This is from Shortpacked, a comic about a toy store. The brown haired girl is Amber, and her father just appeared. The boy with the black hair is Ethan, and they are old friends. The girl with the black hair, her name is Robin. She has a pretty crazy past and misses the drama,and so she kinda accidentally reestablished the drama levels within that universe thanks to some badass powers which are activated by too much sugar....and you know what?
......
And yeah, Amber's father just showed up. You can read these pages on your own.
......andddd now 'imma skip a few pages with just robin.....
guess what folks? just friends. anyways, lets fast forward to the last part of this story arch
And that's the first time Amber's dad shows up. The next arch imma show yall is all flashbacks, giving some explanation into the situation here.
......................
Great. So that is all from one comic. Now, the author also writes another comic called "dumbing of age" where the same characters are used, only this time the setting is in an Alternate Universe, competently separate from this story-line, but it has a lot of the same elements. For example, in "shortpacked" ethan and amber become friends in collage (in the past- and ethan later on in the comic realizes that he likes guys.
Meanwhile in "dumbing of age" Ethan and Amber have been friends since highschool, and they go to prom together. And, well. Ethan learns he is gay on prom night. Whoops.
Either way, Amber and Ethan are still the best of friends, and in both universes/comics, Amber's dad is a total douche canoe. Only in Shortpacked, Amber's dad doesn't come round anymore, now that Amber is a grown adult.
In Dumbing of Age, all the characters are in collage. Amber and Ethan are already friends, and Amber's dad is still an asshole.... and shows up unexpectedly. But thanks to a painful series of events, things dont go quite as well as they did in the shortpacked universe, where Ambers most recent run in ended with talking about growing up while sharing coffee.
Overall, both comics give great insight into how a psychologically abusive family member can effect someone's life. In shortpacked, Amber has a handful of insecurities, troubles and such- which are common for people who were psychologically abused as children. This is also the case for Amber in the dumbing of age universe, but since ethan in that universe can't really be there for her (he is working through his own problems) and she has had very little support or help in any way, she works out her feelings- the stuff that's "left over" at the end of the day- by having a superhero complex. Now, this is not so much a superiority and protective complex, as it is a form of regression (in her case) that creates a superiority complex. Think of someone who is frustrated, who, instead of crying, gets angry. Take this person and give them a healthy outlet, like having them punch a punching bag instead of yelling. This is a similar concept. Pent up feelings are redirected in a manner that best fits this character- however, this is never a good thing. Amber's alter ego is proof of her mental instability. She needs help.
But back to the topic on hand. Amber's father shows up in Dumbing of Age. As seen here- please note the interaction between Amber and her father, and how it parallels the behavior seen in the flashbacks from shortpacked. These are key examples of psychological abuse from a parental figure.
in the first panel, you see ambers obvious discomfort, which she tries to hide with kindness, out of a mix of fear,and respect. Yet this is ignored when her father then establishes himself as a figure of control and power. Lets ignore faz, he is a psychological analysis all on his own.
Here we see elements of shame, and established fear, dissaproval, ect. Amber finds the courage to defend herself, thanks to her anger, which is portrayed with a speech bubble with inverted colors and a harsh red background. This is met with further bitterness and dissaproval. Note the background, which shows the setting in the first two, as though you are only a few steps away from this interaction. The third panel has Amber's anger with a dark red, which we will see again in the second to last panel of the next strip. These first few panels are a bit busier and darker, so the fourth one is "lighter" and not confined to a box.
This is amber showing control, challenging her fathers power over her. Yet his reaction is one part assertive and two parts verbally aggressive. Key points here include Amber's second rebuttal, where she tells her father that she will take back control by force. This intimidation is met by another one upmanship of power, where, if amber had mumbled and repeated her first statement, or did not stress that she will take back control by force, her father would likley have responded in a way that was more indirect and bitter, and less straightforward and agressive. For example, his voice might have been lowered to an intimidating and low whisper, or a bold statement with a scowl of dissaproval. But because this is a comic, this flows in a fashion based on action, not dissaproval. Instead Amber's father is quick to hit all of Amber's weak points- saying she isn't strong, that her mother is weak. Note the amount that he swears, and how every other phrase has a word that is emphasized, stressed. This would be a more "harsh" tone.
The first panel is "busy, and the next cramped. Unlike the last strip, there are no lighter panels to even out or balance this one. The eye is immediately drawn to the middle or end of the strip, due to the coloring and layout (which is nearly identical to the last strip) The scene progressively darkens as the tension grows, and is changed as the dark red hue of Amber's anger changes to a more saturated and intense color, which fills thewhole background, which makes it hard to look away.
As well, please note the last two panels. We have a close up of Amber's facial expression, to see her immediate reaction- it creates suspense and a mood where there is more tension. There are sharp shadows, and a dark background. In manga or anime, there is usually a sound effect added here, because the character just "snapped" so there would be a "click" or "break"
Also, the background in the last panel is a harsh red color, like , and the character's expression and action is surrounded by action or movement lines. In most visual media, sudden intense reactions such as these are accompied by what i would liketo call "super close ups" If you have ever watched a battle scene in anime, or an action movie, or soap opera,you probably know what i'm talking about. For those who don't get this reference, here's an example from a manga my little sister is reading.
 |
| skip beat, volume one. the main character is betrayed and flips the fuck out. drama ensues. |
Please note the coloring here. Unlike the last two panels, the background is a bit lighter. We have spit panels of other characters reactions, and Amber's longer lines, unlike her father's, is put in a panel with a light and simplistic background, not a busy or harsh one, like in the fourth panel, with a red background, or the fifth panel, where her father's line is surrounded by a lighter background with lots of detail. This makes Amber's father's words seem more imposing.
Let's talk about this, Amber is running. running. I'm sorry, but how many of you have to run from your parents because they are fueled with anger and energy, like in the second panel? I like the third panel, because I like to imagine that Amber is saying this with a scared voice, giving more reason for her dad to be cornered,evenwhenhegives "reason"
Now this is just yelling, desperation. Anger, and violence, giving the true nature of ambers father.
The girl with the red hair is Ruth, she is in charge of the dorm there, but is trying to overcome an alchol problem, and her withdrawl caused her to feel nausous and lightheaded after flipping ambers dad.
i love ruth. shes badass. also, shes got the red hair green eyes pale n freckeld thing goin on. i like that. her hair is a bit too canadiant though.
This is overwhelm, regret,and shame.you can see a hint of a twisted smile at the last panel, we see some of ambers pure anger, unrestricted. it scares her. and shes starting to cry.
Here you see some really heavy and strong flashbacks. A moment of fear in a convenience store, a moment of regret on prom night, and a moment of twisted anger- left over and pent up emotions that amber has repressed, and she starts to get frustrated as her mind starts to gain a tunnel vision moment, set on negative emotions and feelings that she cant deal with normally. This might be a panic attack, actually. Most of the strip has a red, overwelming background. As she panics, Amber tries to repress these feelings again and gain control. -to a certain extent,she does. She uses the only method of control she seems to have- a mix of a superhero complex, and repression. This is a coping mechanism, though a very, very unhealthy one, which we will see, results in reckless behaviour, where she redirects emotions and energy instead of dealing with them and working through them.
with her alter ego, and repressed feelings, amber isn't hiding or in a state of submission-instead, she has control, but now she is running from her problems. you see that jump, that slide? yeah, amber's alter ego, amazi-girl, she pulls this shit all the time,
this is amoment of "oh, shit" and running from her problems. have i mentioned that this boy here is one of ambers friends? she likes him, and he's dating her alter ego "amazi-girl" So shes here to hide from her dad, and act as a pretend amazigirl even though that is her? yeah the boy knows nothing about amber n her issues.
Shes scared, shes faking, but shes gonna try her best.
Next is the boy, danny, and his family, and amaz-er, i mean amber, all going out to pizza. skip.
Yeah, amber=amazi-girl. danny boy is DENSE. anyways.
Amber just had to use her alter ego to slide down a few flights of stairs, just to burn off some steam. And she's trying to confide in someone about this, and admits to why she has her alter ego. But Danny doesn't get it. How could he? And she walks away in defeat.
A few days later in the same universe, Amber has a series of tramatic flashbacks after learning that her best friend, ethan, is dating a christian girl (even though he's gay) just to feel normal. keep in mind that amber and ethan did it after prom, and she was rejected. now, seeing this, she freaked out, and even flipped a table. Not because shes crazy- but because itwas like being punched in the face, and she has anger management issues.
are you noticing a pattern yet? shes running away again. panicing again.
Only this time, when she starts to panic again. Its the same thing, in a different setting. the uncontroledanger, a convience store- and as shesrunning, she sees danny, the boy who rejectedher, who by the way, thinks that black haired girl is amazi-girl.
that last panel?shock.
this parallels to the flashback in the next strip
Worst thing that could happen? It just happened, Amber was rejected, twice, her past came back to haunt her, twice, and she lost her temper twice.
And nowshe's trying to cope. Trying to redirect.
And now she's gonna be amazi-girl for a bit.
