cubby hole

I finished reading Blankets today because I really couldn't stop at the end of 'Cubby Hole' but for the sake of anyone reading this who didn't read ahead I will do my best not to spoil anything that comes later in the graphic novel.

I suppose that a good place to start would be with why I like the story so much but it is difficult to pin it down on just one thing. The art, for starters, is definitely one of the features that drew me in right from the first page. The characters themselves seem really simple but each panel has so much detail that I found myself taking the time to study all the art before moving on to the next page. What I liked most about the art was the juxtaposition of realism and fantasy. Because most of the chapter focuses around Craig as a child it is fitting that a lot of the images are focused around his imagination. The image of the cot in the cubby hole as a monster adds to the sense of fear that the reader understands Phil is feeling and at the same time it adds depth to the story because you are seeing things as the brothers saw them as children.

The other thing that really made me like the graphic novel was the story. Saying what I like so much about it is difficult without speaking in terms of relatability, which I suppose is how I'll talk about it. I guess I've just always been interested in coming of age tales on account of the fact that I've spent a good portion of my life coming of age, but another thing that I really like about it is how the novel portrays the relationship between brothers. At least as the focus for most of the first chapter, anyway. As the youngest of five kids it kind of rings a few bells (mostly just with the fact that I was probably insanely annoying to my older siblings much the way Phil is to Craig) and it makes me wonder how they felt about me at that age in contrast in how they feel about me now.

I don't really have much to say, at the moment, about McCloud's Understanding Comics, but I did enjoy it. The read was fairly entertaining and definitely easy to get through. Though I will say that I laughed when I saw the drawing of the kraft parmesan cheese container because I am definitely someone who always saw a face in the top of it. Another thing I really liked about the two chapters was how McCloud likened Ancient Egyptian artwork to comics. As an anthropology major I've seen a lot of paintings and diagrams like the one in the book and it was interesting to see them from the perspective McCloud takes and definitely cool to get to think of them as comics.

There's probably more to say but I'll stop before I start rambling and save some of the other thoughts I had for when we are a little further along in the book.

Until then.