
Fawkes mask, has become an iconic symbol in our society. The mask has become
synonymous with anarchy and has been worn by protestors the world over. The
internet group called Anonymous has adopted the mask as their trademark symbol,
wearing it in their often “radical” protests against the church of Scientology.
In reaction to a scandal involving parliamentary expenses in the United
Kingdom, a group of protestors dawned the Guy Fawkes mask and lit a barrel of
fake gunpowder in front of parliament, emulating the events of Guy Fawkes in
British history and the events within the graphic novel. Stephen Tabachnick states
in his book, Teaching the Graphic Novel, that, “graphic novels are powerful
weapons of change because they encourage [people] to revise their racial or
cultural assumptions simultaneously and also sequentially” (97). The graphic
novel forces us to think and adapt to new views placed on society—much like the
existing works within the canon. It’s “an art form that has room…’for truth,
for a naked perception of the world, for a kind of honesty that people can
rally around’” (Cart 1301).
The literary canon requires an entry
to be original. This is an easy criteria for the graphic novel to meet, as most
of the works in the genre defy and challenge the norm. V for Vendetta does this
by skewing common literary plots in an original manner. V himself is not a normal
protagonist. While he’s a freedom fighter concerned with freeing his people, he
is not the common hero we’ve come to expect. The character of V is dark and, on
many occasions, shows signs of schizophrenia. Throughout the novel, V tracks
down and assassinates the former government employees who worked at the
concentration camp he was trapped in. However, he doesn’t just simply kill
them; instead, he passively forces them to repent via mental torture. He first
targets a former, tyrannical officer who has a fascination for his “prized”
doll collection. V proceeds to kidnap him and throw him in a jail cell that
mimics the old concentration camp, filling the rooms and ovens with his doll
collection. “It’s odd, isn’t it? How you can show so much concern for porcelain
and plastic…and show so little for flesh and blood” (Moore 33). Following this
tradition, he forces a corrupt priest to swallow a poisoned communion wafer
later in the novel. V has a particular taste for irony and metaphors, showing
his victims what wrongs they’ve done. Instead of mindlessly killing his
victims, he does it in an original way that showcases the ironies present in
our society. Again, it makes the reader think about the concept of human nature
and the brutality that often accompanies it. Another instance where the graphic
novel invokes originality is a sequence where V hijacks a television station
and tells the people of England to band together and fight the fascist
government. However, instead of being blunt about the subject matter, the novel
takes an original approach to his speech by setting up a kind of “scenario”. V
addresses the English public like a boss talking to an employee who is about to
be laid off. He says, “I suppose you’re wondering why I’ve called you here this
evening. Well, you see, I’m not entirely satisfied with your performance
lately…to be frank, we’ve had our problems too…it’s your basic unwillingness to
get on with the company. You don’t seem to want to face up to any real
responsibility, or to be your own boss…I understand that you are unable to get
on with your spouse. I hear that you argue. I am told that you shout. Violence
has been mentioned…though, to be sure, the management is very bad…you have no
spine. You have no pride. You are no longer an asset to the company. You’re
fired” (Moore 113-118). The novel uses personification to get its point across
in an original and sarcastic manner. It doesn’t rush into complex issues
headfirst—instead, it carefully and artistically maneuvers around them,
striking a careful balance between seriousness and humor. By tackling these
issues and themes in an original way, works like V for Vendetta deserve a place
in the literary canon.
The graphic novel is more than just
a series of illustrated panels surrounded by a flurry of thought and speech
bubbles. Graphic novels help define modern society by presenting social issues
to us on a platter, forcing us to think in ways we may have not thought
possible. “Many agree that comics [and graphic novels] create modern myths that
help define a society” (Tabachnick 256). Like the classic works present in the
literary canon that helped define their era, graphic novels chronicle our
current times and social situations. Tabachnick includes a quote by Plutarch in
Teaching the Graphic Novel that states, “even though artists with color and
design, and writers with words and phrases, represent the same subjects, they
differ in the material and the manner of their imitation; and yet the
underlying end and of both is one and the same; the most effective historian is
he who, by a vivid representation of emotions and characters, makes his
narration like a painting” (254). Graphic novels can be considered historical
documents, utilizing both art and literature to enchant their audiences. It’s
an evolution of previous literary works in the canon, and this is why the genre
should be included. V for Vendetta, for example, easily meets the three
requirements of the canon: age/endurance, influence, and originality. We live
in an age where a new form of art is emerging. We are lucky.
Works Cited
Cart,
Michael. "A Graphic-Novel Explosion." Booklist 101.14 (2005): 1301. Academic
Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 19
Nov. 2010.
Goldsmith,
Francisca. "Graphic Novels as Literature." Booklist 99.11 (2003): 986. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 19
Nov. 2010.
Moore,
Alan, David Lloyd, Steve Whitaker, and Siobhan Dodds. V for Vendetta. New York:
DC Comics, 1989. Print.
Tabachnick,
Stephen Ely. Teaching the Graphic Novel.
New York: Modern Language Association
of America, 2009. Print.
V for Vendetta. Dir. James McTeigue. Perf. Hugo Weaving,
Natalie Portman, and Rupert Graves.
Warner Bros. Pictures, 2006. DVD.
Now that I've bored you all to tears, be sure to visit The Good, The Bad, and The "Meh" and keep sending those stories!
-Your Obsessive Chronicler,
Ryan
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