Big Trouble in Little China: Book Report
The comic i selected for this report is Big Trouble in Little China volume one created by John Carpenter and illustrated by Eric Powell and Brian Churilla. It follows after the cult classic movie Big Trouble in Little China moments after the movie ends. It follows mainly Jack Burton who is a macho truck driver with each issue being some sort of crazy new adventure. His main mode of transportation is his trusty big rig the Pork-Chop Express. It is set in San Francisco, CA while Jack Burton is paying for the consequences for defeating an ancient sorcerer and now demons and other worldly beings want their revenge on him. Accompanied by many characters a few notable ones are Gracie, Egg, and Wang. The Style of Powell and Churilla is intriguing to me due to the fact that it is very much a comic style but they pay attention to detail in the background, clothing, and facial features/expressions, there are many scenes in the issues where the background is a solid color coupled with a detailed background. The style is easy to follow but captivates your attention due to the action-packed adventure with the detail packed panels.
The use of color throughout the comic is used in many aspects and to help many aspects of the comic. But, the color in the panels helps differentiate main characters of the panel to the people around or in the back. Also, it helps the comic depict various outfits and clothing pieces in great detail. The way the comics illustrate and grasp the feel of different settings with the use of color in this comic was interesting to me and gave an enjoyable reading experience. Time in this comic is mostly depicted by what the time of day it is whenever a character is outside accompanied by certain color palette in the background that will show the time of day. Narrative transitions in play seem to be scene-to-scene, subject-to-subject, action-to-action. They are seamlessly sprinkled all throughout the volume and keeps this action adventure flowing well. All through the reading I noticed that the illustrators utilized the comic grid and each page that used it seemed to use all different kinds of shaped boxes and rectangles; even sometimes the grid would have overlapping panels pushing into bigger panels. Although the comic grids were varying and unique on each page it was utilized well and the panels felt appropriate, whatever size, for the image they wanted to portray. Thinking about Scott McCloud’s lesson on time and panel variation it is clear to see how the illustrators utilized both of these things to help tell the story. There are rarely any panels through the comics where it seemed to be one panel being extended into other panels showing that the scene shown is all happening at the same time. To add, the variations of panel size and content help uniquely show the time passed in each panel and the already set time of the scene can add weight to really how long a panel is in terms of time.
On this page you can see already that the panels are very different in the sizes that they are. In the first panel you see a security guard relaxing reading near the door, the ensuing knock seems to anger him or catch him off guard prompting him to answer. You do not see the guard get up but set up with the long panel you can assume he took a few seconds to get up to answer. Then you see his angry eyes answer through the slit. The detailed face seen through the slit in the small panel gives off a ominous vibe with a sketchy possibly dangerous setting. Followed by a shocked/fearful look by the guard from the point of view on the other side of the door, in front of him are the colorful characters Egg Shen and Jack Burton followed by other warriors. They lie to get themselves in which is followed by the large panel showing the main room and the group with Jack Burton confronting Qiang in his chamber. This action adventure containing great detail and tasteful color palettes with coupled with the other artistic elements that I could point with the help of McCloud showed me why comics are amazing and so readable.
