A Contract with God

I read the graphic novel "A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories". The first thing I noticed was the hand generated type. I think since I am a graphic designer it was something that really grabbed my attention. In fact, I was more impressed with the type than I was with the illustrations at first. But after reading a couple pages I began to really look at the illustrations and then realized how much work it must have been (much more than the type). So that was my initial reaction to the work of Will Eisner. As I continued to read I found the stories to be quite interesting and really got into it. I read "A contract with God" first, but kept reading the rest if the stories since he had my attention. I think these comics need to rely on a good story along with good illustrations. Because one without the other wouldn't hold the attention of someone like me. My favorite story was "A Contract with God". I thought it was well written but kind of left you hanging at the end. Like the conclusion wasn't completely settled. I found this to be the same with most of the stories he wrote. Overall I think that Will Eisner's novel was a good read and would be interested in reading his other novels in the future.

Peanuts

It has been a while since I have a read a Peanuts comic. I remember reading them every now and then when I was young, but I have never been an avid comic collector/reader. For the longest time I thought comic books were for the kids who thought they were superman or ran around in costumes all the time shooting people with invisible webs. But now I really have a greater appriciation for comic strips and for the artist who creates them. I was amazed at how funny a little strip of Peanuts could be while the illustrations are so simple. This time around I paid a lot of attention to the details, such as facial expressions and hand gestures. I noticed how much is communicated through these features, and how it can really give the reader enough information to put the "inbetweens" together.

Calvin and Hobbs and Peanuts have been my favorites to read for these reasons. I enjoy getting a smile or chuckle out of them too. I have yet to read a serious comic, but Im sure I will soon enough.

So overall, I am beginning to enjoy the comic strip with the more I read. Maybe it will become one more thing to add to my already busy life :)