Dear Readers,
I'm teaching a creative writing class next week, and one of the main topics is the connection between ancient mythologies (Biblical, Greek, Norse, Japanese...) and comic books, Manga, and graphic novels.
So, I've got some examples (Superman was inspired by stories of Sampson and Hercules, Wonder Woman and her mother, Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons, Miyazaki's Nausicca which was inspired by both the character Nausicaa in The Odyssey and the Japanese folk tale, "The Princess who Loved Insects...)
But I'd love to hear about more! Were the X-Men inspired by tales of demi-Gods? What about Batman and the tradition of the samurai? Tell me your favorite (or most obscure) mythology to comic book connections!
Showing posts with label mythology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mythology. Show all posts
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Monday, March 3, 2008
Teaching a Class on Mythology and Comics
I'm going to be teaching two weeks straight - two weeks of junior high kids who come to this site to learn to do art, to dance and to act in a play and make puppets out of wax and, with me, learn about the many connections between poetry, mythology, and comic books.
I grabbed up a bunch of illustrated mythology guides in case the kids didn't have much of a background - one illustrated Greek and Roman, one illustrated Norse, and a giant 40-pound World Mythologies Guide, which include everything from Egytpian, Native American, East Asian, etc, to African and Celtic, with lots of fascinating pictures. I'm debating whether to bring in a beautifully illustrated "Tales of Genji" I found in the Manga section, but it does have some female nudity, so it's probably fof the list.
Then I was trying to decide which comic books were safe enough - that is, free of blood-and-guts-and-nudity - to bring in for these junior high kids (who will be chaperoned, so I really can't break the rules.) Astonishing X-Men? Some new Gail Simone Wonder Woman? Fray? Buffy? Even the ones I consider pretty safe have a surprising amount of adult stuff in them.
Recommendations? Ideas?
I'm going to have them do some writing exercises every day, including writing their own creation-type myth, two persona poem in the voices of a villain(ess) and hero(ine), a character sketch of a comic book character that includes some archetypal realtionship to a mythological character...some fun, right?
Thank you, Centrum Young Artists Project, for setting something like this up. Should be a blast!
I grabbed up a bunch of illustrated mythology guides in case the kids didn't have much of a background - one illustrated Greek and Roman, one illustrated Norse, and a giant 40-pound World Mythologies Guide, which include everything from Egytpian, Native American, East Asian, etc, to African and Celtic, with lots of fascinating pictures. I'm debating whether to bring in a beautifully illustrated "Tales of Genji" I found in the Manga section, but it does have some female nudity, so it's probably fof the list.
Then I was trying to decide which comic books were safe enough - that is, free of blood-and-guts-and-nudity - to bring in for these junior high kids (who will be chaperoned, so I really can't break the rules.) Astonishing X-Men? Some new Gail Simone Wonder Woman? Fray? Buffy? Even the ones I consider pretty safe have a surprising amount of adult stuff in them.
Recommendations? Ideas?
I'm going to have them do some writing exercises every day, including writing their own creation-type myth, two persona poem in the voices of a villain(ess) and hero(ine), a character sketch of a comic book character that includes some archetypal realtionship to a mythological character...some fun, right?
Thank you, Centrum Young Artists Project, for setting something like this up. Should be a blast!
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