Battle Angel Alita

I read the Battle Angel Alita "Last Order." It is not the first Sci-Fi manga I ever read. I used to be a big fan of Ghost in the Shell (not the movie in 2017). Battle Angel Alita is the second Sci-Fi manga I read.
The wasteland atmosphere sets up quite successful. I am happy to see there are philosophical thinkings about human and machine in this story. Those fighting scene always makes me feel passionate. Action design for this comic is very well.
If I read it earlier, I will love it more. The plot seems very old-fashioned, even a little bit cliche. The growth of the protagonist accompanies everything about the hero. Finally, the theme sublimated when her goal was completed. The temptation of dreams, the death of relatives and herself, and the love she's seeking for make this story unflattering.
All living beings are working hard to live. No matter what method is used, no matter in what way, no matter how inferior. This is the place where the whole comic is the most fascinating to me. No matter how inferior a creature exists, it has its greatness. I believe there is no noble and base between different animals.
I noticed that the manga is going to adapt to a movie. I don’t know what the film will look like, but I hope it will be good.

Asterix

Asterix is such a funny comic to read. It makes my day whenever I read it. Asterix is a French comic. I noticed that it had been translated to 111 kinds of language. It is very worldwide.
The story of Asterix is about this small town in Gauls. Roman had occupied Gauls in 50 BC. However, it was not totally controlled by Roman. There is a small town haven't been occupied. People in this town have magic water which can get superhuman strength, which can defeat the Roman army.
Image result for Asterix gothIt is very funny because there is a lot of detail in this comic. When Asterix meets people from different countries, the font of their dialog will be different.
For example, Goths have this Gothic font when they talk. Egyptian's speech balloon is always pictograph.

I also noticed that there is also some stereotype joke in the comic. For example,  ancient Goths in the story has been described as very militarization. Ancient Britains like to eat boiled food.
Somehow I think the stereotype jokes are not very sensitive. Although it is hard not to think that this comic is not racist, it really controls the stereotype in a suitable range.

March Book and Hip Hop Family Tree

It is so exciting to see real stories been put in the comics. When I am tired of reading nonfiction stories in real life, this kind of comics can bring some light to my reading experience.
March book is a comic about John Lewis, an American politician, and civil rights leader. The comic is about his political story. It is a black and white comic start with a protest on Edmund Pettus Bridge.
I surprised that I can see a comic about politics. I don't think it is propaganda of John Lewis. It might somehow publicize the Democratic Party because John Lewis was one of the lead creators for this book, but I do think this is more like a history graphic than propaganda. It is such an interesting way to represent a political story.

The second comic I read was Hip Hop Family Tree. It is a comprehensive introduction of Hip Hop history. I am a Hip Hop fans, so I enjoy the comic. I am definitely listening to old school Hip Hop when I was reading this comic. The art style is more like graffiti. I like the way it presents the culture, from macro to micro, from technology to background. At the end of the comic, the book mentioned a lot of Hip-Hop artist by using a different style of art to present their name. I like this part because it shows how different artist represents different kind of Hip Hop.

Maus

By only looking at the cover alone, it seems that this is just a dull, even naive comic novel. The first book is a pair of humanoid mice, and the second book is a group of mice that wears blue and white striped clothes, blue striped hats. The black and shiny big eyes may look cute.

However, the Nazi flag behind them is very depressed.

The cover of the books has been carefully designed. Before I recovered from the cover, I opened the second page, and the black and white image shook my heart. Even if I didn't read the content, I was impressed by the expressionless faces. I think I can’t feel the same as the survivors from the Holocaust.

The medium of Maus is comic. The author draws various animals to represent people from different countries. Germans are cats, Jews are mice, Poles are pigs, Americans are dogs, French are Frogs, British are fish, and Gypsies are moths. The faces of these animals are interchangeable, highlighting that the absurdity of assessing people by race.

There were not only Jews and Poles in the concentration camp but also many Germans. It emphasizes that the Holocaust is not just a shame of Germans or a disaster for Jewish, but also a disgrace and disaster for all humanity. 

Maus reminds me a poem written by Martin Niemoller:

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—

     Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—

     Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—

     Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Underground comics

Before I read these underground comics, I thought all of them are going to relate to drug and sexual. However, there are comics relate to drug and sexual, there are also comics like “Heroes of the Blues,” which is just an encyclopedia of famous Blues artist.

The experience of reading underground comic and standard comic is way different. The comics from DC, Marvel, and Disney usually have a similar style. Although they might have a number of comic artists draw the comics, the stories and styles are mainly the same. However, underground comics don’t give a damn about that. Tits and Clits are short stories about sex. The title of the comic already shows that directly.

I feel like underground comics are willing to show the desire of human. Some of them are pornography comic. I don’t know their relationship with the readers, but I do see the practicality of these comics. 

Will Eisner

Before I read Will Eisner’s comics, I already knew his name. He is revered as the "godfather of American comics," not only because of the great influence of “the Spirit” on the comics industry but more importantly, he has improved the artistic status of comics. The public accepted him for elevating comics from children's books to a new literary form.

I read his book Comics and Sequential Art. When I read the theory that has been put in comics, I always feel amazed. Especially the differences between comics with text and without text. Or the same bubble produces an entirely different meaning in different pictures.

The focus of the comics is the use of space and the sense of time. Every frame needs to be carefully considered. Gradually, the picture has become a story-telling art. This medium can express more thick emotions and more complex stories.

The comic “the Spirit” already has the prototype of the superhero comic. The style of the Spirit is very American. I kinda don’t like it because I have been seen too many comics like this.

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

The whole book begins with a wall full of photos of immigrants, just like the Esley Island Memorial. Some of them depict immigrants entering the customs and their passport photos. The landing hall in the book was also created based on photographs taken on Esley Island.The story in the book begins with a man who is carefully putting a photo of his family into a box. The time is morning. His wife and daughter sent him to the train station. The scene is the town he is about to leave, and the town is home for creatures with huge black tentacles. In the picture of the train station, We can see the sadness in the eyes of his little daughter. When he took out a paper crane from the hat to tease her, she smiled reluctantly. They hug and say goodbye, and then the train started. Mom and daughter walked back home in the shadow of the creature.From these pictures, we can appreciate the tremendous effort and think of the author in this book. In each of the works, there are details carefully designed by Shaun Tan, which allows the reader to look at the new world with the amazing eyes of strangers. The man was in the arrival hall, and before he finally entered, he silently accepted the health check, and the immigration officer asked him about his purpose.He found a new job, met new people, and we learned more about him and this new, quirky new world. The final scene of the story is that he happily greets his wife and little daughter. From the joy in their faces, we can appreciate how emotional their reunion is. In the last painting, his daughter is guiding the way for a stranger who just arrived. It is a comic for travelers. It is a comic for immigrants. It is for people who are far away from their home. I feel the emotion that the author wants to show. As an international student, I feel homesick when I read it.