I've been reading Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud, which I checked out from the library. But nothing prepared me for Dodo Comics #3 Winter 2013 by Grant Thomas.
It's abstract comics, something I had never really seen before. There are no words, and there are no pictures to speak of. There are just lines. What do the lines represent? They just seem to be lines.
I started reading with high spirits. Despite the lack of words and lack of pictures, I tried really hard to feel the feelings I thought that maybe I was supposed to be feeling. I tried really hard to open my mind and understand. I think my efforts paid off for the first comic, Sonnet #1. I did get something from it, though I don't know how to articulate what.
By the next comic and the next, my spirits were lower. I tried to go with Sonnet #2. The lines in Sonnet #2 are all curves. I tried to feel the curved feelings, or the reponse-to-curved feelings. I didn't do so well.
By Sonnet #3, I was feeling like I Just Didn't Get It. Something was happening that was beyond me.
The three untitled poems that end the zine were lost on me. I clung to the text on the back cover where Grant Thomas talks about his accomplishments. But that wasn't the comics. That was blurbs.
Overall, I would have to say that despite my efforts, I failed as a reader. Dodo Comics #3 is not meant for someone like me. I think the audience is a die hard comics person who has a deeper understanding of comics theory. Or someone who's really good at abstraction and who doesn't need words. Or pictures.
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