Compelling Characters: Character Analysis With Cartoons to Boot

Do Cartoons Use Archetypes to Reflect Society?  Do Stereotypes Enhance or Diminish Cartoon Quality? 4 to 6 min read Well, hello there! Today I came across an interesting blog  by Annie Weatherwax about archetypes in r elation to illustrations and cartoons. This piece grabbed my attention, given my own, previous blog on archetypes and, uh, well—I like to dabble with cartoons.  With regards to a lot of media, especially cartoons, creative people automatically use archetypes. If we get scientific about it, could we say archetyping has always been our natural way of nailing people down? Take the archetypal doting mother; it could only have been accepted as a 'thing' after people had spoken about the 'those types' of mothers who excessively nurture. We've been tokening archetypes over our history. I've probably missed something somewhere, but cartoons do play on them.  Why Are Archetypes Important in Cartoons?  Before a psychiatrist brands a patient with a ment...

The Legend of King Arthur: Derfel Cadarn .  Celtic Britons 3 to 4 min read While I was reading about the intimidating nature of Derfel Cadarn, I couldn't help but notice his immense power in the various poems and annales—he fought the Anglo-Saxons in Edinburgh and across England and Wales. He was a renowned man; a man who serves as the central character in Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles. T hough a work of fiction, it's based on historical events from the British wars fending off the Germanic influx of invaders. Derfel Cadarn is rightly portrayed as an exceptionally skilled and courageous fighter. This led me to wonder about the true identity of the historical figure behind the character, Saint Derfel, and what we might glean from that era. I found a man called Saint Derfel who lived in Wales during the 6th century. He was highly revered by the Catholic Church. Prior to his priesthood, he was likely a trained warrior, which is what Cornwell's book focuses...

The Cybernetic Outcast: A Symbol for the Futurist 3 to 4 min read Victor Stone, the Cyborg, always comes across as a bit of a miserable bastard because he is, literally, the internet on legs. To be realistic just trying to log on to my bank is a right pain in the arse! Could you imagine all the popups and ads this bloke must get when he's just trying to buy himself a new waterproof coat? Yes, he's science and technology incarnate, but is that necessarily as glorious as they try to make it seem? If he already is the symbol of what we are becoming his head must be so Tik Tok sodden, Pornhubbed up to the temporal lobes, 4channed to the point of social media psychosis . Yes, he may well be beyond GCHQ, Mossad, MI6 and every other secret service, but this bloke'll be taking more pop-ups than anyone: constant invitations to try male enhancing pills, personality quizzes and not to mention years worth videos showing imbeciles punching each other in the crown jewels, because that...

That Cringy Green Lantern You Want To See Fail!  Hal Jordan, the fearsome Green Lantern of Sector 2814.  4 min read I've decided Hal is a bit of a bellend. One of those embarrassing characters who faces many challenges and setbacks, but still, always wins because the story writers have made him a 'Barry-Sue' is it or 'Marty Stu'? This is a man who soldiers on in his stories, and sometimes, you just want him to fail. A cheesy cock and predictable risk taker who has to overcome the toughest obstacles just to show you that determination means success. Isn't that a ball ache? That's him in a nutsack, a pointless Top Gun-esque maverick throwback who never moved on, but, surprisingly, he might grow on you because he carries the story. The character has blatant copy and paste attributes, but sometimes, I like the cheesy bastard!  The Big Cheese We can gather Jordan isn't as cool as any other lantern, because they're either more interesting than he i...

Joan of Arc: The Unseen Story Behind France’s Most Compelling Character 7 to 9 min read Who was Joan of Arc? Jeanne d'Arc , was born in the year 1412 in Domrémy, a village in north eastern France. Her father was Jacques d'Arc, a farmer, and Isabelle Romée. To English speakers she is known as Joan of Arc, and we might picture her in the same light as how the movies and entertainment might portray her: like a pious Wonder women , but raised on Catholicism instead of the old Greek gods. For all we know her personality might have been awful! Joan grew up surrounded by a community that shared a dominant religious worldview, in a land of political unrest, which she would have accepted from a very young age. This fits my mental imagining of this highly religionised unlikely warrior woman. The key to her story however, was that she told people that she heard the voices of various saints urging her to help France in it's war against England.  The Military Mind: Was Joan of A...

A Deep Dive Into The New 52 Justice League: What You Need to Know!  4 to 6 min read Alright, let’s talk about The New 52 Justice League . If you’re looking for the ultimate superhero team-up origin story, this is it. Volume 1 is not just well-written and beautifully illustrated; it’s packed with the excitement of characters meeting for the first time, which is an absolute joy for someone like me, a graphic novel fan in his forties! This first Justice League book is a belter. Following my reading order, the next book is Barry Allen's flashpoint story arc which created this universe; he returns home at the end of the book and his costume and his memories begin to change too. It was clever how he is absorbed into the new 52 version. After finishing this volume, I’m diving right into Barry Allen’s Flashpoint arc. That twist where he returns home, and everything about him starts changing—brilliant storytelling!  The dialogue in Origins, Vol. 1 has a spark that jumps off th...

Hulk Character Development: Hero vs Monster | Evolution in Marvel Comics 5 to 7 min read When it comes to comic book characters few are as iconic as the Hulk. That's because he's a green temper tantruming vandal. He was created by the comic book legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1962, but has made a few evolutionary changes since—his first colour was a creepy grey, and he had more in common with Wednesday Addams than The Avengers. But who is the Hulk today? What makes him such a compelling character? The Hulk in a Nutshell The central theme of The Incredible Hulk is contrasts, a copy and paste rebrand of Dr. Jekyll and Hyde. Likewise, we have the brilliant scientist: Bruce Banner, a man with a calling to understand the mysteries of the world and his contrasting counterpart, a super monster man with the IQ of rubber duck. An entire age of sage rage from this not so jolly green giant; he is a monster but he can't be seen as a victorian murderer, like what we see with...