Revise: Blankets

I had never really expected to like blankets as much as I did. By appearance alone it is a little on the intimidating size it clocks in around 600 pages. A heart wrenching coming to age story is usually not my thing either but, after reading the first few pages I became hooked. I wanted to know more about this character Craig a socially awkward teenager who can't really fit in all to well. Craig goes to church camp where he meets Raina and the story of the first love unfolds.

This is were I think most people can connect and why this Graphic Novel became a thriving success. Whether someone was an awkward teenage or not everyone has had their first love. Everyone can relate to the feelings Craig has for Raina and the pain he goes through when they break up. I began to love the story because I began to see myself in it, like everyone else I had my bout of first love in high school and it was actually somewhat close to Craig and Raina's story. It became so personal to me that at times it almost brought me to tears. I love blankets because it provokes my own memories and it is really something I can relate to. In the same matter I think it relates to everyone and is the soul reason why everyone should love this story. If I come across the few who probably do not love this story, it leads me to believe that they cannot see through the exterior of a boy and his relationship they should open up and really let it encompass them. Well that or they never had a first love, and if they didn't have a first love chances are they were awkward in high school. So either way it really should speak to people.

JTHM

Johnny the Homicidal Maniac almost perfectly aimed to the audience who reads it almost turning itself into cult classic for the high school hottopic goths. I went through a "goth" phase in high school where my favorite store was Hottopic and no one understood me. Even though I had never read Johnny back then all of my friends worshiped it. Similar to Invader Zim, the author aimed the comic towards one social group and was very successful.

As a reformed Goth kid, I think material Like JTHM attracts the minds of Goths because it portrayed the feelings that we had "deep down". Psychopaths, Homicide and torture were very cool in the comic book form because it was so different. Passe normal people could never like something like that. (Even though Dexter is now one of the most popular shows around) It was cartoon enough to take any realism out. Real homicide, in the news, totally not cool possibly even boring? Who watches the news, the squares. No one understod us goth kids but JTHM did, he knew exactly how we felt. People may think it weird to pin teddy bear heads but not johnny he knows we are simply misunderstod.

Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, and Arkham Assylum

Watchmen is the graphic novel that got me into reading graphic novels. It redefine what I thought comics were and opened up my eyes to a great world that I had been missing for most of my life. The concept of the anti-hero really struck me, this novel wasn't full of Good Guys fighting the bad guys. It was up to me to decide whether Ozymandias' reason for killing millions of people was justified. Killing millions, that sort of sounds like a bad guy, but to save billions? Watchmen is very gray and Alan Moore's critique of the superhero concept is perfection. No one character is necessarily good or bad.

After reading watchmen I moved on to Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, which I thought was equally as great I feel it recreated the concept of batman he is not just a superhero but a tortured anti-hero who becomes obsessed with the villains he hunts. Of all the Frank Miller novels that I have read, this was my favorite. It deals with the anti hero again, a type of character that I love in all media. The anti-hero takes the perfect hero and beats him down until he is flawed and normal just like every human. The storied are often dark but that is the exact reason that I love them, if I wanted a light version of superheros I would just watch The Incredibles over and over again.

For my actual reading this week I read Grant Morrison's Arkham Asylum. I had previously tried to read this just a few months ago but it was hard for me to get past the first few pages. Between the distracting pictures, small text and the tv being on I could not focus. After sitting down in a silent room and reading it, I have fallen in love. Arkham Asylum took all the elements of the previous novels I mentioned and combined them. Batman again is portrayed as an anti-hero which I believe is a result of Frank Millers work. The novel is a complete pyscological peice batman is forced into the minds of the very villians that he hunts and almost breaks because of it. The novel also gives a good background of the Arkham Asylum and shows how even the founder is driven insane. Batman is taken from being flawed to almost down right deamed crazy as if he belongs with all the fellow inmates.