Will Eisner and Craig Thompson

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Eisner’s approach in telling his graphic novel, last day in Vietnam, is very straightforward in comparison to Thompson. Last Day in Vietnam is a story that’s told in first person, so the audience gets to experience the story like they were in it. The reader plays a  big time war reporter come to get the inside scoop and get the details on how to the Vietnam war is really going. The reader is guided through their journey through the foreign land of vietnam by a major on his last day in Vietnam, hence the title, or so it seems. The major is the reader’s only source of information when it comes to learning more about the environment, which he happily obliges in because he’s oh so chatty and in high spirits on his last day of work. The interesting thing about this story is that the reader knows just as much as the war reporter, which is an interesting element of reader involvement. Tragically things turn sour and the perimeter of the camp gets bombed by the Vietnamese, which stops air traffic on the base. The Major is completely dejected by the idea of staying one more minute in  base camp and he loses all hope, so the reader, takes action! Taking initiative the reporter weaves through the barrage of bombs and bullets and books it to the last departing aircraft on the base, flying safely away saving himself and others. There’s something so alluring to a person when they are in place of heroism, being the hero they’ve always read about.
Craig Thompson’s, approach to his story, Goodbye Chunky Rice, is fairly similar to Eisner’s. The story follows one character on his journey in finding his place in the world. The main character, Chunky doesn’t say much so most of the information given to the reader is delivered by secondary characters, like in Last Day in Vietnam. An aspect that I enjoy about Goodbye Chunky Rice, is that Chunky and Mouse are the only animals in the world of humans, the only independent animals, but the interesting thing is that the humans are awfully stylized. In comparison  the warped and distorted humans makes Chunky the turtle look more human in comparison. Another element I enjoyed personally as a reader was Chunky was searching for more in his life and takes a risk to possibly find what he’s been yearning for, which I respect because I feel like I’m also in a place in my life where I’m searching for something uncertain.

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