Fine Arts and Comics

So this week we read some comics that have a bit more of an art for art's sake focus. The Cartoon Utopia by Ron Regé Jr. and Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth by Chris Ware. With these being more art-centric, they are more subject to individual aesthetic preferences, than the comics that depend more on word/image interactions. That said, I found The Cartoon Utopia very hard to read; I tried to get started on it a few times, but just was not interested in the low-contrast line drawings with incredibly hard to read bubble letters. My favorite part was the back cover, because it added color to the extremely detailed pattern graphics.


I much preferred Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth. I had read it before in an undergraduate class on graphic narratives, so I was familiar with Ware's style. I really enjoy the info-graphic style he uses to convey long histories in a sort of film strip of focused events that are all connected.



I am, as you might guess, a fan of color used right, and Ware does a fantastic job of using flat color to set the tone of different scenes. His use of light blue lines gives an authenticity to the architectural drawings, making them seem like blueprints. The complexity of the storyline, with its multiple timelines and realistic/fantasy lives, is reflected by the complexity of the artwork. The story itself is not my favorite as it is mostly filled with melancholy, punctuated by moments of hopeful happiness. Still, it is an interesting read brought to life by the unique art style.

Keeping the fine arts in mind, I found this motion comic the other day, that tells the story of a man who sets out to kill Death. It is a beautifully done performance piece, that I can only imagine took many hours to perfect. It is a good example of the relationship between static comics, animation, and film.




Anyone else find any cool motion comics or fine arts tie-ins?