Week Five: Will Eisner and Craig Thompson

I read Will Eisner's Contract with God, Fagin the Jew, and Craig Thompson's Blankets. I think I was affected at a personal level by each of these works to some extent, but I'd be lying if I said that Blankets didn't stand out as the most relatable and touching work among the three. I think it's pretty plain to see why Blankets was the most relatable work to me, as it touches on themes that are common to people of my age group; themes of young love, infatuation, coming of age, finding oneself, and struggling to break free from the expectations and boundaries set by your family/parents are all explored in the work. The way that Thompson handled these topics in a graphic/aesthetic sense was, of course, a huge part of how I received them. For example, I love the way that some of the panels about Raina are handled; the character not only verbally describes her as a sort of ethereal being, beautiful and undoubtedly crafted by god, but then she is presented visually for the reader in a way that fully supports this idea of her. So often entire pages are devoted solely to her, one even going so far as to show her on a intensely decorated platform elevated well above Craig, who sits on his knees and watches her. It's interesting the parallel between his veneration of god and his apparent veneration of this girl, and how in the end he abandons his interest in both, at least to an extent.

I also really enjoyed the way that transitions between memories, imaginings, and metaphorical or figurative language were weaved into the work. At one point the work reads, "Underwater, we're drowning victims, struggling over and under each other's bodies. But above, we bob with the tide, undercurrents pulling us just far enough apart so that we're drifting parallel, but not together." It is instances like this in the work that I feel especially affected; the use of careful, figurative prose alongside equally, if not more so jarring imagery to go with it really hit me.