Persepolis

For this week I read Persepolis which I think is absolutely fantastic. There is a huge stereotype towards Iranians which mostly deals with them being evil terrorists. Persepolis helps break that horrible stereotype, by following the autobiographical story of Marjane Satrapi. The book to me helps stand as a reminder that we are all human, and not everyone is evil.
I'm pretty amazed the book is currently in the process of being banned in schools in Chicago. They are claiming banning Persepolis would help cut down on gun crime. Persepolis is not about promoting violence at all. It is an incredibly important work of literature that all students should read because it talks about a culture unfamiliar to us. Plus there is a horrible stereotype about Iranians that causes discrimination and profiling.

Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron

I think out of this whole semester of reading comics, Daniel Clowes is probably one of my favorites. I read like a velvet glove cast in iron, which was incredibly surreal and dream like. I read up on the inspiration behind the story which was about dreams he would have, and some of his ex wifes dreams as well. The story perfectly captures the feeling that all the strange and odd are totally normal in this world. It sure makes for a far more interesting story than any Windsor McCay comic. The title "Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron" refers to one of my favorite badass old movies Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill! which everybody should watch. It's very fitting

I really like how most of Daniel Clowes work is how he depicts everyday life which very ugly and bizarre. Every one looks like they crawled out of a Wal-Mart at 2 a.m. Or if they look remotely normal they are probably the most strange and fucked up person. Like the cops in the book that pull over a prostitute, and rape her. They look perfectly normal but their true disgusting selves are masked by their "normal" appearance.