Lackadaisy, and Why You Should be Reading it!

Lackadaisy, by Tracey J. Butler, is my favorite webcomic to date. I’ve read several, most of which were stories whose pages numbered in the hundreds, but there have also been weekly strips in my online reading list at times; simply put: I’ve tried out many different genres, art styles, and formats. Lackadaisy, however, stands above the rest. The story is set in St. Louis during the Prohibition and features bootleggers, club owners, and musicians all trying to make their way in the 1920s. There is a good amount of violence, gore, and other adult themes, but these are balanced by an oftentimes quirky cast of characters and some skillfully executed comedic relief. Butler has spared no effort in researching this era, and her determination for historic accuracy manifests itself in immaculate costume design, architecture, and slang. The curveball decision that makes this comic more easily accessible is the very same decision that many artists dealing with serious historical events have made, including the author of Maus, Art Spiegelman: the characters are anthropomorphic – and in the particular case of Lackadaisy, the characters are cats. These felines allow Butler to go into more graphic detail than if she had chosen to use human portrayals, and is one of the main reasons why she has gained such a loyal following. Nevertheless, I believe this is not the biggest reason why she was able to resign from her day job and commit herself completely to this project. As a webcomic artist, Butler is able to involve her audience more closely with the creation process and provides “gag reels” that exist only for the purpose of entertaining herself and her readers. As a result, Butler has earned my devoted reading for as long as Lackadaisy endures.

Johnny the Homicidal Maniac

Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, created by the mind behind Invader Zim, is a strange, oftentimes revolting series of comics that simultaneously achieve a certain wacky charm. As far as the content goes, Jhonen Vasquez seems to be content with pulling any sort of a semblance of plot out of thin air and throwing in gore. This accounts for the very random, spontaneous feeling that pervades the work, but Vasquez still retains the ability to transform these odd plots into solid storylines with arcs and even a bit of character development. Aesthetically, the art reflects the content better than any comic book artist could hope for, with that sharp, messy, grungy line work flowing from panel to speech bubble and back to panel without interruption. If there is a negative aspect of the art, it is the busy nature of the artist’s pen: there is very little negative space in which to rest the eye. Vasqez surely did this purposefully, as a visual representation of the state Nny’s mind is in (further proof of that lies in his comic about “Happy Noodle Boy”). While the reason behind this stylistic choice is a more than sound one, Vasquez needed to take into consideration just how hard it would be on the readers’ eyes. The font in which all of the text is written is, again, just how one would expect characters in this story to “sound;” but the jagged marks and blocky serifs, all surrounded by an equally busy, scratchy squiggle of a border, sometimes result in a level of illegibility that does not lend itself to long periods of comfortable reading. Despite these setbacks, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac is a perfect example of a contemporary niche comic.

Batman: The Killing Joke Analysis

1. Batman: The Killing Joke was extremely well-written and executed. There is a certain stigma attached to superheroes and comic books, but Alan Moore is able to avoid that altogether. The flow of the story, which is nonlinear, is effortlessly smooth, with transitions between times, places, and character that are absolutely seamless. Moore has said that he tries to focus on the aspects of comic books and graphic novels that are not shared with any other medium, not even film. This story is a perfect example of a team of artists working together to create a work of fiction that resonates as if it were a perfectly real -- and perfectly terrifying -- series of events.

2. I have always been a fan of most superhero stories, batman in particular, and while I appreciated the Joker as an antagonist, I feel that I've come to an entirely new level of admiration for the character. Through Batman: The Killing Joke, Moore takes one of the most disliked people in the DC universe and, by means of his ingenious writing, is able to make him a sympathetic character. There are themes of desperation with which almost any person can certainly connect, followed inexorably by poor decisions and the consequences that arise from them. Moore goes even deeper, however, and addresses the desire to remove oneself from these consequences, and whether it be through alcohol, drugs, or (in the Joker's case) insanity. Within the narrative of this story, Moore threads several enduring themes of humanity that make it impossible for a reader not to connect with Batman: The Killing Joke.

3. If I were to adapt this story into another medium, I would have to make it into a movie. While Moore has said that it is not fair to say that graphic novels are extremely similar to cinema, Batman: The Killing Joke needs to have that visual element in order for it to retain what makes it incredible. As a movie, this story would need to be expanded. To do this, I would focus on the montage in which Batman is interviewing the other supervillains, giving them dialogue that acts as a reflection of all of the evil that the Joker has created throughout his career as a criminal; these conversations would be meant to act as "leading lines" designed to pick up the already dizzying momentum of the story as it rushes to the climactic final battle between the Joker and Batman.

The New Manifestation of Ms. Marvel

Ms. Marvel: Volume #1 is a true reboot. Instead of taking a well-known story and redoing it in a way that resonates with a slightly more modern crowd for the sake of monetary gain, Marvel has chosen to completely redo Ms. Marvel’s character. By doing so, they are reaching out to a demographic often forgotten, stereotyped, or (worst of all), vilified. Through this reboot, not only Muslims but Muslim women are being given a time to come forward and dispel many of the very common and unfair misgivings far too many people have when it comes to this particular religion; in addition, this series works as a positive backlash against the media’s coverage of nothing but Muslim extremists as they completely ignore the generous, peaceful people who make up the majority of that culture. In the bestselling book Three Cups of Tea, David Oliver Relin chronicled the tireless efforts of Greg Mortensen as he worked to establish schools in the Middle East for Muslim children at a time when condemnation of Muslims was at its peak (the events of 9/11 took place right in the middle of his timeline of work). Through his efforts, countless children have received an education that would have otherwise been impossible for these children in rural areas, and the book that recounts his triumphs opened a window of understanding through which people around the world were welcomed to look. In a similar way, Marvel can use this work to reach a younger audience and, hopefully, begin to put an end to at least this branch of discrimination.

Alan Moore's Doctor Who

I have been watching Doctor Who for several years now, but I was never aware of Alan Moore’s comic adaptations of the story. The tone of the show has, of course, evolved over time, but the scientific explanations for what humans would see as magic is an enduring theme. The show was originally created for children, and one of its aims was to make learning about science extremely entertaining for them. While the comics included on the Course Resource Page and too short to allow for any sort of in-depth Science Fiction explanation behind something like “Electro-direction,” Moore still makes an effort to include a short snippet that draws attention to the fact that what we might see as a mystical force is more of an advanced scientific (but perfectly possible) force of nature. The stories “Star Death,” “4-D War,” and “Black Sun Rising” all feature recognizable races of aliens and planets that are, for the most part, featured on the show; however, Moore makes sure he does not entirely alienate an audience that could potentially be unfamiliar with the show, and gives enough description and introduction to include people who may not know what in the universe a Gallifreyan is. These comics are a quick, fun, and nostalgic way to supplement watching Doctor Who. While I certainly have not gotten around to watching all eight hundred twenty-six episodes of television’s longest running science fiction show, I am always pleased to find new outlets and interpretations of the brilliantly composed universe.