My experience reading The Watchmen was similiar to Isabelle Burtan's experience in several ways, although I never would have thought to describe the "experience" like she did. Burtan compared her reading the graphic novel to a girl losing her virginity in the article titled "The Comic Book Virgin Reads Watchmen." I found the article to be humorous and also insightful- I never thought of reading The Watchmen as such a significant experience, although after reading the article, losing my "comic book virginity" definitley seems like a bigger deal than I ever thought!
I knew that reading a graphic novel was very different than reading any other kind of novel, but I did not take time to analyze how it was different, or why it seemed so much more difficult to get through a graphic novel. Part of it is because you have to absorb both graphics and words, and I really related to how Burton simply described that: "At first I read and reread the pages to gather where my eyes should go, not knowing whether to look at the pictures, the words, or both." When reading a graphic novel, I have now learned, the pictures are not just there for enjoyment. They contain information that is significant to the plot and must be looked at closely.
To be honest, I have never really been a big fan of graphic novels and I am still not, although losing my "comic book virginity" to The Watchmen was certainly a positive experience overall. It was definitley different, and it required me to pay close attention to small details which I would not normally do.
2 comments:
Lol..I guess I, too lost my comic book virginity to this comic. I can relate to you in that I had problems with trying to figure out whether I was supposed to read then look at the pictures or vice versa, or all at once. It was very challenging at times. Even in class discussion I would miss some of the things that other people picked up on and that would make me even more confused or upset.Comic books are still not my favorite to read either.
I liked your response. I agree with it alot in that it is just so different from reading a novel! It is difficult do decipher which part of the scene is important; the pictures or the writing. It was a weird experience, but very interesting. I also agree with you in that i still am not a fan of comic books, however i did like this one in particular.
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