Week Two

According to Horricks (2004), how have perceptions of comics as a media changed?

Horricks (2004) states that once upon a time, not so very long ago, and right in our own backyard, comics were seen as a cause for great concern. Everybody from members of Parliament to social liberals all seemed to have a problem with the emerging new media. It was even believed that that the banning of comics would reduce the chances of war!
Of course these opinions have changed (toward comics, at least) as time has ticked on by, and moved on to some other new media, beginning the cycle all over again.

It has been found that the longer a new media is around, the more accepted it becomes - this is obvious for pretty much all new media. New musical genres (Horricks uses 'gangsta rap' as an example), modern art, outspoken political commentators and many other new mediums have all come under the harsh scrutiny of the masses. However it seems that the fears and concerns that have been associated with the relatively new media of comics have been laid to rest - it has just taken some time for people to adjust their paradigms of what is and what is not worthy of being deemed 'acceptable'.

Comic books have gone from being shunned by the literary community to receiving prestigious awards, being reviewed along with mainstream literature, and even being included in university courses!
It is my opinion that what Horricks was trying to say, put simply, is that comics have grown more popular and more widely accepted as people have come to understand more about them - they aren't the Devil on paper, but simply another form of expression that is worthy of consideration.

References

Horricks, D. (2004). The Perfect Planet: Comics, games and world-building. In Williams, M. (Ed.), Writing at the Edge of the Universe. Christchurch: U of Canterbury Press.


What does Khordoc think the Asterix series does better than Hergé’s Tintin?

According to Khordoc, the Astrix series portrays "voice" in a far more effective manner than it is portrayed in Tintin. Khordoc goes on to say that a lot of what is meant to be speech in Tintin seems much more like a narrative, and often takes up, on average, half of the frame (2001).

I agree with Khordoc's assessment on the situation - when I read Tintin, I read it almost like I would read a proper novel, because there is just so much text there! Sometimes it is a little too much, and it distracts from the imagry. With Asterix, I feel that they have grasped the concept of 'less is more' very well. There is a wonderful flow to it all, and I find that it speaks to my "minds ear" quite well.

References

Khordoc, C. (2001). The Comic Book’s Soundtrack: Visual Sound-effects in Asterix. In Varnum, R. & Gibbons, C. (Ed.). The Language of Comics: word and image, (pp. 156-173). Jackson: U P of Mississippi.