Let me preface this post by saying that I usually hate graphic novels. I find there is too much going on with the text and the placement of words and the pictures that I get distracted and can’t really concentrate on the storyline. However, I think that this is the perfect medium for Forney’s story of her journey through mental illness because it fits her personality and experiences with mania so well. Her thoughts run a million miles per hour with no end in sight, and when she describes her thought process it is just as jumbled and breathless as the form of the graphic novel itself. The fact that she is not restricted to the traditional form of text – word after word ordered on line after line – is even more advantageous as she is able to place her words on the page wherever she likes.
One thing that she did with her images that I also really enjoyed and found to be particularly insightful is how she removed the encasing boxes and panels for certain images and let them flow over other panels. An example is on pages 16-17, when her psychiatrist is reading off the list of criteria for a manic episode from the DSM. The left panels are orderly and structured, with a solid and straight square formed around the images of the DSM. The right, however, reflects Forney’s thoughts on each listed trait and are drawn as thought bubbles that overlap the left side. The images are much less orderly and are unbound with lots of movement and more detailed line work to indicate the liveliness of her thoughts.
So while I typically dislike graphic novels for being so disorderly and disconcerting, the chaos of the form is actually very appropriate for Forney’s story. I’m very interested to see how she adapts the form to her story later on in the book, because we haven’t quite found out how the mania affects her life negatively (if it ever does) or if she decides to begin taking lithium and ending up in a zoned out, drugged out state. I would expect to see more order and structure to her drawings and text in the sections where she does describe taking the drug (if she does) and more chaos if her mania becomes even more elevated.
**Edit**
Also, I just read Scott McCloud and I know someone might bring up the importance of mixing images and writing, but I just dislike graphic novels because I don’t like the flow of my reading to be interrupted by having to look at a picture and analyze it. I definitely understand the role the relationship between images and text play in conveying a certain attitude or meaning, but it’s just too much for me to handle when reading. Maybe it’s part of what McCloud mentions when he talks about how society grooms children to grow up with less and less visual representation and more “traditional” text. In that case, society has failed me; I haven’t failed graphic novels.
I completely agree with (normally) hating graphic novels but Forney somehow it works better than a typical writing piece would. There is something to be said with her ability to express herself through drawing that she may not have been capable of doing with standard text. This reminds me of the line we spoke of in class where Jamison says that she ‘saw in her head’, is Marbles an example of Forney seeing her chaos in pictures and transposing them for someone else to be able to see them too?
I agree completely, it makes me feel as though i lose my place or understanding. I guess it makes sense that because i’m typical thinking in pictures is too much for me and analyzing in pictures.
I like graphic novels/comics, and find that the combination of words and pictures create a synergy as they work together to reflect/illuminate off each other. At least, that’s what I imagine when I think about describing “good” graphic stories. Such graphic narratives I’ve read and liked include: “The Dark Phoenix Saga” X-Men story arc; “Watchmen” by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons; and “Abstract City” by Christoph Niemann (which is more of a column, but let’s just consider the book compilation). There’s something smart and playful and humorous that I see in those works, and it’s something I think is characteristic of Ellen Forney’s “Marbles.” I like the example Jay picked out when looking at the bipolar symptoms and her responses to them. I’ll add that I laughed at even small stuff, like Forney reading Jamison (28) and looking at Jamison’s picture, commenting “resting head? pointing to brain?” (which is what I was thinking, too, when looking at “An Unquiet Mind”); and even “some suicide stats” (44), which had the skulls with their shiny lines, excitedly ready to introduce and present something that really isn’t funny. There’s an appealing humor, and it works in a smart way with the “heavy” subject of mental illness she is engaging with.
I usually don’t mind graphic novels. They are easy to read and the pictures help me with understanding the text. Analyzing the picture does take time and attention away from the reading, but that doesn’t bother me too much. Although I like graphic novels, so far I don’t care for Marbels. The reason why is because there is just toooo much going on at one time for me. There is no order and my brain is like “error. Error. Can. not. Compute.” On pages like 21, where there is so much text going on in a manner that isn’t linear, it makes me not want to read it. It feels intimidating. The way this novel is designed is probably reflective of how Forney sees the world and that’s fine. But for me it’s distracting and difficult.
*After thoughts*
While reading this I felt at some sort of disadvantage. Maybe how I felt is how other people who are neuroatypical feel on a daily basis. For me I was only reading one book where I felt confused and defeated. But for some people this is their everyday reality.
I never read graphic novels or any sort of comics before entering this class however I must say that after reading my first graphic I really enjoy it. I actually enjoy reading a graphic novel more than i enjoy reading a regular novel. The reason why is that it’s easy to read meaning that I can actually sit and finish the novel within an hour, It has pictures!! which brings back childhood memories, and it make me feel as if i am in the story.In Marbles there is a lot going on but it does not bother me. I find this book to be a bit funny and interesting. Why does the character wants to make out with everyone she meets?
I do agree with everyone that I also like graphic books, but Marbles just makes me dislike it because the reason behind it. It’s that she is all over the book, when she is describing her story. At some points I really had to stop and think like what she is doing in the image and what she really wants the reader to notice.
I think the graphic novel fits her experience perfectly. She is able to go outside a “normal” structure. I think it better suits her experience than her trying to write down all of her emotions at once, both in manic and depressive states. For someone else to see what is going on rather than read is better also.