Graphic Novels: A Contract with God by Will Eisner and Blankets by Craig Thompson

I read A Contract With God after reading Donald Duck, and I found that the two are so different from each other. In Donald Duck, the background setting is mostly in the rural area, where there are forest, small houses, etc. However, the setting of the stories in A Contract With God is all in the city, in people's apartment. And the approach, is surprisingly realistic, just like the mood of the magazine Humans of New York, talking about the drama of urbanization. There are a couple things that I found interesting from his novel: 

• In the first few pages, there were words intervene with the graphics instead of limited in a box, and the whole page stands out like a poster. The experience is more interactive, and I appreciate it

• The character’s faces changed in different situations. For example, when Frimme's mistress asked him to sell his old building, her face was suddenly so ugly, showing all the little details of his dislike emotions.

• The theme about immigrants and religions is unique. It’s less like the type of funny, entertaining novels, but a more serious one that reflects a social context. But he made it interesting. 

• One of my favorite sentences is “friends came offering comfort words which he accepted in stony silence.” It was said when the main character's family died, and I think the sentence is constructed nicely. It won't have the same effect if it says "friends came to comfort him, and he didn't say a word." The word "stony silence" describes the atmosphere of heavy and depressing very well. 

After researching, I found that Will Eisner's graphic novel usually tell the history of New York's immigrant communities, particularly Jews, including the novels The Building, A Life Force, Dropsie Avenue and To the Heart of the Storm. Moreover, the Stories reflected the community and society at that time, rather than stories focus on the character styles. 

Wes Craig Craig’s graphic novel Blankets, on the other hand, tells people a lot about the narrator’s psychological thoughts, shown in the stories of his brotherhood and schooling. It is interesting to find out that they were actually based on his brother and his real experience. And a lot of people who have siblings like me can relate to the childhood experience that he wrote about.

Interestingly, both of Craig's and Eisner's novels include the theme of religions. Christianity definately played a role in their novels. Craig had once said, “I'm playing with Islam in the same way I was playing with Christianity in Blankets, which proved that the topic of religion isn't just in one of his novels-- it is a big element in his work. 

In general, I appreciate Craig's graphic style which has exaggeration which presents the characters vividly and brought out the stories. I also like Will Eisner’s topic of the immigrants because they were unique, and they reflect humanities that I haven't see elsewhere.