For me, comics are
like beer. Maybe with time I'll start to like them but after my first taste,
I'm still not loving the flavor. Maybe its not that I don't like comics
but I just haven't tried enough of them to know what I like. But one thing is
clear after this reading; I'm not a fan of the Astonishing X-men.
I was basically
confused from the start as I was only able to identify Cyclops and the blue cat
guy (Who's name I discovered later is Dr. McCoy). It was easy to follow the plot and once Wolverine showed up things started
to get a little clearer as he’s usually the cause of conflict. But then suddenly
they were all giants, standing in the ocean…
I honestly thought I
skipped a page and flipped back because I couldn’t understand how they
transitioned from the lawn to giant form and an ocean (I’m obviously the person
on the hike who’s got the map because if I don’t know where we’re going I get
very annoyed). After Dr. McCoy explains that he messed something up with the
danger room, I see the humor in it but I felt like it was so abrupt. But I felt
like this a lot. It was a constant jump from one scene to the next and it was
complicated to follow.
I honestly have no
clue what Frost’s powers are. She can read minds but manipulate them but also
she turns into diamond (I think I’m confused here…)? She’s fighting Ord and she
becomes a diamond. Not sure what happened. Maybe some clarification is needed.
Then in the next scene there’s a mini dragon that attacks the bad guy and saves
the X-men. It apparently belongs to Kitty but why? I’m not sure. A tiny purple
dragon saved the day and well… I thought that was pretty lame. I think if the
alien had still kicked all their asses and then simply walked away, there
would’ve been an added layer of mystery. The dragon just seemed a little much.
It did get better from
there and I started to get more into the story line. Where the heck is the
professor? What’s the alien Ord doing with the doctor lady? Who’s the little
girl? What’s going on with Jean?!
My issues with this
weeks comics stem mostly from randomness that doesn’t really add anything to
the plot and over-stimulating pages. Sometimes there was just way too much
going happening on a page and every single character had dialogue (a lot of it
side comments or snarky remarks). While it does make the conversation seem more
genuine, the side comments in combination with the main dialogue in combination
with the intense, in your face artwork makes it really hard for me to focus. There’s
just too much happening.
 |
| Too much happening! |
I really do wish I liked comics, in a very sincere way. But, like beer, I’m afraid I’m going to have to push through a lot of the ones I don’t like to find the few that suite my taste.
Molly-I understand the frustration and confusion you're having, but like you said in your beer analogy, the more ya taste it the more you may actually discover a liking for it. While comics are new to me too, I'm slowly getting a better grasp of how to read them. Something that has helped me is to look at the contrasting colors like we've talked about in class. Once you start noticing patterns of color, you kind of get a better sense of when things are going on. Maybe making note of that when you read will help to make it a little less overwhelming!!
ReplyDeleteMolly, I agree that this particular comic was hard to follow. The constant scene switches before characters were fully introduced, the random horror-inspired images, and the out-of-place scenery made for a lot of “wait what..!??” moments for me too. I found myself flipping back and forth numerous times and even had to start over at one point which was frustrating. I will say though, once I got through the initial confusion and the story picked up it peaked my interest and I wanted to read more. Perhaps I just need to get through the initial few pages of a comic to get hooked until I get used to the format. Hopefully the last half of the series goes smoother for you. Hang in there!
ReplyDeleteI can easily see how comics would be an acquired taste, especially this one. Like you, I often found myself thinking I had skipped a page (or ten) when the locales abruptly shift like you described. In regards to that scene you posted, I believe the top frame is a scanner (as seen from the X-Men's transport) and the blue dot is the alien. As for the moth, perhaps he's saying that things are too quiet and is expecting something to happen? I dunno. I had trouble following the story myself at this point, given how things jump so quickly. Just as you're getting settled into a scene about airplanes, suddenly WOOSH and now we're in a volcano. Rest assured, you are not the only one who is confused by what the comic is doing.
ReplyDelete