A Wide World of Comics !

Before even being introduced to American Comics, I mostly collected French comics, many of which were drawn or written by Jean Giraud, AKA Moebius. I have a large collection of Métal Hurlant issues and collected many of his other works. What I loved most about Métal Hurlant (Heavy Metal), was the variety of genres and the styles of imagery presented in every comic that came out. One specific issue I have was actually a very special limited issue. It included, in my opinion, one of the greatest comic stories of all time by Moebius. The story was called, The Eyes of the Cat , and was Giraud’s first collaboration with the filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky. It was actually never meant for widespread distribution. It was printed in a tiny quantity, as a bonus gift for friends and clients of French comic publishers Les Humanoïdes Associés. The story was initially supposed to just be a kind of internal thank you note. The piece has very little dialogue and is narrated from the point of view (which is not revealed till the very end) of a small, bald character who's back silhouette is all we see for the majority of its pages. He is standing in a window throughout the entire story while pages cut back and forth between him, an eagle, and a cat. As I read this fantastically paced comic, it took a while for me to realize that the the narrator was actually dictating the motions of the eagle, narrating his thoughts and at the same time, communicating those thoughts into actions using the eagle.

 The eagle soars through the city,

 finds a cat, 

plunges towards it, and with it's beak pulls the cats eye balls out. 

              

The narrator summons the eagle, the eagle returns to the boy, (nearing the point in which we realize that the narration was from the point of view of silhouette all along...)

                

and when he is given the cat's eyeballs, he struggles to put them into his own head, and then scolds the bird. He ends the story saying something along the lines of, "Next time, bring me the eyes of a human !" 

It was such a perfectly drawn and written story and forever engrained a style of storytelling I would have never considered before.  There is a quiet intensity to this poetically composed comic. Its hypnotic, almost metronomic quality lets the horror catch you totally off-guard. In an interview, Moebius somewhere called The Eyes an example of the “effective horror story”: one in which the genre is a soaring night-bird of prey stalking the reader in an effort to awaken them and open their eyes. It’s an interesting way of putting it given how I took to clenching my eyes shut near birds of any kind. It is obvious this story came from a personal place, the best stories told come from the most personal experiences and sources. After reading it again as an adult, I had to do my research. It has been said that Moebius was diagnosed with severe cataracts, a common cause of blindness. I also found that there is something called, Moebius syndrome: a rare neurological condition that primarily affects the muscles that control facial expression and eye movement. Anyway, the history of Moebius' eye sight isn't so important, but the inspiration and production of many of his works is exemplary and impeccable because of his personal history and experiences. This specific story left a very strong impression on me. The stories in Metal Hurlant often had that impact on readers. I was rarely ever disappointed with the outlandish and unusual stories put out by them, and though I enjoy the American version, Heavy Metal, I do feel it could reintroduce that foreign quality a little bit more. 

Stereotyping & Ethics of Representation

This is a topic I am very passionate about from both an objective and quite personal standpoint. Stereotyping and the generalizations of people and cultures is an awkward but necessary subject to talk about for various reasons, especially at this time. 

Though this practice of "characterization" (with negative connotation) originated hundreds of years ago, and unfortunately still occurs, it is still affects the world we live in today. In some areas, it is seemingly harmless, but in other areas, plays a big role in a much greater cycle. Through racism/segregation/discrimination, stereotypes are born, and overtime, evolve and become a casual part of the media, advertising, lifestyle, self-image, and overall, the general society that we live in. Many examples that came up in class were the renderings of 'african americans' in many early comics. 

Other examples that were brought up were the differentiations of characters (displayed in a lineup on what appeared to be a character design sheet - a mother, a worker, a manly man, a villain, a girl, etc.). The Gamergate controversy, and the Female presence (the actual artists/editors/publishers and characters designed for books) in the Comic Book industry.  

A.)  Women are NOT always 'damsels in distress', They do not say things like THIS in hardcore action scenarios:

B.) they should not be expected to have these physical proportions, nor these outfits when defending themselves in super intense Tekken Tournaments : 

While there are a million gender stereotypes about females, these are definitely some of the biggest, and the most debated by feminists of today:

• Women are supposed to have "clean jobs" such as secretaries, teachers, and librarians
• Women are nurses, not doctors
• Women are not as strong as men
• Women are supposed to make less money than men
• The best women are stay at home moms
• Women don’t need to go to college
• Women don’t play sports
• Women are not politicians
• Women are quieter than men and not meant to speak out
• Women are supposed to be submissive and do as they are told
• Women are supposed to cook and do housework
• Women are responsible for raising children
• Women do not have technical skills and are not good at "hands on" projects such as car repairs
• Women are meant to be the damsel in distress; never the hero
• Women are supposed to look pretty and be looked at
• Women love to sing and dance
• Women do not play video games
• Women are flirts
• Women are never in charge

This does not only apply to women. Men should not be expected to always have super mega muscle strength, to always be victorious, to "bring home the bacon"... Some gender stereotypes that inaccurately try to describe all men are:

• All men enjoy working on cars
• Men are not nurses, they are doctors
• Men do "dirty jobs" such as construction and mechanics; they are not secretaries, teachers, or cosmetologists
• Men do not do housework and they are not responsible for taking care of children
• Men play video games
• Men play sports
• Men enjoy outdoor activities such as camping, fishing, and hiking
• Men are in charge; they are always at the top
• As husbands, men tell their wives what to do
• Men are lazy and/or messy
• Men are good at math
• It is always men who work in science, engineering, and other technical fields
• Men do not cook, sew, or do crafts

Gender stereotyping is only one of many cases in which people are grouped up and categorized a certain way so that society/media/etc. can better depict and digest those specific groups of people. There is a much deeper reason for that which I will not get into here. 

Stereotyping also HEAVILY occurs in the misrepresentation of nationalities and cultural groups. I have experienced a lot of issues personally with 'stereotyping' and it has caused me a lot of problems to this day in every place I have been. 

1. I am a Female

2. I am from Lebanon

3. I am also French

4. I am a Comic Book artist 

In Lebanon, being a female often times means I am married at age 22, I am not outspoken nor opinionated about important matters, I do feminine things and have a very feminine appearance, I do not say bad words, I DEFINITELY don't get tattoos, I learn to cook, and I do not pursue art as a career. 

I defied almost EVERY SINGLE one of those expectations: These are real responses I have received...

- I'm not married ("She must be doing something wrong to detract men!")

- I am VERY opinionated ("So manly!")

- I curse like a sailor ("How vulgar. She will never attract a man with that language")

- I have a lot of tattoos ("Who did that to her?! Does she know they are permanent? Tattoos are for prisoners, men, criminals")

- I cannot cook to save my life ("What will she do at home while her husband is working?")

- And though being a comic book artist isn't the most promising career, I have decided to pursue it anyway. ("?!?!?!?!")

In America, I as a young Lebanese girl, I was often called a 'terrorist' in school, asked if I was muslim (valid but somewhat of a stereotype with middle eastern background), and asked why/how I am so pale if I am from the desert. It infuriated me growing up but I could not blame people for thinking this way. The media, NEWS channels especially, like to show only certain aspects of other countries. Because people in America rely so much on the NEWS for outside country information, many Americans (and people all over the place) don't know about the non-terrorist side of Lebanon and the non-muslim population in the Middle East. I deal with the French stereotypes of not showering or shaving, smoking lots of cigarettes and being very rude - (Only one of those is actually true). 

In the comic book industry, I have enjoyed all aspects of it so far, drawing, other artists and creators, the Cons... but often in interviews get asked questions like, "What is it like to be a FEMALE comic book artist? Is it difficult to perservere being a woman in this industry?" . A question people ask when walking past my table: "Wait... This is YOUR artwork?! You draw?" or "Can I take your picture?", without even taking a look at my artwork. 

< I don't mind those as much as "Why don't you ever Cosplay? You would make a great Bayonetta or Psylocke!" 

I understand that stereotypes were designed to make certain mediums of entertainment more relatable. Characters are designed and simplified to extremes based on these stereotypes so that certain audiences can understand and relate to some degree. It is often times very destructive to certain groups and most times does not accurately represent those groups of people. It is a lazy, perceptually misleading means of characterization and should not be encouraged by the people within or isolated from certain cultures or 'groups'. I see, more and more, not people mocking OTHER races and cultures, but the very people within those races and cultures mocking themselves, probably to lighten the trope, but this in turn has a reverse affect and only encourages/validates those stereotypes. Not to get off topic, but I must mention Tyler Perry, known for his TV shows and Films marked by old stereotypes of buffoonish, emasculated black men and crass, sassy black women. His work has been criticized and his response is always very closed minded. Many have urged him to "stop dismissing the critics as haters and realize that black people need new stories and new storytellers." I disagree with his idea of entertainment and his response to the critics in this subject. Stereotyping your own culture is only so funny for so long before it becomes problematic. 

                    

With all that being said, I love girly things. My secret favorite color is in fact, PINK. I wear makeup. I am very attracted to the stupid way that girls in video games and comics are designed, simply because they are visually appealing to my eyes. I also skateboard, I listen to heavy metal, I've gotten into fist fights in high school, I sometimes play video games, I love tattoos and comics, and have really strong opinions about a LOT of worldly issues. None of those things define me or classify which group of 'girls' or 'people' I fit in with. I am guilty of stereotyping and of comedically 'self-stereotyping' by making jokes about my middle eastern culture, being a woman, etc. 

When designing characters, I think it is so important to thing beyond the simple stereotype. I think it requires so much more research and empathy to create a really well developed character, and more creative maturity to rise above the simple stereotypes.  

MAUS by Art Spiegelman

The book which retells the story of American Cartoonist, Art Spiegleman's Jewish parents surviving the Nazi holocaust in wartime Poland, depicts the Jews as mice and the Germans as cats. Maus is one of the more powerful graphic novels I've read. Even before this course, I read the book in French version. I picked up the book at a comic book shop in Paris and initially loved the cover, I knew for sure there would be some pretty deep content within just seeing the prominence of certain symbols on the cover:

 After reading the book, I was truly affected both artistically/visually and emotionally. Since I had already read Maus, which was recommended for this class, I decided to go ahead and read Spiegleman's book, MetaMaus. I learned in this book that at the time that Maus was made, comics were very different and the holocaust wasn't really ever a topic in comics. People wanted to read about superheroes and lighthearted material. Spiegelman had a purpose with Maus, and that was to create a much more serious visual narrative that was not only personal to him, but to his family, and to many other people who would read it. He wanted to create a story so different from the rest at its time of production that a person would read and remember, and most importantly to be affected by the story he conveys.

In his process of trying to publish Maus, A question often came up: Why Mice? Spiegleman explains in MetaMaus, that the cats and pigs and mice were chosen for quite complex reasons. The jews are not just mice, they're masks, heads, that the characters were wearing to pass through certain boundaries and borders. Like racial 'disguises' or 'badges' to conform to a certain group. Though the characters were associated with very simple and direct symbols (ie. Mice- pest,prey,inferiority- Cats- predator, superiority ), making the choices for those characters involved taking that rhetoric and turning the notion of the subhuman back on itself and letting these 'mice' stand on their hind legs and stand up for their humanity. The idea was based on the concept of 'Exterminating' NOT Murdering, and Spiegleman felt the characters best fit that concept in the sense that mice are depicted to the public as vermin, pests, creatures that cause problems, that do not belong, and must be eliminated as a whole.

                   

His Father collaborated on the book and Spiegelman recorded his memories and experiences through personal interviews. His process took overall 13 years of gathering information and ideas. He mentions that he wanted to make a work worth telling because the drawings are so arduous. I relate so much on so many levels. I relate to his whole approach and idea behind this story. He had the idea  for a moment while working on this, that he should remove himself from the story and write from an objective lens. He realized it would be impossible to tell this story from an objective standpoint. Call it narcissism? But with that approach he decided there would be difficulty transmitting memories. I relate so much to this book and its purpose, not because of the personal experiences Spiegelman and his Father talk about, per-se, and not because of the content itself. I always benefit and grow from learning more about WWII and holocaust stories, especially from personal recounting. But that was not what made me relate so closely to this book. I myself have been working on a story for quite some time. Not 13 years, but as long as I have had the capacity of understanding the war in my country, Lebanon, and have overtime interviews my Father as well. Collecting memories, ideas, stories and physical artifacts from his experiences during the war in the 80's. I have begun my own Graphic Novel called "Lui Qui Traverse" (He Who Crosses) about the war in Lebanon and the division of areas because of Religious segregation. My book is primarily about my Father but also describes the separation him and my Mother had to face because of the circumstances. I know I was heavily influenced by Maus, even in the artwork. I chose to illustrate my book using bold, stark black and white imagery, much like Spiegelman does, and have too been inspired by the art of woodblock printing.

Underground Comix

This may be one of my favorite areas of comics we will touch on in this class. If you were to look at my work and my own comics, you would never know how enthusiastic I actually am about the artists and artwork that came from the Underground Comix movement. A lot of people frown upon Robert Cumb's work. I completely understand the negative reaction his work gets most of the time. As feminist and anti-stereotyping/anti-racism/anti-'pretty much everything Crumb illustrates' I may be, I love every single, awful illustration he does.

Believe me... I wish I could say that I hate this, but I hate it so much I love it.

Half of my collection is made up of Crumb books, because not only do I appreciate the attitude in his work, I admire the flagrant obscenity in his style of drawing. It first reminded me a lot of album covers and show flyers I had always seen in my music collection.

 Along with comics, I grew up on a lot of punk rock and stoner-metal music. I have been totally desensitized to the crass and inappropriate imagery he depicts in his comics. The thing I loved about the Underground Comix was the liberal presentation of X-rated material. Hence the X in Comix. It was, in my opinion, the punk rock of comics. A middle finger to the publications that limited artists and their freedom to be gross and inappropriate. It was aimed at a much more mature and open minded audience, and although at that time, sex, drugs and rock and roll were heavily depicted in comics, Underground Comix took it to an extreme level. I love that!