Evaluations From an Ursid

Story Summary: American Born Chinese features three tales about a monkey king who trains to become a god, a young Chinese-American boy trying to fit into American culture, and a boy who’s annually visited by his overbearing Chinese cousin. Rating: ★★★★☆ Yang jumps between three supposedly separate stories, cutting them down into small scenes and bouncing between these scenes, yet he manages to weave them into a completely realized tale by the end. This genuinely shocked me as Yang separates these tales not only by recognizable traits (setting for example), but he invokes three distinctly potent feelings in each tale to distance them from one another even further. I felt frustrated for the Monkey King and how despite his efforts and success, he was still seen as just a monkey. I felt disappointment in Jin Wang and upset for the way his surroundings warped him. And with Danny and Chin-kee, that was one extremely uncomfortable caricature of Chinese stereotypes up until the end. And the way in which it was framed as a comedy show (with the extended HA HA’s to mimic a laugh track) only emphasized how exaggerated and insensitive the caricature is. When you look back at the story for a second time, you can recognize all the extremely subtle ways Yang hints at how the stories will come together, but it’s something I don’t think people will guess. It’s a story packed with raw emotions and social commentary, but despite how true this will ring for 1st generation Americans and immigrants striving for that “American dream,” especially people of color, the story is uniquely unpredictable. “It’s easy to become anything you wish...so long as you’re willing to forfeit your soul.” Art and story by Gene Luen Yang.

Story Summary: After a man’s sudden death, he returns to his home and grieving wife where he’s left powerless against time’s effects on the world around him. Directed by David Lowery. Rating: ★★★★☆ This story doesn’t thematically say something potent that you can’t find in other stories about grieving, healing, and existentialism of life, but the execution is what separates this film from others. The shifting story direction, artsy cinematography, clean-cut sound editing, and graceful simplicity of the film make for an overall intriguing film. Although the story starts off slow, it delves into scenes and concepts that transcend what you originally perceive the film to be, and it features small pocketed moments that shock and distress you in the simplest ways. The shot is condensed into a boxed in screen which portrays just how stuck the ghost is, and when paired with the dulled, limited coloring of certain parts of the film, it gives the film an old photograph feeling. The lighting and color saturation varies with setting and helps instill a unique sense of time within each scene. The jump cuts work extremely well to show the passing of time and leave us properly disoriented, especially when juxtaposed to the longer stationary shots. The dialogue is limited and often soft-spoken. The noises are sparse, which allows for the few louder sounds to leave even more of an impact. The score varies between uncomfortably eerie to poignant and moving, and there’s a touching lyrical song that sticks with you long after the film is over. The story is paced rather slowly in the beginning to the point this film may bore some people, but for more patient audience members, I feel you’ll be left will some poignant emotions at the end, even if you don’t fully understand those emotions.   Trailer

Story Summary: Imogene’s been homeschooled her whole life, but with the new school year, she decides to take on the challenge of middle school where she must balance new people and new rules along with her weekend job at the Renaissance Faire. Rating: ★★★★★ I’ve got to start with the graphic layout. I really thought the dense text would take away from my enjoyment of the novel, but Jamieson has a way of making each word count and utilizing every space in a panel to optimize her storytelling abilities. Chapters also started out with clever summaries that helped keep the reader focused as well as spin the tale in a easily understood medieval version of the book’s events. When it comes to the story, Jamieson balances a typical but compelling main plot (staying true to yourself while working on discovering what “yourself” means) with a variety of poignant subplots that distinguish this coming-of-age graphic novel from many others. Many forms of prejudice are address from the more obvious discrimination against lower, working class citizens to the more subtle racism against people of color, especially Hispanics. It’s a very sweet and sensitive tale that’s not afraid to leave you disappointed in the main character multiple times after she makes some harsh but childish decisions. I can recall at least two times I physically reacted to poor decisions Imogene made. Imogene’s flaws don’t take away from her goodness, though, but instead illustrate her as a young girl trying to overcome the harsh, judgmental world that is middle school. If you liked Mean Girls, Easy A, or other stories that follow a girl warping herself to fit in with the “cool crowd” then you’ll enjoy this PG, middle school version of that tale with more subtle humor. Art and story by Victoria Jamieson.

The story features other characters which all get a satisfactory amount of screen time for the themes they present. Both Barbara’s new friend Sophia and school psychologist Miss Mollé are patient and understanding. Barbara’s relationships with the two emphasize how hard it is for Barbara to be vulnerable and honest with others. She makes some crucial mistakes that are pretty painful to watch, and you end up feeling bad for everyone in the situation. Her older sister, who’s obviously trying her best to hold everything together, and even her brother, who doesn’t get much screen time, are products of circumstance, and the movie is presented in a way that makes you want them to heal and find some sort of happiness. Although there are some cliche lines and stereotypical bully characters, I found the honest tone of the story with its memorable characters and distinct color palette a sweet and powerful story. Trailer

Story Summary: This 2 issue story delves into the dark origins of Jonathan Crane, how he became the Scarecrow, and his first encounter with Batman and Robin. Writing by Bruce Jones, art by Sean Murphy, and colors by Lee Loughridge. Rating: ★★★★☆ If you’re a fan of Bruce and Dick as a team, this is a refreshingly kind representation of their relationship that balances Bruce’s brooding inclinations with his mixed attempts to act as father and friend to young Dick. Jones draws comparisons between Crane and Bruce while distinctly differentiating between the two, which is nice to see. Often Batman writers like to hyper-focus on the dark, lonesome, traumatized parts of Bruce without emphasizing the good parts of him and separating himself from the villains. Dick’s grounded, reliable, and kind personality helps to expose the gooier parts of Bruce, and it makes for a well-rounded and enjoyable read. Impactful character interactions are glazed over in quick scenes, but the surface level developments are rather sweet and much more from the heart than other Batman comics I’ve read. When it comes to Crane, he still has cliche villain monologues and pulls off completely impossible science that markets itself as possible, but honestly, that’s comics for you. Crane’s backstory is more interesting than other Batman villains I’ve come across and daaang is his character design cool. Credit due to Murphy and Loughridge’s combined art and colors for bringing these characters alive. Not only is Murphy’s style animated, bold, and stylish, but it features crisp angles and fluid lines that show off Murphy’s gift for composition. He utilizes angles and other film techniques, like a variety of long and close shots, and manages to make each panel compelling to look at. Loughridge gets his own kudos because, man, his color choices really set the mood for the comic, whether it’s a crimson sky during more brutal attacks, a musty colored overlay for flashbacks, or saturated colors to signify drug effects. And when it comes to full spreads, Jones, Murphy, and Loughridge create full pages and consecutive panels that symbolically represent Crane’s psyche with it’s dialogue, layouts, and colors. I am definitely looking into more comics featuring Murphy and Loughridge’s art. There’s some typos, slight continuity errors with things like outfits, but nothing that ruined this for me (the BS science got close, like come on, stop acting like any of this is chemically possible). I can’t help but to mention these specifics: 1) Dick gets booped on the nose by a woman for absolutely no reason 2) Dick leans his head on Bruce’s forearm to get a better view of something in Bruce’s hands 3) Bruce straight up yoinks Dick up by the scruff to prevent him from getting knocked down by a fleeing mob 4) Bruce calls Dick “kiddo,” and Dick calls Bruce “Bruce-ter,” “big guy,” and even “old man.” Brilliant. DC’s site.