March and non-fiction fiction comics: Imagining Fact. (12 pts)

 No documentation of history is unbiased. Oftentimes, we look at a photo or a video and think “this must be what happened,” or “this is what it was like back then.” While photos and videos are as accurate of documentation as we can get, everything from the moment a photo or video is taken to the exact slice of the world is held within said singularity is all dictated by a person and can even be further cut and edited post-fact. Things really only get more warped from there. First hand accounts, multi sourced retellings film or book adaptations, each medium has its quirks. The prospect of creating a non-fiction comic, then, is not a simple one. Since you’re effectively creating an abstracted version of an already subjective and biased version of history, a lot of thought must be put into creating the image the author desires. But therein lies the beauty of non-fiction comics. After Reading through the 3 volumes of March & Andre the Giant it’s apparent how vastly approaches can vary while writing non fiction comics.

Andre the Giant utilizes a rather simplistic and graphic art style with grayscale colors. The main visual element the comic uses to great effect is size and scale. While not accurately proportionate, Andre’s size is at the forefront of most compositions, his hands specifically used to highlight the contrast between him and regular sized people. The comic also attempts to interpret his emotions as shown in recordings and photos of him, often building a strong narrative of events that string together. 

In contrast, March uses a more realistic style but still benefits from the medium of comics. It is also primarily in black and white, but uses the high contrast between color contrast to show the dichotomy between the members of the civil rights movement and those who oppose it. and exaggerated features and framing also play a big part in making the comic feel intense. My favorite parts of the story were the ones that we have no real world pictures or video of. The recreation of recorded events were cool, but the intimacy and tension provided by the interpretations of the behind closed doors moments of the movement were really interesting and really well composed. I especially liked some of the internal struggles with the NAACP and the phone calls with Robert Kennedy. Visualizations of more intense brutality are also depicted with rather intense framing and force.


Overall, seeing how varied non fiction comics are, and how they fill in the blanks of information that reality often leaves in unique and interesting ways to tell a cohesive story is really

interesting.

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