tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5781642913058207208.post6838102528924669205..comments2023-10-08T07:22:58.997-04:00Comments on Are You A Serious Comic Book Reader?: Better Than List Pt. 1: Elephantmen > Mausbrandonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05331746353766612879noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5781642913058207208.post-3379219155189434382008-09-12T23:59:00.000-04:002008-09-12T23:59:00.000-04:00Jordan-In Jordan's defense David, the two of us ha...Jordan-<BR/>In Jordan's defense David, the two of us have spoken on blogs a great deal and so, he's allowed to be a little more straight-forward.<BR/><BR/>AW, I assume you mean Armond White? Of course, I take that as compliment. I also don't see White as critiquing the reputation, as much as he is saying "this is WHY people like this". The praise of something and how it's celebrated are indeed, connected to the piece of work itself.<BR/><BR/>My issue with Maus is that it's reputation is of this personal Holocaust memoir and it doesn't feel personal really and when it does, it comes off as self-important (in a way it doesn't realize it's being). Furthermore, my discussion of it as a teacher's reference hits to my core point which is, EVERYTHING said in Maus is contained somewhere somehow, in the 15 or so issues of Elephantmen.brandonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05331746353766612879noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5781642913058207208.post-67756847544626477852008-09-12T01:51:00.000-04:002008-09-12T01:51:00.000-04:00Brandon-Great read and interesting take. I haven'...Brandon-Great read and interesting take. I haven't read Elephantmen, but I don't think this is fair to Maus. I agree that it's basically a straightforward narrative that isn't incredibly intellectually challenging, but I don't think that necessarily makes it bad, just different than what its reputation suggests. The point isn't to be this intellectual meditation on the nature of race and genocide but to just show how a few people deal with this thing that's so much bigger than them. The straightforward autobiographical nature of the book allows it to be really emotionally affecting and personal, with all that it doesn't need to be that smart or make some great point. (Of course personal/emotional vs. intellectual is a false dichotomy, but still...) I think there might be a problem with this kind of AW-style criticism where you're just criticizing the comic's reputation instead of judging it on its own merits.Jordanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17808049949676364048noreply@blogger.com