1. Erika Matteson

2. This story “Kiss & Tell” by Mari Naomi is based on her love life from age five until she is twenty-two years old. It begins with a small story of how her parents met in Japan and when she was born in the United States. As the book goes on it describes all of her sexual encounters with over 20 different men and also including some experiences with women. The main character Mari, began using drugs and arguing frequently with her parents and decided to move out living with her friends throughout the years. This is how she met the second main character Francis whom she had a long yet open relationship with, and shared a lot of common interests. Both of them begin their open relationship by experimenting with other couples, or individual men and women. Francis becomes jealous and doesn’t want to be in the relationship any longer. This scene of events occurs several times throughout the story, as she searches for the answer to who she really is.

3. The certain media the author uses to create this book is ink. She only uses black ink and white paper to show a intense contrast in her drawings. The characters aren’t realistic, but more cartoonish or abstract. The artist gives you enough detail to understand what is happening in the drawings, especially with expressing emotions. Her panels consist of small gutters so you are still able to recognize where the images are transitioning into one another creating her story line. 

4. I believe the reason why Mari wrote this book was to give out a message as to how important it is to take care of your relationships throughout life. How you treat your relationships reflect on the person you really are, and how you may turn out in the long run. She believes that people can learn from her mistakes through her life by telling people the encounters she has experienced. 

5. Personally, I think the strengths of this book are her drawings. The use of black and white lets you really focus on the small details and see everything more clearly. Also she makes the story easy to follow and understand, she gives enough detail to know exactly what’s going on without having to take up the whole panel with a huge paragraph. 

6. Some weaknesses of this book would be the audience she is directing her story to. Most people wouldn’t take the time of day to read about all of her silly sexual encounters. Yes it may be humorous to young teenagers but it’s not exactly a book you would want to pick up and read again if you were an older adult.

7. I would recommend this book to people from ages 17 to 30 or so. I feel that anyone older than 30 would find the book to have no importance or meaning because all it really provides is a good laugh for people who can relate to the book. I would not recommend this book to younger children obviously because of the inappropriate content, and images. Also, this book easy relates to situations that women encounter all the time, so this would be most interesting to women. On the other hand men might be curious about the way women might go about things and their thinking process so it might cause some spark of interest as well. 

8. Some other books Mari Naomi has written are “Smoke in Your Eyes”, “Frisco Al Fresco”, and she also has some online stories such as “The Bay Citizen-Drawing Clouds”.

9. I would rate this book about a 3/5. For the reasoning that it doesn’t fit all types of audiences. 

1. Erika Matteson

2. The book “Nausicaa of The Valley of the Wind, Vol. 1” story and art by Hayao Miyazaki, is a beloved Japanese story based on a young princess, Nausicaa, who encounters many life threatening hardships and responsibilities during a time of war. As her father king of the Valley of Wind lies upon his death bed, he has to appoint Nausicaa as the chieftain of the valley under the Torumekian Emperor as a gunship pilot. There has never been a women chieftain in history, but being the only child to survive out of the 11 children there was no way to avoid this decision. It begins with a subtle scene of her exploring through the Sea of Corruption which is the poisonous forest engulfing the earth. We see Nausicaa’s gentleness and admiration towards the forest, letting us take a glimpse of who she will soon become. She is loved and cherished by all the people of the kingdom, and dedicates her life to protecting the valley. There are also many important characters that exist in this book such as Mito her uncle a very important supporting character. Also, Lord Yupa the finest swordsman in the periphery, whom is very close to Nausicaa and guides her in the right paths to keep her calm and poised against the awful Torumekian traitors who once were the valleys allies. One traitor, known as being Kushana, a young women commander who participated in breaking the ancient treaties and completely destroying the City of Pejitei. From the Torumekian attack on Pejitei they had to flee and hide in the Sea of Corruption, as they hid the insects came and began to tear the ship apart. Trying to get away the freighter crashed and all the people of Pejitei were killed including the daughter of the chieftain of Pejitei, Rastel, who had one last request. This is where another main character comes in Asbel, Rastel’s brother. Nausicaa and Asbel become very close throughout the story and triumph many battles together. Although Nausicaa’s journey has only begun she has many challenges to come. 

3. In this graphic novel, Miyazaki uses more abstract techniques, meaning that the characters aren’t completely realistic but resemble objects, people, and real life situations. The type of media that he uses is black ink on white paper; the drawings vary going from sketchy to almost a polished look. All of the drawings consist of excessive detail, and crosshatching for shading. The ink gives the drawings texture, especially it only being black and white. The contrast between the dark and light is used very nicely within Miyazaki’s styles. Also, the organization of the panels may be a little confusing at first because usually you’d think there should be a simple pattern of reading each panel either up and down or left to right. In this case Miyazaki mixes it up, which I believe makes the reader have to pay more attention to the story line. Otherwise they’ll end up getting confused or lost.

4. Well I believe Miyazaki’s purpose in writing this story was to teach a lesson where in a time of conflict and damnation people can still conquer over the chaos of the world, and make things pure again starting with one person’s will. Overall, one person can make a difference in the world. This message is extremely important to give out to young and old people everywhere, because it is a good moral to share in order to lead people in the right path. Also, in the end of the book there is a short article describing how Miyazaki sparked his interest in creating the story of “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind”. Nausicaa is a Phaeacian princess who helped Odysseus back to health after washing up bloody on shore. She was a princess who enjoyed nature and was known as the “princess that loved insects”. These are some facts of how Miyazaki created his story of Nausicaa.

5. Well I believe there are a lot of strengths within this book. One would be the use of detail in the drawings; they make it very easy to see exactly what’s going on from facial expressions to battle scenes. Each panel plays well with one another making the story line easy to follow and the exaggerations in the drawings make everything a lot more interesting. Personally, another strength I find in the book is the story line. Part of my nationality is Japanese so I’ve grown up with this story since I was a 6 years old so it’s one of my favorite movies to watch. I would definitely consider all ages to watch the movie or read the series of graphic novels. They are exciting, adventurous, and show you how other cultures express their stories in unique ways.

6. Some weaknesses of the book would be how the panels are arranged in the book. Readers might get confused with the story because of how they are arranged in a mixed pattern, rather than just up and down, or left to right. Another, weakness would be that it’s in all black in white. Even though it fits very well for the series of graphic novels people enjoy seeing color in stories as well. There are so many interesting things that people have no idea about within the story, and if you add color they might be more attracted to the detailed drawings and the book in general.

7. This book is generally appropriate for all ages, because not only is it a cartoon but it also requires you to have more knowledge than a normal child would withhold. The book speaks of war and can relate to adults as well as children who adore cartoon characters and etc. I would recommend to all ages. 

8. Other books Hayao Miyazaki has written are “The Art of Spirited Away” and “Princess Mononoke”. Both of these stories are great! I’ve grown up with almost all of Miyazaki’s books and movies, so I highly suggest that you look into them!

9. I would rate this book 5 out of 5. Personally I love this book, and would definitely encourage people to read the whole series!

1. Dean Kmiecik

2. “5 is the Perfect Number” is a story focusing on the mafia. The dad is also the main story teller in this novel. This story takes place in probably the 70s and is inNaples,Italy. It begins with a dad and his son, the dad is discussing with his son past times of being in the mafia, but then tells his son that he became too old and had to let it go. His son took it up and has been doing it for a while now, but when he leaves to go do one of the jobs (murder) he never returns. The old man “Peppino” is very mad and finds out that his son was killed when he went out to do the killing. There are some crazy twists and turns in the story but Peppino gets back into killing people and calls some old friends and tries to handle business on his own. It’s a relatively violent story, but it definitely is interesting. Peppino kills many people on his way to find the murder of his son, but when he finally pinpoints the killer of his son he decides to let him go. This is probably the climax of the story, seeing as his friends are shocked by this twist as well. They tell him he’s a good man and tell him he needs to leave this town and go into hiding. He does and he is happy and growing old but he does still have the memories of his son and memories ofNaples,Italy.

3. The artwork in this graphic novel is slightly abstract, in the sense that it’s not completely realistic, but still resembles real life situations and people. The coloring of the book also adds to the story because without all the distractions readers are able to focus on the message of the story instead of things that aren’t important. The best thing was the detail within the pictures, because even though there was lack of color, it wasn’t difficult to distinguish certain things in the boxes, and all the different sequences were easily understood. I had absolutely no problem going through each and every sequence in the story because of the organization of the visual boxes. This would be a great first read for someone because of the simplicity yet entertaining storyline.

4. Igort most likely wrote the book to express creativity or some past emotion. The father and son relationship is complex but shows a lot of varying emotion. The topic is more than just an action story; it’s a story about family and compassion. The way that the mafia was passed down through the family and the loyalty was maintained throughout the years showing the bonds and giving Igort an opportunity to share a memory.

5. One of the weaknesses of the book would have to be the topic of which Igort chose to write about. Unfortunately, not everyone is interested in the mafia, meaning that this book is really just directed to those who are interested in reading or leaning about them. Although the book definitely has some underlying messages, the main theme would have been violence, which after all isn’t for everyone’s taste. Because the story line was portrayed so well, there aren’t any weaknesses. However, I would assume that this topic isn’t for everyone.

6. Unfortunately there were a lot of one tone images. With a little bit more color, it would have added to the story and maybe would have given it a little bit more personality.  The graphic language was very inappropriate I think it took away from the story line and was used too often. He tries to incorporate it into his book way to hard. But I think the story line was good and was really what the mafia is all about. The book did a good job in explaining how things happen in the mafia.

7. I would recommend this book to beginners. This book was fairly easy to read and understand, and because of the way it was delivered, I got my fair share from the book. This book can be read by older teens and even up to later twenty something’s. The book does have some really graphic language in it, so I would suggest monitoring the ages of people that read the book. Other than that, the book was very easy to understand and read and actually ended up being really sentimental and meaningful.

Some of the strengths I found in the book were the pictures and captions. They were very easy to read, and for someone that has never read a graphic novel I was actually really intrigued. Another great strength is the fact that Igort chose to convey a very deep meaning behind all of the action scenes. Without being too drastic, Igort sends a very sentimental message to his readers, and keeps them very entertained while doing so. Another great addition would be the easy to read boxes. I know with some graphic novels, they boxes are meant for advanced readers who are able to tell which parts of the story come next, but for beginners this was a really simple way to convey the message and the visuals.

8. Igort also completed the Baobob series as well as another graphic novel titled I.G.N.A.T.Z.

9. I would rate this book a 4/5

1. Mickhael Salim

2. Hey Skinny, Great Advertisement form the golden age of comic books. By Milles beller and jerry Leibowitz. is about advertisement’s in the 1940’s and 1950’s. All the cool advertisements from back in the day the list goes on from Gun advertisements, Miniature monkey, fire works, cigarettes, neck-ties that glow in the dark. All sorts of really awesome advertisements from the 1940s and 19’50’s and how items were advertised differently then today. The comic book does not have any specific characters, the book had random people in the advertisement and cartoons also. 

3. The book Hey Skinny, Great Advertisement form the golden age of comic books. By Milles beller and jerry Leibowitz.  The comic book show chases amazing color, every page full of words, very colorful and really great images from back in the day and how they looked it that time great job and also Different colors, a combination of black and white and then the next page would have color I found that to very interesting. Every single page of this comic book, had different pictures, lines, shapes, wording. Nothing was the same on any page want it came to these types of things. Overall great job.

4. I believe these authors wrote this comic book, to be funny. Most importantly to show people how things were back in the the day in the 1940’s and 1950’s. How everything was really cheap and also how they advertised things back then and its a entirely different ball game now. Also to bring back old memories  for the older crowds and maybe to bring back child hood memories. This really deserves a lot of credit and people should really see how things were advertised back in the day and how they are advertised now. How the technology has really changed. Just to see how much everything was so cheap and the prices for the same product has increased so much is really interesting. For example the fire works a bundle pack was 5 bucks and now a bundle pack is no less then 30 bucks. 

5. To be honest, this book has a of strength’s. Without these advertisements leading us into the future we would have never had what we have today. So lets thank the people that made these advertisements. I feel people don’t care enough to see that, and that are advertisements from today came from outer space, no people they came from the people before are time that worked on great advertisements that lead us into what we have today.  Besides that I have never seen, advertisement’s from back in the day, they are really cool and I enjoyed see them all. These book has nothing but positive messages behind it. My first reaction to this book was that, I love the advertisement’s and how they were so funny and full of pictures. Also These kind of advertisements made are future of advertisements what they are today. 

6. This book really did not have any weakness. I really like how things were advertised back in the day very colorful and really cheap prices and very funny images. It was really cool to see how things were advertised back in the day and the authors really showed that. The comic book is really cool, you get to see original copy’s of work that was posted in the 1940’s and 19’50s. That’s a winning book in my opinion, great book.

7. Hey Skinny, Great Advertisement form the golden age of comic books. This book is for the older crowd. People that are in their 60’s and 70’s. To bring back old memories that they used to share with their families and also they can see how the times have changed from when they were kids and how time is different. Just for the simple fact that how life has changed and reminiscing old memories that they used to have.

8. Milles Beller published a  book by the name of, Set in the 1939-1940 New York World’s Fair, “Dream of Venus (or Living Pictures)”, “is a speculative history reanimating the last great international fair this world would ever know. Meshing actualities with invention, it renders a future past that is nostalgic and predictive, an account of hope and longing at the onset of World War II. Focusing on Zeke Lichtenquist”.  Also “American Datelines: Major News Stories from Colonial Times to the Present.Capturing history as it unfolded, American Datelines reveals the courage, hope, and grit of the American experience as chronicled in the headlines of the nation’s public press from the earliest issue of The Boston News-Letter to major newspapers of today. The original articles in this compelling collection are arranged chronologically and appear as they were first published”. I did not see any books, for  jerry Leibowitz all I saw was the book he did with Milles Beller. 

9. This book received, a 5/5. I really enjoyed reading this comic book and just to see how things were back in the day and how they are now is really mind blowing and how far advertising has really come. The pictures were great very colorful and a mixture of black and white with the pictures also. The wording was very cool. Most of the advertisements were in big black bold letters which was really cool and also just how things were really cheap. Overall a really good comic book. 

1. Samantha Tadros

2. This graphic novel, told in first person, contains two main stories with multiple themes; one story is a love story between Zam and Dodola. The other story is about Dodola’s struggles throughout her life starting at a very young age. The themes include survival and love. Zam a protagonist is at the beginning of the novel a young, skinny African American slave, and by the end of the story he matures into a rather large man. Dodola, another protagonist, is a very attractive woman with long dark hair, thick juicy lips with a perfect figure. The love story is very unorthodox. Dodola adopts Zam when he is very young. Their love story begins as a brother sister love then turns into a mother son love. In this stage Dodola shares her love for reading and numbers with Zam and tried to educate him. Their love slowly turns into something more passionate than mother and son and as a reader we can see this progression from both Zam’s point of view and Dodola’s point of view. The second story in this graphic novel, Dodola’s life struggles, is a sad struggle for the readers. Many people will empathize with her as she is sold into marriage at a young age, kidnapped, whoring in the desert, and other tragic events. Along with all these exciting events in the novel there is parts that will digress from the story and teach about the Quran; these parts are actually every insightful and add to the book overall greatness.

3. The media used to create the drawings in Habibiis ink. The general style of the book is a very realistic with tight polished drawings. All drawings in this novel have strong binary opposition; they are all strong black and strong white thick sketching. The novel is far from impressionistic there are no uses of bright colors and there are plenty of details in each and every drawing. There are a lot of uses of lines in the novel. The use of the Arabic language is prominent in the novel and the entire language is wavy lines and cured ways. The shapes are very different in each drawing there are not many distinct boundaries. 

4. The author’s purpose of writing this novel is to expose a life, maybe exaggerated in the novel but is true in the Middle East, the setting of the novel that is true. Also the author is pointing out issues of poverty and the issues with love. The life that some Middle Eastern girls live is depicted in this novel. Many girls are sold in marriages at a young age and forced to live that they would not have picked for themselves. One of the settings in the book is a low poverty village where the water is not drinkable and food is scarce. There are a lot of people dying and the space is limited. I believe the author is trying to bring the issue of poverty to the eyes of people that do not know much about it. Another intention that I believe the author has is to enlighten people on the Quran. Within the novel there are a lot of topics brought up and taught to the reader.

5. This novel is very different and unique for a few different reasons. At first glance the novel can be a little scary because it is very large. The drawings in this novel are very detailed which make it very interesting and make a reader want to come back to it. I think the most interesting part of the novel is the reference to a different religion. For people with an open mind about religion the novel can be very interesting and thought provoking. Because the novel contains multiple story lines going on at the same time it is hard to get bored with a novel. At first the novel was a little difficult to get a grasp on because it jumps right into the story but once a reader figures out what is going on it becomes very interesting. The book has a lot of sexual references so I would have to say that the author draws the human body well and faces well also. The drawings are clear and realistic, except when referring to some of the religious mystical aspects. Overall I would have to say that the biggest strength of the novel is the multiple, interesting stories and the reference to a different religion.

6. There are a few weaknesses with this novel but nothing too extreme that would make a reader put the book down. The book uses a lot of Arabic language. This can be difficult for some people who are not familiar with the language. It is not ideal for someone reading the novel to put the book down and run to a translator so maybe the author could still use the Arabic but put the translation next to it too. Another weakness to the novel would be the transitions between story shifts and changes. It abruptly changes from Dodola’s struggles back to Zam’s struggles back to religion. If there was a clearer cut off I think it would be easier for a reader to understand. Like mentioned before these weaknesses are nothing that should keep a curious reader away from this novel.

7. Due to the graphic pictures and adult topics in this novel it would not be appropriate for anyone under the age of 16. Preferably I think 18 years of age or older would be a better age to understand the book. Any gender can benefit from reading this novel though. Although anyone can enjoy the novel I think that Middle Eastern people would personally enjoy the book because they can relate to the language and maybe even for some, the religion. I would not recommend this novel to people with closed minds that are not willing to open their eyes to maybe things that they do not see on a regular basis. I would not say that I felt uncomfortable at any time while reading this novel but I can see why some people might. Like it was mentioned earlier there is a lot of reference to sex and rape in this novel and the drawings go with it. The book has potential to make a reader feel awkward but that is definitely not the main purpose the author had in mind.

8. Other books that the author has written that people may want to check out include good-bye, chunky Rice, Blankets,and Carnet de Voyage. Good-bye, Chunky Rice is a book that about a small turtle who leaves his home and best friend to enter the next phase in his life. Blanketsis a book about Craig Thompson’s own life as a young child and all the conflicts he experienced. Carnet de Voyage is a book of drawings and sketches made by Thompson while traveling through France, Barcelona, Alps, and morocco.

9. I would rate this novel a 5/5. It was great!

1. Nathan Puchalski

2. The comic begins on November 5^th, 1997. There are only a few main characters in the novel worth mentioning. V is the main focal point of the novel and is a man shrouded in mystery. He always wears a mask and his past is completely unknown to all but himself. V is an anarchist and he and his actions provide the catalyst for the novel. Evey is a young 16 year old girl who has lived in the oppressed Britain her whole life. She is very impressionable and is pretty lost in life since both of her parents were killed during the war. The only other main character worth mentioning would be “the Leader” he is essentially the President and he controls Britain and everything that goes on. He is a very stern and cruel leader who uses his ultimate power to oppress the people to keep his control. Some main events would be the bombing of Parliament by V at the very beginning of the novel on the 5th of November which is a crucial date throughout the entire novel. Another major event would be when V breaks into the finger and begins a broadcast to all the people of Britain about how they have lost all control and given it away to the company. He gives them two years to fix it or they will all be “fired”. The climax of the novel in my opinion is when V lets evey go and she is then captured and tortured by the government. She loses all faith in people and the turning point is when Evey is asked to sign a document saying she is responsible for crimes she did not commit. She says no, when asked again she reply’s “Thank you but I’d rather die behind the chemical sheds.” When told to sign the document she could either sign and go to prison of be taken out and shot and once Evey replies with rather being shot than confessing the guard says “then there is nothing left to threaten you with, is there? You are free.” At this point we learn it was all a plot by V because he wanted to set Evey’s mind free and show her how to think for herself and on her own without fear. The story is primarily told in the first person and the person talking changes many times along with the setting of each page. The story has many surprises which I cannot share so I don’t give away the ending.

3. I am not 100% sure about the media used but my best guess would be an ink and pen mixture. The artwork is definitely realistic but it approaches that area of representational. What I mean by this is that some of the art work uses more figures rather than explicit detail. Lines are used a great deal in this novel mostly for texture on the people but also for the backgrounds. The overall color of the novel is dark. The scenes are gloomy because of the tone of the novel. It’s set in a period of civil unrest and general unhappiness so it’s a darker tone novel. The novel is definitely scene to scene, it jumps from many different locations all with different characters. It certainly helped in cutting out a lot of unneeded info.

4. This novel has more prevalence today than it ever has before. The groups Anonymous and Occupy Wall Street use the V for Vendetta mask as a representation of Anarchy and change, they also use the 5^th of November as a basis for major movements and events. It is my opinion that this novel was written to incite revolution and to push government boundaries on what the people can do. This book represents what needs to happen in our society today. This novel is all about what happens when a governing power gains to much control and how the people need to respond by stopping and standing up for themselves and for their rights. V uses terrorism to show the people you don’t need to obey every rule put upon you especially oppressive ones and we need to stand up as one and fight against those rules and the people who oppress them.

5.  What makes this graphic novel stand out to me is the impeccable story line. The pictures only emphasize the words and gives you a visual of what is happening as the story progresses. But sometimes the pictures don’t relate to the words at all and just gives additional detail to what is going on during the scenes. What drew me in is all of the twists and different actions going on page to page. The pace of the novel was perfect, just enough speed to keep you flipping page after page but slow enough to get all of the details and to understand the story line. The aspect the artist drew extremely well is the facial expressions and clothing. The expressions really helped me as the reader to fully grasp what the characters were feeling scene to scene and strip to strip.

6. I only have one complaint/ weakness for this graphic novel. This is the very first graphic novel I have ever read so the panel layout was hard to follow and understand at first, but that is because I’m new to this kind of reading.  My only real complaint is in some parts it was hard to understand the story line because of how the speech bubbles are set up. It was difficult to figure out who was talking at some points and also what order to read the bubbles. But this was only a problem in scenes with a lot of people involved and lots of text to read through. After a page or two of that periodically it was easy to get back on track.

7. I would recommend this novel to anyone, but the main group in my opinion would be 16-30 year olds because it takes a bit more of an advanced vocabulary to truly grasp the entire understanding especially with some of the vernacular used throughout the novel. I can imagine anyone who dislikes government or likes the idea of revolution to love this graphic novel. I would not hesitate recommending this novel to anyone because as a novel it has an amazing story line but if you take the true meaning behind it and apply it I can see it scaring some people. This novel only increased my own unrest about government and their ever increasing power over the people they are supposed to protect.

8. Some other graphic novels Moore has produced is Wacthmen, From Hell, and The League for Extraordinary Gentlemen

9. If I cloud give this novel a 6 I would but for the scale we are using it is definitely a 5!

1. Kristen Menapace

2. This graphic novel had several smaller stories that had similar characters, linking each story to the next. The main character, Maggie, is a bisexual with difficulties in her love, career and family lives. She has a larger, more shapely figure. After being recently divorced (from a man), she starts a complicated relationship with a young lady, Hopey. Hopey is skinny, with an eyepatch over an eye. Their relationship is on and off a lot, and Maggie meets another woman, Vivian. She is a full figured woman who befriends Maggie and then starts to come onto her, asking for kisses all the time. Even though Vivian starts trouble, Maggie remains friends with her throughout the stories because of her problems with her ex-boyfriend, Sid. Another character included in most of the stories is Izzy. Izzy is very emotionally troubled; she is usually hidden away in the dark, or lost somewhere. Maggie and Izzy have been friends for a long time, but it seems Maggie is always spending time trying to find or help Izzy in someway.

3. The pictures in this novel are all black and white. It is just thick and thin lines; not much shading or volume added to the images. For example, If a character’s shirt is black, it is completely black, no variations in lighting. When the author tries to portray an emotion through the image, it seems to get a little distorted. For example, when Maggie gets scared her eyes get much too large for her body and large beads of sweat appear on and around her face. I am not quite sure what media was used to draw these images, but I am thinking it was first drawn with ink and then scanned and created on a computer. The lines are very solid and cleanly drawn.

4. I think the purpose of these short stories was to open your mind to people and adventures that are a little less common or accepted these days. They definitely explored questions of gender identity. Maggie was once married to a man, but starts romances with a few women. There is also a little Spanish flare throughout the stories, sharing a different culture with the reader.

5. I think the images are the biggest strengths of this graphic novel. Since some of the captions were written in Spanish, or a language uncommon to me, the images helped better describe some situations. The artist definitely helps make reactions and emotions to things very clear. Sometimes I was confused at the reaction of a situation, but for the most part the character’s moods were expressed very clearly through the words and pictures. My first reaction was that this novel was decently good, I liked that the main character was a woman going through common difficulties every woman goes through such as her love life. Some of the lesbian related scenes made me uncomfortable, but it helped me to open up my mind to another sort of lifestyle for someone. I was also left with questions at the end of the short stories. Sometimes the answers to the problems were never fully stated and I was left wondering what actually happened. 

6. A problem or weakness that I found was what I described earlier-stories left with open endings. It obviously shows that the problem was resolved, but it was never clearly states what happened and how it was resolved, just that it was. I may have missed the small hints and foreshadowing of what happened, but I really felt there were many questions left open-ended. Other than that, I thought it had many different factors going on that helped you to open up your mind. Since the topics were so unfamiliar to me, it was actually interesting to read and put yourself in the place of someone very different from you.

7. I would recommend this book to my older sister. She is recently graduated with a major in art illustration. She has read many other comic books (such as anime) and I think she would find this story very interesting. Plus, she loves looking at different types of art, and I think this would be very interesting to her. I do not think she is used to reading comic stories like this, so it would be a good change for her and may even inspire her to begin a new type of art project to expand her talent.

8. The author, Jaime Hernandez, has written other comic novels. With his two brothers, he wrote “Love and Rockets”. He is known for interpreting his Mexican culture and recreating childhood memories into his stories. He has written many different volumes of his series “Love and Rockets”. After these, he wrote New Love, Luba and Luba’s Comics and Stories, Penny Century and Whoa Nellie, and New Tales of Old Palomar. (Some of those are Gilbert Hernandez).

9. Out of 5 stars, I would rate this a 3/5.

10. I did EC choice A. I wrote “Maggie” in a way that portrayed the qualities of the main character, Maggie, through the font. The bubble part in the “M” and “E” represent her curvy figure. The smaller figure on the side of the “M” represents a person “leaning” on Maggie, since she is a very dependable friend. The drops coming off the “A” represent the sad part of Maggie, as well as her sweat from all the hard work she does. The first “G” is backwards and blue, while the second “G” is forward and red. These colors and arrows represent her confusion on whether she wants to be with a man or woman. This goes along with the “I” that is a question mark, also representing her confusion about her own gender identity.

1. Tilah Parker

2. This book was unordinary and weird. It was basically about a guy named Vlad that comes across an old friend at a bar described as someone else:Javy/Otis. Vlad’s girlfriend named Ivy meets Vlad’s friend Woodrow who’s apart of this second world make believe website that it so happens that Otis has created. So Ivy joins and her and Woodraw takes it over board they on the website they have pretend sex then he starts liking her but she tells him to keep second world stuff in second world and not in real life. Later Vlad remembers he has a trust fund his dad left him which wasn’t really for him but for his grandpa which is dead too but so happens to be up to 1-2 million dollars. His cousin is a drug attic and she wants the trust fund but doesn’t really deserve it she may just spend the money on drugs. Later Ivy and Vlad have a secret wedding that no one was invited too but she also married Woodraw on second world because he claims he’s lonely and wants to at least be fake married again so Ivy marry’s him. Woodraw starts liking Ivy even more they spend a lot of time on second world that Vlad doesn’t even know about. Otis is worried that terrorist will invade him for some reason but actually Woodraw shows up to his house and kills him while Vlad is there. Woodraw tells Vlad all these lies about him and Ivy which isn’t true. Vlad is all confused. Woodraw tells Vlad that Ivy is going to leave him and take all his money and trust fund and put it towards second world because he is the creator of the website. Woodraw hacks it and blows it up on his own and calls Ivy to witness it. Woodraw passes out and the ambulance comes to get him. Vlad recovers and things workout between him and Ivy but he is handicap and in a wheelchair.

3. The artwork used for this book was very extravagant. Peter Bagge’s way of art for the book I read was both non-realistic and realistic features. He had a way of drawing second world creatures and real-life humans as he saw them. The book was made as an comic, which had a fair amount of space in between each box. Most of the characters were drawn using organic shapes which was very unique to me. Each character was drawn differently weather the eyes were smaller or their nose had a weird shape to it. The drawings used for this comic created an iconic feel to the book and me myself as the reader. 

4. I think the author’s purpose to writing this book was to inform people on his view of people. I think he wanted his viewers to really feel like they were living in a second world while reading his comic book:Other Lives. In the book he showed the characters communicating their emotions and ideas to one another. Really putting emphasis drawing really made me feel like the book was coming to life. At the same time I feel like someone under age wouldn’t really understand some of his drawings or his purpose because some things he drew were over-rated which included private parts and sex scenes. I think someone should take Peter Bagge comic book to a great ending to it. The value of this book is to know everyone is different in this world and everyone goes through different things in this life.

5. There are many strengths to this graphic novel. I really haven’t read too many comic books but the ones I have read they don’t compare to this one. The way Peter designed his characters were very unique especially the ones he designed for the secondary world. He included fairies, dragons, weird animals etc. The enjoyable parts of this which really made me more interested and to keep reading. My first reaction to seeing sex scenes in a comic book were very exasperating. I don’t enjoy reading sex scenes but I had no choice I rushed through reading it because I really wasn’t interested. The author really out good facial expressions on every character when the time was needed.

6. He could’ve made better body language, some scenes I was a little confused on what to think about the character I was lost for words at some scenes. Reading this book made me change my opinion about imaging a secondary world. Reading this book really helped me expand my imagination to make belief. If the author was to write on a debate issue the author does have proper consideration to all sides to the debate.

7. I would recommend this book other lives by Peter Bagge to mature teenagers and older. Like I said before there are some mature scenes in this book. The perfect age that would be interesting in this book would, be 17 years of age though 30. I don’t think this book would be as interesting to older people. It’s designed for both boys and girls. I would only pass it to my cousins which are 17-24. They would enjoy this book because they like comics and mature enough to handle the book. I could imagine nerds and people with a great imagination loving this book. I would hesitate recommending this book to any age below 17, because they are not mature enough to read this comic especially younger children in grammar and middle school. I would be 50/50 to someone who may object this book because there were some good/bad scenes to this book. Certain parts did make me uncomfortable even though I’m a mature young adult but reading and seeing sex scenes doesn’t interest me at all. I wasn’t too surprised because I know every comic book has a dumb scene to it. It dead lead me to a new understanding to a aspect of life, that sex happens that’s how life goes. The book has increased my interest in weird comic books to expect them more and try to draw a better understanding rather than avoiding it. 

8. Other comics by Peter Bagge: Neat stuff,Buddy Bradley, Strange Tales, Hate, Nerd, Sweat shop, Other Losers, Stupid comics, Yeah! and the list goes on.

9. *** 3/5 stars

1. Bradley Steele

2. The novel Maus starts off in 1978 when Art Spiegelman goes to his fathers house to have dinner with his dad and his step mom. Art’s mother killed herself in 1968 so his father remarried. After dinner Art sits down with his dad ,Vladek, to listen to his stories about the Holocaust and the Nazi takeover in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s because he wants to draw a comic book about his dad’s stories. Vladek starts his story off in 1936 when he lived in Czestochowa, Poland. shortly after he starts his story Vladek travels to Sosnowiec and meets a girl that he really likes and within a year the two are married. Shortly after their marriage the couple gives birth to their first son Richieu, but Vladeks wife ,Anja, suffers from depression following her sons birth. Soon after the birth of his son Vladek gets drafted by the Polish army and sent to fight against the Nazis. As the Nazis started to invade Poland Vladek is  captured by the Nazis and sent to a P.O.W. camp. Vladek is held captive for 3months and then he is released during the week of Parshas Truma. After being released Vlaedk travels back home to Sosnowiec to find out that the Nazis have taken over the family business and the family was now living off of their savings. So to make some money for his family to survive, Vladek starts dealing in the black market with a friend of his. This goes on for a year and then in 1942 the Nazis force the Jews to a separate part of the city. Some family members are sent letters to report to be relocated so the family hides them but then they are eventually taken away to their deaths at Auschwitz. Shortly after their grandparents are taken away all Jews have to report to a nearby stadium to register themselves. The Jews are separated into 2 lines and the Jews in the right are safe and the Jews in the left line are to be sent off to Aushwitz. Vladeks father is in the right line and then he sees his daughter in the left line so he gets out of his line to be with his daughter and they are never seen again. Then in 1943 the Jews are forced into a ghetto. To keep their son safe Vladek and Anja send their son to live with their Uncle Persis. But soon after the ghetto is cleared out by the Nazis and instead of going to Aushwitz Anjas sister Tosha poisons herself and her daughter and Richieu. Then in Srodula Vladek tries to keep his family safe during Nazi raids but they are eventually caught. They are awaiting transport to Aushwitz when Vladek bribes his cousin Haskel who is head of the Jewish Police. Vladek and his wife are able to be released. They hide out in the back of a factory until the ghetto is evacuated and then head back to Sosnowiec. Once back home they hide out at an old friends house. But once it starts to get cold they move in with an old friend Ms. Motonowa. One day Ms. Motonowa gets stopped by the Gestapo and kicks Vladek and his wife out but eventually lets them come live with her again but Vladek doesn’t feel safe so he meets with some smugglers. They are then about to board a train to leave when they are arrested by the Gestapo and sent off to the concentration camps. Then finally at the end of the book it is now back to 1978 and the book ends with Art accusing Vladek for the death oh his mother.

3. This book has great artwork in it. All of the drawings appear to be drawn with pen. The artwork appears to mainly be realistic but some aspects of it are abstract because the characters faces are either mice, pigs, or cats. The artist takes a more expressionistic view and all of the drawings are very tight and refined. The drawings are pretty heavy and dark and with the different animal faces the book kind of has a dreamlike quality to it. The book also only sticks to black and white with no color. This is one of my favorite graphic novels and the artwork is awesome.

4. In this book the author’s purpose and intention in writing it was to tell his dads story. His dad and mom were involved in a major event in life that we are still taught in school today. Art simply wanted to show his parents side of the story and what they had to give up and do simply to survive. He does a great job explaining their hardships and what they had to go threw. 

5. The biggest strength of this graphic novel is the way the author Art Spiegelman took a historical event and turned it into an enjoyable novel. He also portrays the different people in the story as different animals. The Jews are mice, the Gestapo are Pigs, and the nazis are cats. The way the story flows also makes it enjoyable, jumping from the past to the present. Its like a story within a story. This is just simply a very enjoyable and good graphic novel.

6. The biggest problem I had with this book was the ending. The book goes threw all the hart ships Vladek and his wife had to go threw and at the end of the book they get caught and then thats the end of the book. The book should have been a little longer and explained what happened to Vladek and his wife once they were arrested by the Gestapo. But other then that the book was great and didn’t have any other flaws.

7. I first read this book when I was in high school and I really enjoyed it then. But I feel like anyone could read this book. The material isn’t that graphic but I would say to be on the safe side any one in middle school or older could read this no problem. Any one younger then that probably wouldn’t be able to grasp the material being talked about. But other then that it is a great book that really opens your eyes to the aweful things that the Nazis did to the Jews.

8. This author also wrote a second book called Maus: And Here My Troubles Began. I have not yet read this book but I think I am going to very soon.

9. Out of 5 stars I would give this book a 5. I really loved this book and it really made me want to read the second book. i would recommend this book to anyone.

1. John Mcdonnell-Marcks

2. “The Boulevard of Broken Dreams” is a graphic novel that uses sequential art.  Set in the depression era the novel cover two main characters basically-Waldo the cat who is the alter ego of Ted Mishkin who is an animator. Waldo is Ted’s character that he uses for his sketches.  Towards the beginning of the novel Waldo is a dark almost devilish type of character.  Says some profanity and really doesn’t give a hoot but towards the end, changes into a more mellow Waldo. You view Ted’s life and how he feels through Waldo. The is a fair amount of binge drinking, affairs, and even stints at a psych ward in the novel. I can’t give away it all away but it’s an entertaining read.There are a few other characters of interest, His hero Windsor Newton, His boss Fred Fontaine, and his love Lillian are all characters in the novel but aren’t as important. The plot of the story in a nutshell is Ted and Waldo are trying to stop the new executive of their cartoon company from changing the style of animation to “disney style” at Fontaine Fables.

3. Like I stated in the summary, the graphic novel does a great job using sequential art. Kim Deitch used ink when creating this novel. The entire novel is black and white. He uses a lot of straight lines through objects to show flow and rhythm.The things Kim really wants you to see he makes noticeable. Everything else just blends into the frame as one which i think is a really difficult thing to do. The use of Solid black and white mixed with the straight lines through objects really make the picture blend unbelievably.

4. In my opinion, Kim Deitch created this book to display his unorthodox approach of not only using art(animation, comics) as well as subject matter. There wasn’t any hidden message or point to get across, he just wanted to create something that not many people have.  The mix of animation and crudee humor was a success for me.

5. Honestly this novel is everything I like in comedy and art.  I’m a big fan of vulgar language and dark comedy. An example is when  hopeless Ted is watching the latest of the studio’s output, while Waldo complains that Schick & Co. are “turning [him] into a f——n’ pansy! It makes me feel like the novel is raw which is the kind of thing I’m looking for.  The illustrations are amazing. I loved Calvin and Hobbes and this novel reminded me of that when it came to the art work(Just much more graphic).

6. Honestly, I picked the perfect novel because i enjoy that time of art but if i had to say i wouldn’t have made Waldo soften as the novel progressed but other than that it was quite enjoyable.

7. This book is definitely targeted toward mature audiences so i would start with college kids. People who love to read comics on newspapers would appeal to this as well. The art work is amazing and the story isn’t half bad either. I would say college students would enjoy the most but a specific person i would give it to would be my roommate Dustin because, he loves comics and that kind of dark comedy “The Boulevard of Broken Dreams” bring.

8. Two more noevels by Kim Deitch that I would recommend would be “Alias the Cat”, and “The Search for Smilin’ Ed.”

9. 5/5- it was the perfect graphic novel choice!

1. Shelby Csernyik

2. The main characters name is David Beauchard, who is also the author of the graphic novel. In this novel Beauchard transports his readers into his world. There is a series of nineteen dreams dating from December of 1979 to September 1994. In these dreams he depicts many strange, scary, and beautiful experiences. Many of the dreams consist of murder, thievery, graveyards, beautiful women, animals as well as constant running. Beauchard also takes his readers on a journey to foreign places like Asia, and even into different time periods of his life consisting of his childhood and adult life.

3. In Beauchard’s graphic novel “Nocturnal Conspiracies” he used a pen to create all of the images. The colors consist of blacks, blues, and whites. The images depicted in this novel definitely contain some abstractness to them, but over all this graphic novel contains expressionistic images that explain pictorially what Beauchard dreamed of. The reader can feel the emotion because one can feel each pen stroke. The graphic novels images also convey a surrealistic look as well. The novels shapes are mainly organic with the exception of some generic geometric shapes. Beauchard does an amazing job of shadowing in this novel. Where the light is casted in the image he draws in sketched lines to give the illusion of shading.

4. David Beauchard’s purpose in writing this graphic novel is to convey to his audience his many insecurities that he has. In a sense he wrote and drew these pictures and words to express many of his deepest emotional conflicts. In each dream, there is a certain message about an insecurity or fear that is communicated through the poetic words and graphic images. This novel was an autobiographic way that Beauchard was able to expose to his readers and release emotions through something that he loves to do.

5. One of the biggest strengths of this graphic novel is the fact that it is expressionistic so it connects with the reader on an emotional level. Being that his purpose was to expose his insecurities, anxiety’s, and fears it allows the reader to feel his emotion and relate on a mental and emotional level. Being that graphic novels consist of pictures and words that work together to illustrate a story this novel in a sense came alive. It brought all the emotion into an image that he felt in his dreams. This allowed to effectively portray to the readers what he felt and to have them feel the same way.

6. One of the weaknesses that this graphic novel posses’ is bland images. Throughout the novel even though the author portrays his feelings through the images effectively, I feel as if the artwork is dry. Because this novel is mainly black, white and blue there is nothing that really pops out to draw the reader in; I believe that in order to make the artwork more of a strong suite Beauchard could have used a more realistic color scheme in this graphic novel to help create the illusion of emotions that were in his words. This would allow the feelings to bleed from the words into the images.

7. I recommend this book for individuals from age sixteen on up. Especially high school students, college students, and anyone interested in dreams and interpreting them. Both men and women would enjoy this book, however, I feel that because of its graphic nature with the violence and sex scenes that this novel is more geared towards men. Whether man or woman someone who might hesitate reading this book is someone who has a weak stomach or does not like the thought of violence. If someone who reads this book objects to its nature, they have to remember that this is a form of art and this graphic novel will either appeal to a person or not. I personally was not shocked or surprised at any part of the novel because I went in reading this knowing that it was about this man’s dreams. I had the understanding that this novel could contain anything.

8. French writer and comic book artist David Beauchard has written other books including: “Babel”, “Epileptic”, “Black Paths”, “The Littlest Pirate”, as well as “The Armed Garden and Other Stories”.

9. I am going to give this graphic novel a 3/5. I enjoyed the novel, however it was a little hard to concentrate because of how unfocused the novel is.

1. Margaret Brosky

2. Edward Gorey’s “Amphigorey Also,” is made up of 17 short stories, all following a childlike theme. Each story deals with a different set of characters performing random actions. As each story line is ridiculously random, the individual passages become more interesting as the reader continues. The many stories include “The Utter Zoo”, “The Blue Aspic,” “The Epiplectic Bicycle,” “The Sopping Thursday,” “The Grand Passion,” “Les Passementeries Abecedarium,” “L’Heure bleue,” “The Broken Spoke,” “The Awdrey-Gore Legacy,” “The Glorious Nosebleed,” “The Loathsome Couple,” “The Green Beads,” “Les Urnes Utiles,” “The Stupid Joke,” “The Prune People,” and “The Turning Fork.”

One of the short stories, “The Epiplectic Bicycle” follows two siblings, Embley and Yewbert, who begin their adventure on “the day after Tuesday and the day before Wednesday…” A rumble between the two is interrupted when a mysterious bicycle appears before them. The curious children hop on the bicycle and begin their ride through what appears to be a lost world. They eventually find themselves at an obelisk, raised in their very own memory 173 years ago.

Another short story includes “The Sopping Thursday” which follows a gentleman in desperate search for his umbrella. He searches his entire home, asks everyone he comes across if they had seen it, and eventually shops for a new one. His loyal dog stays by his side through the entire search, looking high and low to find his owner’s missing umbrella.  Through the story, the man looks to friends and strangers to borrow one, but finds no luck. He checks every umbrella in stock at a shop, but not a single one is right for him. By the end, his “loyal beast” discovers the missing umbrella when the gentleman’s roommate returns home with it.

3. The artwork in this book appears to be done in all pencil or ink and is mostly drawn in black and white. Gorey’s drawings seem much more abstract than they do realistic and are very minimalistic. They are done loosely and appear very sketchy, with thick straight lines.  His drawings do not show much value, but the small amount of value he does use is created by sharp hatched lines. Gorey keeps his images in tight boxes and spreads the boxes out across the page. He fills each with lines, but leaves open, negative space between each box. This leaves the pages and drawings clean and easy to look at.

4. I believe Gorey’s intention in writing this book was to make the reader think. His short stories are very entertaining, but it is difficult to make sense of the story lines. Reading the stories through a few times usually helps to connect certain events, but generally they take a turn for the least expected at the end. I think his intention was to take real life, relatable situations and warp them into surreal adventures. I think he wanted to make the reader think about a different world and a different way to look at life. Considering the plots of each short story, I believe Gorey wanted to include to reader in the experience and make them feel as if they are a part of the adventures. 

5. I think the biggest strengths of this graphic novel include the lack of description. Gorey has done an excellent job at capturing his reader’s attention by solely using black and white images and little text. Although some stories do include text and captions, I believe the most interesting are those without it because it forces the reader to create their own story based on the images. I like how the reader is included in stories such as “The Broken Spoke,” because the pages are constantly changing orientation. Another of this graphic novel is how interesting each story really is. Gorey does an excellent job at capturing his reader and taking them along on the journeys with his characters. He truly makes each individual one fun to read and attempt to decipher.

6. A big weakness I found in this graphic novel is how hard it is to truly figure each story out. Although fun at times, it becomes frustrating constantly trying to figure out what Gorey is expressing. Also, most of the characters look the same. I realize this is probably because it is his drawing style, but with the characters looking so similar it brings the reader back to a previous story and characters’ personalities, which makes it difficult to understand the new character completely.

7. I would recommend this book to high school students. I feel it is far too advanced for elementary schools, and middle school aged students would not be able to fully appreciate Gorey’s style and stories. With the plots being so random and ridiculous, I feel high school aged students would enjoy this book tremendously. I think his intention was to open his reader’s minds, and I feel high school aged students would be the perfect age group to decipher his meanings.

8. Other books by Edward Gorey include: The Doubtful Guest, The Gashlycrumb Tinies, The Headless Bust, Elegant Enigmas, The Lost Lions, The Strange Case of Edward Gorey and many, many more.

9. I would give this book 5/5 stars

1. Keturah Grays

2. The graphic novel “Artichoke tales” is mainly focused around a teenage girl by the name of Brigitte. This young girl lives in a land where the north and south are at war and the people have artichoke leaves as hair. Brigitte has come to the point in her life where she as has many questions about the north. Her ill grandmother Charlotte, fills her in on the history of their land and Brigitte is eager to finally get out there. Being that she is from the south, it has always been forbidden that she travel there. One day while scavenging, she came across a young solider from the north named Adam. She instantly falls for him and is desperate to move to the north to be with him. As Brigitte begins her own life, she notices herself slipping further away from her family.

This novel switches point of view quite a few times. I feel as though the authors     purpose for this was to get the reader to get to know the main character in different    perspectives. In some chapters you are following Brigitte in her daily routines. While as others, it might be her grandmothers side of there story. Although it is not clear, I am pretty sure that this story took place in the medieval time period. The artichoke people have no technology and rely only on fire and natural remedies. I can also confirm this because of the way the author draws their clothing. The clothes they wear are mostly handmade rags with metal accessories.

The artwork in this novel is very delicate looking. I can tell the author worked slowly and persistent on the art. Her style of drawing is a little more on the abstract side but drawn with a light and airy touch. The medium she uses is definitely some sort of green ink form a fine tip pen. Although the line work is very clean and well done, I feel as though the characters are drawn a little too basic. Most of the characters look the same and you can barely tell them apart. Thus making it a little more confusing for the reader.

4. I think that Meg Kelso’s main purpose for creating this novel was to get people to start thinking about the effects of war. She exhibits multiple examples in the novel of how war can tear a nation apart. Along with war, family might be a huge factor in her reasoning as well. Almost all the characters are related by blood and are somewhat close to each other. When reading the graphic novel, I could tell that the author might be a very family oriented person.

5. I cant say that I have read any books similar to this particular one. I was a little skeptical when choosing this novel in the beginning. Although there a few things that I thought were rather nicely done. For one, I enjoyed the way the artwork was drawn. I think that graphic novels get a rep for being filled with gore and very graphical scenes. I was very pleased to read the softly drawn novel and not come across and thing too gothic. The second thing I think the author did well was the script. I read the dialogue with ease and it was simple  to understand.

6. The most noticeable weakness in The Artichoke Tales was that the book seemed to be everlasting. I think the author sort of dragged the story on too long. I sure there would have been a more persistent way to do this novel. Its as if Kelso took the long way out. This was slightly annoying when I read the novel. I also had a pretty solid knowledge of what would happen in the end of the story.

7. If I had to, would most definitely recommend this novel to college students of both gender. I think the content is intended for educated young adults. Children would have a hard time grasping the context of this story and older adults might be uninterested. Personally I wouldn’t really recommend this novel for family or friends. Most people I know would never be into this style of book.

8. Kelso’s other works include: Girlhero,  Queen of the Black Black, and The Squirrel Mother. In 1993 Girlhero won her a Xeric Foundation grant. I would probably consider reading The Squirrel Mother. I have came across this tile a couple time and I remember.

9. I rate this book a 3 out of 5.

1. Alex Karas

2. My book had many mini comics in it which are all formatted with four 3-pannel-strips per page. Every other was colored with bright vibrant colors and then the other pagers were black and white. Each panel has a different color next to it. The main colors are green, yellow, purple, blue, and pink. Every object involved in the comics has a face, such as coffee pots and bowls. The main characters in the mini comics typically had a face that looked like a pig, but the colors and sized would typically vary. All characters had some type of crazy unique feature about them, such as crazy hair, crazy cloths, or a crazy looking face. In most of the comics in the book, the characters would be trying to do something fun ranging from partying to swing on the swing set. The characters tended to argue a lot in the comics for various reasons. When the characters speak they tend not to make very much sense, the characters would start to have a normal conversation and then something out of the ordinary would be said or something strange would happen.

3. By observing the drawings in the mini comics, I noticed that the comic was first sketched out with what looks like to be a pencil and then was scanned onto a computer and had all the lines filled in with different vibrant colors. The characters and objects are abstract. The comics are distorted and very airy and light. The characters in the comics were all shaped like humans but were given a different face with a wild haircut. The characters and objects do not tend to have any motion in the comics; most of the comics were a conversation and took place in one spot. The artist used speech bubbles for the conversations and for the characters thoughts he would not put them in a speech bubble, he would just write it down in random spots near the character. The Author showed emotion when the characters talked by using exclamation points for excitement, or “…” for awkward silences. The panels are all very close to each other and “gutters” are not used on any of the comics.

4. I believe that the authors purpose for writing the book was to try and express his emotion towards bad friendships, In his comics he typically would show how the characters would betray each other and then both of them ended up getting screwed at the end of the day. He is trying to show how people treat each other these days and it is going to end up coming back to haunt them. He pushes many boundaries in this book with the strong language it uses and the drugs and alcohol that is used in many of the comics. The author wanted to tell this story to for humorous reasons and to send the message about good friendship, and to not manipulate or treat others badly. People should give this book the time of day because it really is entertaining and fun to look at, many of the panels have funny things happening or being said.

5. I have never read another book like this, I have never seen a book with such vulgar language and inappropriate behavior. The style of the book does not synchronize well with the meaning because the book really has a good meaning because it preaches how people should treat one and another with care and respect but then has so many raunchy and naughty pictures and sayings that they use in the book as well. My first reaction was the book was that it was very entertaining to read, I laughed out loud on probably 45% of the comics. The book is not believable at all because of crazy characters and language used in the book.

6. A weakness that I noticed in this book was that it was difficult to comprehend, sometimes the characters would say things that were so out there that it was hard to keep along with the plot of the mini comics. If I was the author I would have made sure some of the comics made a bit more sense, so people could comprehend it more. After reading this book I have realized that if people treated people nicely and didn’t try to get so greedy that everything would be go much smoother in the world. The Author did not seem to have a bias and he does not give sides to each debatable issue.

7. I would recommend this book to college age kids and young adults because the humor used in this book would not be appreciated by older adults, and is to inappropriate for the younger kids to read. I would pass this book to my sister because she is the only one in my family who would appreciate the humor and morals that are used in this book. I would not recommend this book to either one of my parents because they would not approve of the language that is used. If someone objected the book I would try to convince them to look pass the vulgar language and to try to look at the meaning of each comic and the lessons that could be learned from them. This did not really lead to a new understanding or awareness of some aspect of my life.

8. Another book that Donald Baechler has written is “Skulls and Shit”.

9. I would give this book a 5/5, I enjoyed reading this book very much!

1. Ryan Speelman

2. Will and Abe’s Guide to the Universe is a compilation of short, independent comics. The author, Matt Groening is the creator of The Simpsons and has written many other comics and cartoons. This book is quite different from his usual work which is largely based on spinning off major events, like politics and entertainment. In Will and Abe’s guide to the universe, Matt Groening depicts many real conversations of two boys Will and Abe. Matt tries to capture the attitudes and worldviews of his kids through the writing, which is almost exclusively in “kidspeak.” Although there is no reference to the actual age of the kids it is obvious that Abe is the younger brother. He is like any young boy in that he likes to question everything and makes it difficult for older brother Will to explain things. The title of the book is meant to represent how nonspecific the book actually is. Each page contains one comic that has nothing to do with any other comic in the book. The main ideas seem completely random which fits with the main idea that is Matt’s children’s thoughts.

3. The style of art in Will and Abe’s Guide to the Universe is abstract and simplified. It has the appearance of being drawn by a child, which fits with the books overall feel. The theme in each comic stays the same so the comics themselves are primarily action to action and aspect to aspect. The words and pictures work together to convey information so the comics are also duo-specific. The medium of this book is pen and ink which contributes to the crudeness of the art. The lines are dark and deliberate, so there is little left to interpretation. Most of the lines are contour and evenly weighted throughout the book. There is almost no use of light, shadow, or value. The art is simple and in black and white. There is little depth but the images are generally proportional. In most of the comics there is no use for the negative space. The exception is for relative distances; Matt uses the negative space to illustrate how far apart two objects or characters are. The gutters serve little use are its size is directly related to the number of panels in the comic. Overall the art in this book is rough and unbalanced, but I think that is the point.

4. Matt created this book to communicate the curiosity of children. He realized that his kids had some ridiculous conversations and decided to make a book out of it. Matt depicts the wild imaginations of his children which many people can relate to. This book helps people relate to a younger generation. In the book Will and Abe discuss their perspectives on many complicated topics such as religion and death. Their explanations are wild and sometimes hilarious, which is typical of young people who have not yet learned enough to make a serious hypothesis about these things.

5. This book it set up very similarly to Calvin and Hobbs, but there are some differences. The artwork is meant to look like it was done by Will and Abe. Also, the wording in Will and Abe’s guide to the Universe is far more childish than that of Calvin and Hobbes. I think that the form and style of this book fit well with its purpose. It is geared toward younger people, but there is a humor that adults, especially those with children, could appreciate. The layout of this book made it very easy to read. There is one comic on every page and that is consistent throughout the entire book. Also, given the audience of this book, Matt did quite a good job capturing the child aspect of his characters.

6. The biggest problem with this book is probably its readability. Even though this book is mostly for young children, it was difficult to read. I think Matt Groening got a little too carried away with the kidspeak, which can be very difficult to understand. If I were making this book, I would probably have changed some of the language to make it easier to follow. The other problem with this book is that it can be confusing. The themes of the comics are all Matt’s kid’s random thoughts and that makes it difficult to follow at some points. Without understanding what the kids were thinking when they came up with these ideas it is hard to read the comics; some of them seem far too random. If I were to correct this problem I would add some information in the beginning of the comic to illustrate the initial circumstances if the situation.

7. I would recommend this book to a child. The style of art and writing is certainly geared toward a much younger crowd. Although any child would probably enjoy this book, it may be better for boys. The main characters are all male so boys would probably be able to relate to it better. If I had relatives between the ages of six and ten I would recommend this book to them. I would also recommend this to a parent who is looking for something to read with their son or daughter, or someone who is learning to read at a low level. For a young adult or adult that can read at a normal level, I would not recommend this book. The writing style is far too childish. I could imagine some parents objecting to this book because of the easiness of its reading. The writing is made to seem like it has been written by a child, so it may run the danger of supporting bad writing habits.

8. Some similar books by Matt Groening are: School is Hell, The Huge Book of Hell, Work is Hell, Childhood is Hell, How to go to Hell, Love is Hell, and Big Book of Hell.

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