Heavy Liquid - Britta Frazier

Analyze: Character - Secondary

The character is definitely a main focus of the story but for it to be primary the story would have to be focused on a significant change in the character's personality. For the most part S remains the same throughout the story. The events he goes through don't necessarily make him better or worse. And if he does go through any change of character it is not a central part of the story. Idea or Event would be considered primary.

Rating: PG-13/R

For language (5 F words), violence, and drug use. Drug use especially is a main theme of this comic.

Springboard: Paul Pope would have to be familiar with different languages since some of his characters speak Spanish, and French. Either he'd need to speak them himself or use something like Google translate. Also, since the story takes place mostly in a large, crowded city, good reference would be needed. I for one cannot draw buildings from imagination alone, but since Pope lives in New York City good building reference is right on hand.

The story takes place in the future, but the car/trains and stuff still look very modern day. I did some follow up research on bullet trains (since a few scenes take place in trains), just to see what they look like inside and out. I can see what kinds of designs Pope stuck with and what he modified to help his story visually.

Apply: I've been struggling with figuring out the kind of line quality/style I want to use in my own comic.. Heavy Liquid was an excellent example of how to effectively use bold, think, and messy (but controlled) lines. It's unique and has a distinct visual impact. Probably not what I want to use in my comic, but it's good to see options.

Making Comics - Heavy Liquid

In Making Comics there is a lot of discussion about the importance of the background, especially establishing shots. Here Paul Pope uses 3 panels to set the scene of the crowded bar, in a busy city. The panels all bleed off the page, and there is very little framing giving the reader the feeling of being immersed in the crowd. There is minimal use of word bubbles so that the focus is on the scene itself.

Heavy Liquid - Brandon Pedersen

It's coming, and in a big way. You'll see.

"Heavy Liquid" - Ryan Stevens

1. Analyze: Idea - Secondary
In "Heavy Liquid" I believe that the idea is secondary in the narrative to the character. The main idea of the book is Illegal drugs. The entire novel revolves around Paul Pope's character yes, but the character is always involved with illegal drugs in one way or another. I mean even the title of the story comes from a new illegal drug on the streets. I think this is a pretty interesting take on a narrative, because that is how people really are who have fallen into drug use. If you have ever been around a person that has a drug addiction problem you know that their whole world revolves around the drugs of their choice. Whether it be using it, they are getting it, getting more of it, getting enough money to be able to get more of the drug. It is what is constantly on their minds. It swallows up their entire life and being. it is a very sad situation to watch or to be in. It can also many times lead to an increase in violence in oneself and their life and also tends to lead to a life of criminal activity as well.

2. Rating: R
Because illegal drugs and the use of illegal drugs are a major theme. There are more than a few F-bombs in the book. Also there is quite a bit of violence throughout, I think this graphic novel deserves an R rating.

3. Springboard:
For this graphic novel the author would need to know about the world of illegal drugs. He would have to research the different drugs available, how they are made, how they are sold, and what the drug business and lifestyle is all about. I was curious to know what the top used illegal drugs are worldwide. So I dug around a bit and this is what I came up with. These are the top 5 most used illegal drugs worldwide right now. #5 Amphetamines #4 Ecstasy #3 Cocaine #2 Heroin #1 Marijuana or Cannabis. I found these pretty interesting.

4. Apply:
I learned from this novel that it can be a really good thing to give your characters trials, struggles or personal problems and addictions. It helps to round out the character and make them more believable. It helps the reader relate to the character and care about them. If the reader doesn't care about your characters he or she is far more likely to become bored or even leave the story. Characters that have no flaws are fun for a while, but they become boring and predictable. We all as human beings have trials and struggles, it makes us real. They can also help make your characters more real.

Making Comics - Heavy Liquid

On Pages 100 to 115 Scott McCloud goes over the importance and use of Body Language in the panels of graphic novels. He teaches us how to use body language to relate feelings, moods, ideas and situations through the poses of our characters. How with just the way the character is standing or moving, we as the reader can tell what he is feeling, thinking, or wanting. Through body language we can tell things about a characters personality, their health, their situation and many other things. This page from "Heavy Liquid" is a good example of this. Through the characters stiffness and static posture we call tell this is a serious situation they are in, they are both standing firm on their positions and actions, and it gives us as the readers a very awkward and uncomfortable feeling. We as the viewer can feel the tension between the two characters without even reading the what the characters are saying. This is a good use of body language.

"Making Comics" - "Heavy Liquid" - Paul Petty

Heavy Liquid - Paul Petty

Analyze: Milieu - Secondary

I really agree with Adam on event being the primary part of this story. In addition to that, the feel of the comic is very distinct. People who are into drugs give off a certain personality that is very similar to the mood of this comic. The inking and line work has the bold grittiness that comes across when hanging out with someone who goes against the rules/law. The costume design and environments established in the story and character designs flow in that direction as well. It definitely sets the scene for a charismatic drug addict.

Rating: PG-13/R

Adam has already established an agreeable description of this rating. I'll elaborate with my own opinion. I think that the comic itself would technically be rated PG-13 with the way things were said and visually portrayed--language and nudity around the middle of the book. Though if it were a feature length film, then it would end up being rated R. The drawing style kept things from being too much in-your-face offensive.

Springboard

This is a little interview with Paul Pope. I looked up a few other ones, but this includes a lot of his personality. I wanted to know what kind of guy he was. His style reminds me of a lot of friends I have back home. It turns out he's pretty cool.

Apply

I want the rock music style that comes through in Pope's work. Heavy Liquid seems like a self portrait of Paul Pope himself. Art work becomes dynamic when the artist's voice can be heard in the drawing.

Heavy Liquid - Adam Borgia

1. Analyze: Event - Primary ~Quasi Spoilers~
Although the Idea behind the story overlays everything (that being that a strange and extremely rare mystery metal may be melted down with strange hallucinogenic effects), I really felt that Event was more significant to at least our main character and his drive throughout the story. He's addicted to this drug, true, but as it is slowly revealed to us, he is also addicted to a girl from his past from whom he is now separated. It appears that he is slightly more willing to overcome the latter addiction however, and so it creates a nice parallel. The Event referred to though is his being hired by a shadowy businessman to track down this girl (who is trying very hard NOT to be found); this realization of this request is always looming over him, and he must sort out his own motives for doing so--is it strictly business and a means to another fix, or is it something more? The arrival of this event brings some strong emotions to the surface from both sides and allows for a sorely needed healing for all parties.

2. Rating: PG-13/R
There are a handful of uses of the "F" word (5 or so), although these are used as a nickname for a tech device and not explicit in their use or directed toward anyone, and the swearing occurs over the course of a few pages. There is also one scene with partial side nudity from a flashback. It actually felt a little out of place... There's honestly just a lot of heavy adult themes going on here involving gangs and violence and consistent drug use (albeit a very different kind of drug, not a narcotic). With a well placed censor sticker and some crossed out text, this could be a comfortable PG-13 all around.

3. Springboard
Well the easiest thing to point out is that Paul Pope would have had to know and understand the nature and habits and lifestyle of drug addicts, but I don't really care to know how he did his "research." Safe to say it is very convincing. Not so convincing is one of his minor character's French. I don't know if if was intentional, but there were a fair amount of grammatical and sentence forming mistakes. Maybe Google Translate gave Pope a hard time. There is actually a good portion of the story involving art and sculpture though, and Pope would have to know certain terms and processes he describes to keep from coming off as lazy.

I've been around a lot of studio artist who deal with sculpture as a medium, so I am slightly aware of the "lingo." The difference between casting and moulding is significant, even though I've heard them used interchangeably. Moulding is when the original work is covered with a material (either bronze or resin) and allowed to set, creating a mould (clever, huh?) when separated from the sculpture. Casting comes from using this mould as a skeleton or framework to produce a certain amount of replicas. Casting is not done usually in the same medium as the original sculpture, which is why a marble statue may be cast in replicas of plaster or cement. This distinction is important at a certain point in the story involving one of the characters and a decision they choose to make.

Making Comics - Heavy Liquid

Yo.

So on pages 60 and 61 of Making Comics, Scott McCloud discusses character design and the fact that we as humans look for human characteristics in almost everything around us, be it animals, machines or doodles. Many cartoonists and artists tap into this and anthropomorphize (sp?) non-human subjects to engage the reader. Paul Pope uses a simple, abstract human gesture for one of his "characters" in Heavy Liquid to allow us to connect him to another character. As loose at the design is, it still reads as human(ish), versus being totally alien and having no congruency making that connection difficult or impossible.

If this doesn't make sense to you, come talk to me. It all works out in my head.