Week Nine

I read Incal this week. I really enjoyed Incal because the storyline was fascinating. I enjoy post apocalyptic stories. I noticed that Europe is not that squeamish about nudity and sex, while Americans want to censor everything. I also heard that corresponds to the movie realm as well. Interestingly, European movies don’t like to show extreme gore and exploding guts, but are completely fine with depicting with full-out nudity. Meanwhile, American movies thrive on the exploding guts, but freak out when a rogue nipple is exposed. This carries over into the advertisements. When I was walking through Paris, I saw so many ads with fully nude models who didn’t try to cover up anything. I feel that Incal was an interesting comic because it was targeted for adults. It covered issues like social class and abortion. It was a story that kids could definitely not understand. The story wasn’t the typical superhero saves the city from the evil villain storyline. You can see how because European artists weren’t forced to follow the censorship of comics, the medium was allowed to develop and evolve.

I also grew up reading Asterix the Gaul comics. I just thought that Obelix was an extremely funny character. The way that Goscinny has with his words is brilliant. All the names of the Romans and non-Gaul characters are a play on words. I feel like the narrative style is also pretty conversational at times. It’s hilarious how no Gaul fears the Romans. The whole concept is so comical of how the Romans are supposed to be controlling the Gauls, but in reality, it’s the other way. I think that’s what appeals to all the readers. I think we also like a world where everyone can get into fights but never get killed. They tussle every story and heal almost instantly. They always end a fight one way or another. No one dies. There’s always a peaceful ending even though they’re technically at war.