Keiji Nakazawa’s “I Saw It” describes the moments of the atomic bomb being dropped on Hiroshima from his perspective

Within the MASC’s exhibits are some very interesting pieces of comics and graphic novels that did not fail to show off the plethora of types and designs that reside within the genre. One that particularly interested me was Keiji Nakazawa’s true survival story entitled “I Saw It,” as it depicts Nakazawa’s first-hand encounter with the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. Narrowing it down more specifically, the page in which the bomb makes an impact with the ground has some particular designs that pique some interest regarding our past readings. From what I could observe, there seemed to be no page number, but this page takes into account Nakazwa’s first-hand experience. Instead of showing the physical bomb drop and creating a shockwave from a bird’s eye view with different panels depicting the actual movement of the bomb, he suddenly shows a flash with emitting waves with lines on them. Without anything else but these rippled lines, it can already be assumed there was an impact of sort in the middle and with the addition of those transitioning warm tones of yellow, orange and red, the explosion This effect is only further amplified through the next panels which contain diagonal lines that represent the sheer force of the impact. It is then, in the bottom four panels that lines are utilized interestingly. He uses lines with varying degrees of thickness and length that all have a swirled, wave effect to them. These wavy, multi-colored lines represent the sense of confusion as to what just occurred for the normal Japanese schoolboy. There no sense of order and peace but rather chaos both physically and mentally. In a literal sense, these wavy lines also could represent the radiation that begins to spread from the atomic bomb as well.

Will Eisner’s “City: A Narrative Portfolio,” Text of the piece “Predator”

Looking to Will Eisner’s “City: A Narrative Portfolio,” many of his designs incorporate mainly a single large drawing with vast amounts of detail that is accompanied by a title and some text. This text is almost poetry-like and with its addition, creates that idea of interdependence. Mainly looking towards Eisner’s piece of “Predator,” observing the text alone discusses the idea of a predator as it hunts its prey, utilizing a descriptive language to get the most out of the text. When looking to the image by itself, one

Will Eisner’s “City: A Narrative Portfolio,” Image of the piece “Predator”

could interpret it as a dumpsite for trash or near an urban area that is dirty and full of junk. Figures are lurking around a single figure who calmly takes a drink, unaware of his surroundings. It is not obvious to what is going on, possibly homeless people scavenging through trash for any usable scraps. However, when the text and image are seen simultaneously, it creates something different. The “Predator” now describes, not animals but people and the greedy nature that some possess, especially where resources are thin.