What I noticed first about the Zippy comics was that I really like the page layout and size. There are usually four panels to a page along with captions and large text. A lot of underground comics I've read can get very overwhelming with complicated art styles and too much tiny handwritten texts. Of course, sometimes those comics are meant to be complicated and crude. Zippy felt different to me because the art style looks very traditional for a comic. I was able to read each panel and page easily, so the pacing flowed much better. However, the subject matter and writing are very unconventional. It feels like a comic that was written in a stream of consciousness way rather than being planned out. The characters move from strange location to strange location very quickly without much explanation.
The section of the comic that stood out the most to me was the one where Zippy visits Disney World. The comic wasn't afraid to explicitly call it Disney and use Mickey characters instead of making a parody of Disney World that you might see in another comic. Underground comics tend to have more guts to critique on "untouchable" parts of society and culture. This is probably because the writers didn't have to worry about pleasing a publisher of a big company. The characterization of Zippy also allows the writer to critique society, because he is an outsider. He can look at something everyone else considers normal, like Disney, and question it. We can learn from characters like this to question our own beliefs about what is and isn't normal.
I agree with your opinion that underground comics can sometimes be overwhelming with dialogue, text, and art styles. Sometimes underground comics can be carefully created, or just written in a stream of consciousness like you said, but thats also the beauty of them. It all depends on how you perceive it. A lot of these underground comics always contain a topic that may be taboo or uncomfortable to talk about in the norm, but it allows readers to live experiences and stories that are different, in a weird way.
ReplyDeleteOutsider Art I feel always should have its place in the world of art, I know society as a whole is very known to be exclusive of some groups of people and the art world is also known to be the same, but i do agree with your ideas about why certain individuals take it upon themselves to call out by name the big dogs per say in the industry they belong too, because I do believe everyone has there own story to tell and their own opinion and if you are able to express it you should and let the chips fall as they may, because maybe they might spark the next movement the next mind, the next revolution and that is something more important in my opinion than sales.
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