Critique of Uncle Sam The Deluxe Edition By Steve Darnall and Alex Ross - Essay Example

Critique of Uncle Sam The Deluxe Edition By Steve Darnall and Alex Ross Introduction Uncle Sam by Steve Darnall and Alex Rossis a powerful comic narrative that explores the modern American society and administration by use of historical allusions and visual elements. Darnall and Ross argue that the US is no longer the ideal democracy or the land for all as envisioned in the dreams of the founding fathers. The main points that will be highlighted in this paper include the purpose of Darnall and Ross in writing the comic narrative, and an assessment of the text and the writer’s effectiveness in achieving their purpose.

Lastly, the paper will respond to the text by identifying the views that have been discussed by the authors. In summary, the intent or the purpose of the creators in writing the paper is to highlight and inform the readership on the shortfalls of the modern American society and its administration. Information is the main purpose in the comic as the voice over in the comic illustrations and the dialogue bubbles contain information that is of historical significance to the American society. The historical allusions employed by the authors show that the main purpose of their writing is to provide the readers with information on the argument that the American society is not as free as envisioned in the dream of the founding fathers.

Darnall and Ross manage to effectively achieve the purpose of their writing through use of various comic vocabulary and visual aspects. The use of comic narratives in passing an informative and political message is unconventional. Political subjects and topics are usually discussed through scholarly, news and other form of activism materials. By using comic elements, the authors not only managed to persuade, inform, motivate, and provoke thoughts, but they also manage to create an interesting perspective of their purpose.

Some of the most basic visual elements in the comic narrative employed by Darnall and Ross include the use of narrative boxes in each and every panel frames that help the reader to understand what happens in the figures. The mix of both up close and Long shot “camera” angles shots creates an interesting and appealing aspect to the reader. The speech bubbles employed by the authors help to provide the information or the argument of the writers. The background in each panel box have an alternate dark shades at the edges with lighter shades at the center or where the focus of the figures is put.

This has helped the creators to be able to draw the attention of the readers to the figures and speech bubbles. This is an effective way capturing the reader’s attention to the facts and the mnessage of the comic narrative. The use of historical allusions in the text helps in creating attaining the informative aspect of the writing. , “Resolved: That these United Colonies ." which alludes to Richard Henry Lee when he was introducing the declaration of independence in 1776. The words “Whenever any Form of Government .

"Come from the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. In the last panel the voice over says, “I have a dream” which refers to Dr Martin Luther King Jr. famous speech. This historical allusions of the book helps a reader of the text to associate the general message of the whole text with the freedoms that Americans enjoy through the declaration of independence. The verbal and visual tools employed by Darnall and Ross are effective tools that make it easy for the reader to get informed using an interesting, though abstract media form.

(Planatamura 1). One of the views expressed by the authors that is easily agreeable is the notion that for a country to become a world power through conquest, it has to become the tyrant that it rebelled against (US 2. 11-2). This is true because the US has tried to liberate other countries that have tyrannical rule. By so doing, they have involved themselves in war and have been accused of gross humanitarian crimes. Prisoners have been tortured which is something that is expected from tyrannical regimes.

In addition to this, the creators assert that American armies have always been invading other countries for the purpose of making safe American oil and other interests (US, 2. 10-1). American armies have been accused throughout history to purpot to help other countries when actually they are after ensuring that their interests are the ones that are safe. This is unlike the dream of the founding fathers which insisted that they have to respect the sovereignty of other nations. Conclusion In conclusion, Darnall and Ross manage to inform their audience on the state of the modern American society through the use of a comic narrative.

The use of historical allusions and visual elements in the comic has made their work to be persuasive, informative and interesting. Work Cited Abel, Jessica and Madden Matt. Comics terminology. Pdf Darnall, Steve and Ross, Alex. “Uncle Sam: The Deluxe Edition.” Washington D.C.: DC Comics, 1997 Plantamura, Greg. Annotations for uncle Sam. Retrieved February 4th 2012 from http://www.angelfire.com/pop/bay55/UncleSam/USBase.html