While reading "Ender's Game: Command School" (The comic) I realized to get the full effect that I would have to read all the editions. So I got my hands on "Ender's Shadow: Battle School/ Command School."
Just like the novels I think that the comic of "Ender's Shadow" is superior to "Ender's Game." I think it is just a better story and Bean is a much more complex character than Ender. It was interesting to comapare both the comics to each other becuase not only was that story different but the artistic styles were different as well.
In "Ender's Game" the artistic style is softer and Ender is drawn as small and young. In "Ender's Shadow" Ender is large, handsome, and older looking, and the style is overall more harsh looking. This is so fascinating to me and shows the benefits of comics as opposed to novels is that the author can play with the images as well. To Bean and the kids in Dragon Army, Ender was like a God to them, so to them he would have looked handsome, older, and wiser. In contrast of Ender's pampered up bringing Bean came off the streets of Amsterdam as a street urchin, so to him the world would have looked harsh. It is subtle, but powerful.
I loved "Ender's Game" and "Ender's Shadow" as novels, and I was hoping that the comics could surpass my experience with these novels to give comics legitimacy. Well I regret to say that it didn't. But I will say this, my experience with the comics was a different experience and brought so much more to the novels than I had not previously thought of. Just seeing what Ender's world is like was exciting and worth the experience in it self. I also think that in some ways the use of art helps explain the story and helps the reader stay on target with the story. However if I had not read the novel I would have missed out on SO much story line and would have been fairly confused. The author of the comics was so bipolar, in some frames their would be so much information to digest it would become overwhelming, but he would leave out so much information from frame to frame that I would have been lost without my prior knowledge.
Overall I would still suggest the comics to any fan of "Ender's Game" or "Ender's Shadow." I would also suggest it to people who would like to experience a comic, but haven't yet. This was a great quick read that really added to my love of two great novels.
Just like the novels I think that the comic of "Ender's Shadow" is superior to "Ender's Game." I think it is just a better story and Bean is a much more complex character than Ender. It was interesting to comapare both the comics to each other becuase not only was that story different but the artistic styles were different as well.
In "Ender's Game" the artistic style is softer and Ender is drawn as small and young. In "Ender's Shadow" Ender is large, handsome, and older looking, and the style is overall more harsh looking. This is so fascinating to me and shows the benefits of comics as opposed to novels is that the author can play with the images as well. To Bean and the kids in Dragon Army, Ender was like a God to them, so to them he would have looked handsome, older, and wiser. In contrast of Ender's pampered up bringing Bean came off the streets of Amsterdam as a street urchin, so to him the world would have looked harsh. It is subtle, but powerful.
I loved "Ender's Game" and "Ender's Shadow" as novels, and I was hoping that the comics could surpass my experience with these novels to give comics legitimacy. Well I regret to say that it didn't. But I will say this, my experience with the comics was a different experience and brought so much more to the novels than I had not previously thought of. Just seeing what Ender's world is like was exciting and worth the experience in it self. I also think that in some ways the use of art helps explain the story and helps the reader stay on target with the story. However if I had not read the novel I would have missed out on SO much story line and would have been fairly confused. The author of the comics was so bipolar, in some frames their would be so much information to digest it would become overwhelming, but he would leave out so much information from frame to frame that I would have been lost without my prior knowledge.
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| From "Ender's Shadow," as you can see a lot more grittier and harsh, like Bean's upbringings. |
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| From "Ender's Game," a lot more polished and smooth. This is indicative of Ender's privileged upbringing. |
1 comment:
I didn't know how else to contact you but our discussion today on your legitimizing comics project reminded me of an article I just read by a literary critic Alan Purves called "Telling our story about teaching literature" that addresses the issue of the legitimacy of the comic form (in part). You ought to look it up and use it for your chapter. Let me know (brionlyshe07@gmail.com) if you have trouble finding it because I have a hard copy of it. Good luck!
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