Walking Corpses & Conscious Plants: Possibilist Ecologies in ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Bingham 16 other early works which demonstrate control of sequential presentation as important steps in the development of comics. These examples include: a pre-Colombian picture manuscript discovered by Cortes circa 1519 depicting the exploits of a military and political champion (ibid. 10) and a series of religious illustrations about Christian martyrdom completed in 1460 titled “The Tortures of St. Erasmus” (ibid. 16). Graphic narratives were used to literally construct legends, presenting icons that memorialized casualties as men of honor, martyrs, or even as enemies. In these early works, topics of violence, death, war, and myth were typically prevalent. When examining the function of contemporary graphic narratives, it's important to consider these roots in context with the developments and changes in society and technology which helped lead to their eventual creation. Arguably, the most prevalent and widely available kinds of graphic narratives in the United States today can be categorized as comics. A term with numerous connotations, “comics” can specifically refer to the recognizable form in which certain items were produced. This nomenclature is used to describe an artistic medium for narrative expression and is often applied to works of varying length whose content may, but is not always expected to, elicit a humorous response from readers. By identifying misconceptions regarding the evolution of the form, a more accurate understanding of its potential can be identified. This knowledge can impact reading and communication, enabling critics and enthusiasts alike to more accurately express their ideas regarding their encounters with examples of the form's enactment. Instead of considering comics as a catch-all, I'd like to point to some qualifying criteria and outline a brief history before performing closes reading of my two primary texts, The Walking Dead and Saga of the
Bingham 17 Swamp Thing. According to McCloud, comics can be defined as “juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence intended to convey information and/or produce an aesthetic response in the viewer” (Understanding 9). Comics here names a narrative format, or medium, rather than a specific object. Differences in artistic rendering and content serve as distinguishing qualities that set individual works apart from one another rather than doctrines for creative expression. According to Hillary Chute, “comics doesn't blend the visual and the verbal—or use one simply to illustrate the other—but is rather prone to present the two nonsynchronously [sic]; a reader of comics not only fills in the gaps between panels but also works with the often disjunctive back-and-forth of reading and looking for meaning” (Comics as Literature 452). For this reason, comics have a unique power to impact readers by adding an aesthetic dimension to the classification of experiential perspectives. In other words, when one engages a comic he or she must employ cognitive strategies to form conclusions about topics he or she is not physically present to witness or interact with personally. Each of the choices made during the creation of a comic carries a particular weight; the manner in which content is artistically rendered will call to mind certain ideas within the mind of the reader who is engaging the text. Arguably, the medium mimics subjective experience in a closer fashion than a purely textual narrative does by relying upon representational visuals or icons which require the interpretation of the individual engaging the text. Even if a reader is able to automatically associate an icon with its correct reference as soon as it's encountered, the object or idea the icon represents has been considered through a new perspective. Prompting readers to seek information and meaning by identifying specific
Page 1 and 2: Walking Corpses & Conscious Plants:
Page 3 and 4: Bingham 3 I owe an extreme debt of
Page 5 and 6: Bingham 5 Introduction My project e
Page 7 and 8: Bingham 7 personal growth through t
Page 9 and 10: Bingham 9 beliefs. Seeing a possibl
Page 11 and 12: Bingham 11 zombie exceeds death as
Page 13 and 14: Bingham 13 the validity of singular
Page 15: Bingham 15 Chapter I: The History o
Page 19 and 20: Bingham 19 instructional profession
Page 21 and 22: Bingham 21 Another artist who worke
Page 23 and 24: Bingham 23 action into panels (Cohn
Page 25 and 26: Bingham 25 sponsorship. He designed
Page 27 and 28: Bingham 27 Charles Moulton. Marston
Page 29 and 30: Bingham 29 Frederick Wertham prompt
Page 31 and 32: Bingham 31 “graphic novel” was
Page 33 and 34: Bingham 33 what is or isn't a graph
Page 35 and 36: Bingham 35 Works Cited Benton, Mike
Page 37 and 38: Bingham 37 Chapter II: Transfusion
Page 39 and 40: Bingham 39 conflict or war. This ex
Page 41 and 42: Bingham 41 and dismember other bodi
Page 43 and 44: Bingham 43 bodies to pieces. (Cavar
Page 45 and 46: Bingham 45 thus creating an affecti
Page 47 and 48: Bingham 47 margins. Unlike the four
Page 49 and 50: Bingham 49 implicates the role of o
Page 51 and 52: Bingham 51 demonstrates that he is
Page 53 and 54: Bingham 53 Amy (Figure 10 & 11). Th
Page 55 and 56: Bingham 55 being who has done nothi
Page 57 and 58: Bingham 57 transgressions, this ima
Page 59 and 60: Bingham 59 Returning to the full pa
Page 61 and 62: Bingham 61 order” (200). The prem
Page 63 and 64: Bingham 63 possession, selling, ste
Page 65 and 66: Bingham 65 with yourself? Not me. I
Page 67 and 68:
Bingham 67 immediate proximity of t
Page 69 and 70:
Bingham 69 experience, or the human
Page 71 and 72:
Bingham 71 sentences Thomas to hang
Page 73 and 74:
Bingham 73
Page 75 and 76:
Bingham 74 Works Cited Berger, Arth
Page 77 and 78:
Bingham 76 APPENDIX A Fig. 1. Openi
Page 79 and 80:
Bingham 78 Fig. 7. Fig. 8.
Page 81 and 82:
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
Fig. 38. Bingham 94
Page 97 and 98:
Fig. 41. Bingham 96
Page 99 and 100:
Page 101 and 102:
Bingham 101 Chapter III: Speaking o
Page 103 and 104:
Bingham 103 preserved, yet not enti
Page 105 and 106:
Bingham 105 increasingly more discu
Page 107 and 108:
Bingham 107 Wrightson only drew the
Page 109 and 110:
Bingham 109 by the inexorable progr
Page 111 and 112:
Bingham 111 appeared. Though the tw
Page 113 and 114:
Bingham 113 General Avery Carlton S
Page 115 and 116:
Bingham 115 dismembered body which
Page 117 and 118:
Bingham 117 sheltered from or not e
Page 119 and 120:
Bingham 119 authority. This subtle,
Page 121 and 122:
Bingham 121 the center of the page
Page 123 and 124:
Bingham 123 affect. Apart from this
Page 125 and 126:
Bingham 125 acts of fictional chara
Page 127 and 128:
Bingham 127 resemblance, their comp
Page 129 and 130:
Bingham 129 experience. The creator
Page 131 and 132:
Bingham 131 justified. What follows
Page 133 and 134:
Bingham 133 present to witness it t
Page 135 and 136:
Bingham 135 If we read each charact
Page 137 and 138:
Bingham 137 able to issue an urgent
Page 139 and 140:
1 According to comics historian Rob
Page 141 and 142:
Bingham 140 - Interview by David Ro
show all

Walking Corpses & Conscious Plants: Possibilist Ecologies in ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?