Comics

Comics are a great medium to express ideas and thoughts without scaring off a reader. Often, people don't like to see long paragraphs, and they tend to form the wrong impression about the text. But comics don't face that problem at all. They're colourful, hilarious, and very enjoyable to read. Here are a couple of my favourites.

Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin, a first-grade nightmare, explores the ups and downs of school and the adventures in his own backyard with his tiger, Hobbes, who is calmer and somehow more sensible. It's amazing how Bill Watterson expresses his own thoughts through a six-year-old boy and his tiger. The comic's great because Watterson makes fun of pretty much everything in a non-offensive but satirical way. One of the reasons I like it so much is because I remember reading it as a child merely to look at the pictures. I "rediscovered" it a year back, and read the books all over again, and I discovered the cleverly hidden meanings behind each comic. I kind of had that "AHA" moment, and it was a good feeling. I read The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book a while ago, and it's a very good read by Bill Watterson himself. Very interesting.

Peanuts. The "Peanuts" gang, comprising Charlie, Lucy, Linus, Schroeder, Sally, Rerun, and of course, Snoopy are around five to six years as well; the strip focuses mainly on Charlie Brown, and he goes through a rather bleak, humourously depressing life, at least from his point of view. The illustrations are not, perhaps, as lavishly detailed and coloured as other comics, but attention is drawn to the dialogue and the style simply adds to the mood of "my life isn't going so great". Charlie Brown is a normal sort of kid, like the others, going through friends and crushes, but the way he interprets each situation is hilarious. Charles Schulz, the writer of this comic, said that Charlie developed from some of the more painful aspects of his own life.