Comic+Creation




 * Narrative: **

One day at the White house, President Barack Obama calls former president George W. Bush asking for his help. Someone is disturbing the peace in the world and Antoine Dodson expresses his emotions on this topic on Television to a reporter. Former president George W. Bush suggests that it was the infamous Osama Bin Laden. Meanwhile, near a cave somewhere Osama Bin Laden is busy looking at a double rainbow. Knowing he cannot be the root of the problem, Obama refuses George’s suggestion. Two of Obama’s closest advisors walk in and advise him that they have found the man responsible for all this chaos. The other advisor assures that the best has been sent to take care of him. Meanwhile, on the streets of China, Brother Sharp is spotted walking with style and swag. Vegeta, a Dragon Ball Z character, sent by the Americans to stop Brother Sharp, soon realizes his power level is over 9000, breaking his power meter into many pieces. The news then travels to both Obama and George Bush who express their shock on this find.


 * Analysis: **

New medias such as comic books are a great way of using imagery to communicate to the audience. The inspiration of this comic came from popular memes that many can relate to due to its popularity. This allows the audience to connect with the story using a comical interpretation of popular memes.

According to McLuhan theory of closure, the audience will associate a character and its personality, sayings and more simply through past resemblances. This comic is all about closure and past resemblances as it used to create a story using their traits.

In terms of closure, familiar sayings were also used. “Hide Yo Kids!, Hide Yo Wife!” said by Antoine Dodson during a famous interview was used in this comic to show humour during the story developing process of this comic. The association with a terrorist leader and the famous “Double Rainbow” saying was also used to add humour. And “Its Over 9000!” saying was used to show the mystery of Brother Sharp and his influence on the world.

In terms of colour, the title “State of Emergency” was in orange lettering with red stroke to show urgency, fear and unrest. The orange used in the lettering for “Its Over 9000!” was used to show anger, outrage and shock. The size of the lettering also shows how “loud” the saying would have been said by the character.

Each panel is used to transport us across significant time and space. For example, The first two panels show Obama in the white house, where as Antoine Dodson is shown in the third panel talking to a reporter, and then goes to the fourth panel where Bush is talking to Obama from his house. The fifth panel then changes to the hide out of Bin Laden as he gazes on a double rainbow on the sixth panel. The seventh panel goes back to Obama in the White House where his two advisors walk in. The eighth panel goes to China looking at Brother Sharp, and the ninth panel shows Vegeta looking at him. The tenth and eleventh panels show both Obama and Bush in their residencies presenting their emotions. Each panel is used like a frame in a movie, putting it all together makes a story flow that can be seen in your head like a movie.

Show and tell according to McLuhan was also used very effectively to demonstrate not only emotions, but also personality traits and humour. In the third panel, Antoine Dodson, with his funny facial expressions and stance shows a very humorous depiction of a very serious dialogue. The fourth panel shows George Bush picking up the phone the wrong way depicting his stupidity and childish tendencies. Panel five shows a shocked yet “mellow” Osama Bin Laden pointing at a double rainbow. The sixth panel shows a double rainbow, although this may seem like a very spectacular sight, the audience can share its humour due the meme it has been showcased in. Panel eight shows another meme simply through the depiction of a homeless man, with stylish hair, a stylish stance and a cigarette in his mouth. Although no one knows who he really is, his image depicts a villain due to his good looks, swag and an I don’t care attitude. Panel nine shows the very popular Dragon Ball Z character, Vegeta, depicting a scene from one of the cartoons episodes. The facial expressions in both panel ten and eleven show a humorous depiction of the president and former president’s in shock.

The main idea of this comic is to use memes and show how influential they in creating perceptions of characters. Thanks to memes I did not have to work on character development as it has already been done for me through other media. Thanks to memes I have created a humorous and interesting plot.


 * Bibliography **

McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. New York: Harper Perennial, 2004.