Slightly unrelated, Johnny, but I finished that "Decrypting Comics" book Professor Burton loaned me. A while back, in class, he mentioned you might want to take a look at it. Want me to bring it to you to class on Friday?
I've been thinking about this post and have come to the conclusion that I don't really want my blog to end. I think I have a really good foundation to start a wholly original comics blog. This class has done something really remarkable in that, by blogging and performing our assignments, we have slowly crafted portfolios with (hopefully) shades of things we're really passionate about.
I voted for the correct one, but to be honest, I voted for it simply because I thought the first one seemed too likely to be Shakespeare. I'm not sure what the application there is (and I'm curious to see if others did so similarly,) but do you think that without dialogue a manga interpretation might be MORE detectably Shakespearian than a play? For instance, here we had an adaptation completely different from the original time and place of Shakespeare, but I still think we had an easier time recognizing it than, say, if we were to watch that horrid Romeo and Juliet adaptation from the '90s.
I've enjoyed reading your discoveries. I'm fairly opinionated about schooling and teaching methods; I've witnessed both the good and the bad, I think, as a student. I think, by and large, the motivation to learn is not innate in most; rather, I think most need someone else to motivate them. Maybe not permanently, but at least initially. I think that's where primary education really comes into play. By high school it's just too late. And sometimes high schools can ostracize one's desire to learn. To an extent, high school burnt me out. I quit reading texts or studying or taking notes. I'd typically find out what I needed to know on the exam by piquing the teacher, cram to get the adequate grade, and then let the knowledge vaporize in the weeks following the test. Granted, this wasn't the case in every class at my high school. It was sort of a teacher by teacher basis, which is unfortunate that we let professors dictate our interests in a subject...shouldn't it be the latter?
That's fantastic you found those connections. I'm jealous. I tried doing something similar and just got Czech hockey players. Gotta love my heritage, though.
Hey, sorry to be so late to the party. I'm adding you all now. My skype name is "blueturnsred"
Also, dunno how many of you have iPhones but you can video conference with Skype over 3G.
The "Such Tweet Sorrow" stuff is genius, but I'm disappointed too because Bryan and I (on day one of class) conceived the idea of themed twitter accounts where Hamlet characters could tweet to one another. We thought we were groundbreaking. We never did it, though...Maybe that's an idea worth resurrecting.
I think imitating is definitely a great way to learn how to create. There's a very interesting philosophy in creation and I think at times its a little contradictory. For instance, in the early 20th century Europe was finally warming up to American writers because they were offering an original, valid experience...interestingly enough a large part of that originality and experience came from the American writers living in Europe as expatriates. So it's kind of like saying "We want you to be original, but that originally American stuff was boring...give us something originally European."
I think that extends to a lot of stuff. Keats was ripped to pieces by Blackwood's Magazine for not following in the poetic traditions of Shelley and Byron...but the whole point of the poetry at that time was carving out one's own path.
So yeah, imitation is a good thing, but it's also dangerous. I certainly imitate my idols when I am learning to write, but I definitely think there comes a time and place when one should leave behind blatant imitations of form and structure and look instead for "inspiration" to imitate.
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Martin Michalek 
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