WP 2: Rough Draft 1

"Lucy and Bing"a comic strip written by Joseph Hewitt, is a non traditional medium used by the author to create arguments.  Joseph Hewitt is an English teacher from Cormack, Newfoundland.  He originally created this comic series for his students in his class.  Lucy and Bing are a penguin brother and sister duo.  This particular episode of "Lucy and Bing" argues that not everything that looks professional is credible and useful.  This argument is made with the text and pictures of the comic.

 This comic uses a technique that we commonly use to give human like qualities.  This is called anthropomorpism.  The penguins in this comic have hair and use their flippers as arms and hands.  This brings an element that is more appealing to younger people.  This makes sense as Hewitt created this comic series for his students.  It also comes across as less threatening and more visually appealing.  When these two things are done, it is much easier for a viewer to see the argument that the comic is making.

The conversation that our two main characters in the comic have bring us to the argument that is made.  Bing is reading a comic that his friend has made.  He makes a big deal out of the fact that it is astheticlly pleasing.  The comic book has been stapled and photocopied.  For two young kids this would be impressive.  When Lucy looks at the comic book she is obviously less impressed, calling the comic stupid for not having a real story and showing pictures of two monkeys shooting each other over and over.  Bing procedes to aknowledge the fact that the comic contains nothing.  The star drawn in above Bing's head shows that he is so blinded by the fact that the comic book looks professional and credible that he sees the contents as something great.

This is a common theme today.  Our society as a whole is far too trusting of the internet.  It is common practice to google something and read the very first link to get information.  This practice is harmful in
the sense that not all sites on the internet are credible.  For example, one widely used informational website is wikipedia.  The problem with this site is that anyone can edit the information on any given page.  This reinforces the fact that not everything we see on a site that looks professional is fact.

After all this there is something to be said for the materiality of some things. Does that make it more credible to us?  In the comic, the material composition of the comic book that Bing is reading is what makes it so great and perfect for Bing.  Things that are read in the newspaper do not tend to get questioned.  That is because we have the physical paper in our hands.  On the other hand, the same can be said for texts such as tabloids.  Once something is in print it holds a certain legitimacy for the audience member looking at it.  This can even be seen in the satirical newspaper on campus called the Daylier Nebraskan.  Every once and a while, someone unfamiliar with the satire of the paper will talk about a story as if it is true.  We privilege the materiality of texts.

Even though this may be true, this strategy does not reach the most people.  Millions of people are connected instantly via the internet at all times of the day.  That is most likely how this comic came to be on the internet.  The author wanted more people to see his work.  The easiest and most efficient way to do so is to post his cartoons on the internet.

While the internet has made communication and sharing ideas much easier, one must keep in mind that it is important to establish a certain legitimacy.  Not all sites and not all searches will give the truth and real picture.  Many things can look great but without that legitimacy, they are only what the audience makes them to be.