[Week 5] Reading Response

So for this week, I ended up reading the entirety of Dropsie Avenue and Blankets.

When it comes to comparing the two's works, Eisner and Thompson's art share a very bold lined, graphic sort of style that is very heavy with gesture and the general "feeling" of a piece, which is totally awesome. Thompson's feels a lot more emotionally based with the gestures and bold, almost child-like lines, while Eisner's feels much more realistic in gesture and proportion-- but they're both equally as powerful, to me. Both comics also had an overarching theme of the 'cycle' of things and the lifespan of certain things like bullying, racism, xenophobia, etc. This is especially similar between Craig from Blankets and Abie Gold from Dropsie.

From a personal standpoint, I feel as though Dropsie Avenue was the most relate-able for me. I grew up in a moderately okay part of my city, but it quickly fell into ruin.The whole comic was uncomfortably familiar. It really fell apart in the last year we were living there, and it has continued to crumble ever since. I don't know if that neighborhood will go through a 'rebirth' and start the cycle anew like it did in Dropsie Avenue, but it would be interesting to see if it does.