Fun House

This comic went in a completely new direction compared to the previous autobiographical graphic novel read this semester. It's most interesting aspect is also one of its potential weakness'. Its heavy reliance on allusion infuses a meta-fictional consciousness that either connects with the reader bringing them deeper into the many metaphorical elements that are the core of the story's meaning or completely looses weight if the reader is not familiar with the references. The intertextuality includes many mythological references as well as some more modern writers such as James Joyce. While threading a heavy literary based narrative, the structure takes on a cyclical non linear design as the reader continuously circles back on familiar situations as Bechdel flirts with idea of resolution that seems to be just out of reach. These reoccurring images and visual rhymes help solidify an otherwise chaotic narrative. The story though seems to be weighted down by here heavy handed continuous use of metaphor as it overbearing ever present qualities sometimes mask some of the other stylistic elements that are so well done.