Week 9: A Wide World of Comics

            Before I started to read Moebius’ Blueberry, a couple questions came to mind:

• ·      “How can the French or European tradition of comics apply to what seems to be a narrative set in the United States’ Western Era? Wouldn’t that be like how Craig Thompson, an American artist, set the narrative for Habibi in a ‘mythical landscape’ resembling the Middle East?” I assume that Moebius has extensively researched this specific location and its history.

• ·      “That said, taking into account the fact that I know little about the Western Era, would Blueberry, by a French artist, influence what I know and teach me more about it?” I don’t think it would be any different from just researching that time period today. Moebius may include aspects of his culture by way of his comic tradition, but I don’t think it would get in the way of the story’s authenticity.

It turns out a whole section in the front of the book is dedicated to the history that surrounds the narrative, including pictures of notable figures in the story. This can be very useful, as this segment can be used as a reference for the characters, settings, and even the conflicts of that time. The viewer can get an inside look at a character and grasp what their intentions are. However, they can also skip ahead to the story, and try to gain an understanding from the narrative itself. That’s what I did for this reading.

            Unfortunately, my lack of knowledge about this era may have attributed to how I felt about the story – I just couldn’t get invested in it. Maybe this just isn’t the kind of narrative I like. Additionally, the way each page is laid out is too congested with information for me, but I can definitely see what there is to appreciate about Moebius’ work.

            As you can see, the settings used are so immersive and vibrant that it was easy to get distracted from the dialogue. It’s too bad that all these word bubbles are imperative to the story, because there’s so much to read already. I read from another student’s blog that Moebius’ less dialogue-heavy comics are more impressive, and I would like to see those.