I have recently finished the Comic book Yummy and I was shocked by the ending. The young kid was scared that he had all these people looking for him and he didn't know were to go. His so called brothers Left him and he really felt alone. I understand his feeling because that's exactly what gangs do to a person. They never really care about a member unless he's doing his job and making money. sadly for Yummy he didn't do his job right and that why the gang got fed up with him and (spoiler alert) they killed him.
At the very end of the book i was reading the authors notes and he touched on how the violence in Chicago was taking the lives of many your souls that just lived in the wrong place. They lived in a neighborhood were you had to be tough and you had to be street smart or else you weren't going to make it. With gang persuading young kids no more that 13 years of age to go out a kill or sell drugs for them, saying that they will protect them that they would be there for them saying that they were a "family" was just telling those poor kids a huge lie to their faces.
Also at they end of the story the author asked was yummy a nice kid hiding under the mask if a hard tough gangster of was he really a gangster pretending to be nice to people when adults were around. To be honest you could argue both ways equally. For me I can't choose a side that I could argue best and defend. I can say one thing tho that Yummy's life will never be forgotten to those who really knew him and could really answer the authors question.
This shows like it would make for a really good tv series! I've never really been into comic books but I think I will start checking them out more. Yummy is a very interesting name for a kid, especially for a kid living in Chicago in a gang ridden neighborhood. Do you think the author had any other special motives behind naming the kid Yummy? Is there something that happens to the kid after he dies that makes him yummy? (I've been reading zombie books). Maybe the author purposely named him Yummy to give him more attention than he deserved.
ReplyDeleteIt would interesting to know if this comic book is stylized similarly to the Boondocks. I really enjoy watching episodes and little snippets of the show. Its very humorous and sometimes gets really real. If you don't already know about it, I would highly recommend you check it out, although it doesn't have as much violence as your comic seems to have.
The author's addition to the end by questioning the reader if Yummy was a nice kid or if he was faking it was really... strange. Its almost as if the author is only giving us two ultimatums, neither of which seems right. Having taken psychology, things of this matter are almost never black and white. There's always some other conflict within the person than what is shown, a lot of inferring needs to happen.
Regardless, this sounds like a really interesting comic, I may check it out sometimes!
Well that's terrible that Yummy's brothers left him. Especially when it seems like he needs help, since he's being hunted down by some group of people. Then to go off and kill Yummy is pretty sad. It makes sense that the author would explain his own experience with violence and give his reason for writing this graphic novel. It's through experience we create a basis for us to write upon. When you don't have any other option a gang does seem attractive and in the end you have to what you have to do. It's sad that this is what some people need to resort too and it's great that the author does pose the question of if Yummy is good or bad. Since everyone puts on their own little persona, we all have our secrets and try our best to hide less savory traits. It's because of course we want to fit into society. Everyone is looking for their place and sometimes their place isn't the best. But we constantly try to fit in since where else are we going to go? To be alone in this world without anyone is a terrible way to live life, so conforming with another crowd that may be bad may be your only option to escape this.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like this comic book had a great impact on you, Trinton. Without even reading it, the ending surprised me. What were your predictions before reading this story? How did they match up with the final outcome? Usually comic books are about heroism, but this one is thematically different. Like you mentioned in your second blog post that in the story, although told by a fictional character, the author used little fictional detail to make for a more dramatic story. I think that the author felt that it is important to understand that good people can still be victims. You mentioned that in the author’s notes he alludes to this very issue. Has this story changed your perspective on the violence that occurs in Chicago?
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned in your second blog post that you sympathize with Yummy’s character because he had a troubled home life. Did your feelings about Yummy change throughout the story? Roger is the narrator of the story, and merely knew Yummy as the school bully. Why do you think the author chose Roger’s perspective? What kind of impact did this have on the story?
I think that the author brought up a very good question. Especially when someone is going through as much as Yummy was, it is difficult to decipher one’s true personality. I agree with you that the only people who can truly answer that question are those who were close to him.
Overall, you did an excellent job analyzing this story. Who knew comic books could be so compact? You seem to have kept an open mind while reading, and that is a very important skill. It is easy to get caught up in one perspective, but you were able to see this story from both ends. Good job!