Comic Books
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Heroes Never Rust #87: Subconscious vs. Conscious in Watchmen
Heroes Never Rust #87 by Sean Ironman Subconscious vs. Conscious in Watchmen A few weeks ago, my Forms of Illustrated Narrative class discussed Watchmen, and when I asked my students what they thought of the symmetrical structure in issue five, they look looked confused and began flipping through the book. Rorschach is the focal character of… Continue reading
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Episode 145: Patrick Hawkins!
Episode 145 of The Drunken Odyssey, your favorite podcast about creative writing and literature is available on iTunes, or right click here to download. In this week’s episode, I engage in an epic, manic conversation about the creative appeal and history of comic books and superhero storytelling with Patrick Hawkins. TEXTS DISCUSSED Four important panels that John came across early… Continue reading
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Heroes Never Rust #86: Watchmen: Non-Chronological Storytelling
Heroes Never Rust #86 by Sean Ironman Watchmen: Non-Chronological Storytelling The fourth issue of Watchmen is a centerpiece for delving into Doctor Manhattan’s character. At the end of the third issue, he teleports to Mars. There, he builds a massive clock tower and, basically, reflects on his life. Reflect might not be the right word.… Continue reading
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Heroes Never Rust #83: World Building in Watchmen
Heroes Never Rust #83 by Sean Ironman Watchmen: World Building Fictional stories take place in a fictional world. Even if that world is supposed to be our own, the story takes place in a world that does not exist. For a story to succeed, the reader must buy into the world. Obviously, the closer the… Continue reading
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Heroes Never Rust #82: Epilogues: Your Last Shot
Heroes Never Rust #82 by Sean Ironman Epilogues: Your Last Shot The fourth and final issue of Nemesis features a great deal of violence as the police chief eventually overcomes and kills Nemesis. The villain dies with three pages remaining for the comic. These pages fast-forward years after the Nemesis encounter and acts as an… Continue reading
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Heroes Never Rust #81: Personal Taste, or Bad Craft?
Heroes Never Rust #81 by Sean Ironman Personal Taste, or Bad Craft? If it has been unclear in my last two posts, I’ll come right out and say it here—I dislike Nemesis. I think it represents everything wrong with comics in the last ten years. It’s a comic consisting of shock after shock. So many… Continue reading
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Heroes Never Rust #80: Ridiculousness in Fiction
Heroes Never Rust #80 by Sean Ironman Ridiculousness in Fiction As the story speeds along in the second issue of Nemesis, the situations get more and more over the top. That’s not necessarily bad, unless you wanted a different type of story. In the last few decades in comics, there’s been a push toward realism… Continue reading
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Heroes Never Rust #79: Skip the Obvious
Heroes Never Rust #79 by Sean Ironman Skip the Obvious Two weeks ago, I met with an undergraduate student to discuss her thesis, a collection of essays. One of my suggestions for her essay about the sickness and eventual death of her grandfather was to skip the paragraph about how upset she was over his… Continue reading
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Heroes Never Rust #78: Ink
Heroes Never Rust #78 by Sean Ironman Ink When discussing comics, many people, including myself, usually refer to the writer and the artist as the creators of the comic, but “artist” may not be the correct word. The term, to me, simplifies the process, as if the visual elements were the job of one person.… Continue reading
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Heroes Never Rust #74: Knowing Yourself
Heroes Never Rust #74 by Sean Ironman Knowing Yourself Ms. Marvel finishes out its first story arc with the fifth issue. Kamala Khan finally gains confidence and control over her superpowers and no longer shifts her body to look like Carol Danvers. She becomes her own superhero and storms back into the villain’s lair and… Continue reading
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The Drunken Odyssey is a forum to discuss all aspects of the writing process, in a variety of genres, in order to foster a greater community among writers.
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