[Julien]

I think going back to the black and white and color debate that color is for me live and vividness of life because in so many of the comics it is explosive.With black and white the storyline and emotions it evokes move the story on as much as the art. In a way comics are like the movie The Wizard of Oz in Kansas you are dealing with the people and in Oz you are dealing with emotional quandries made real on an exorbirant scale. What else is a superhero fight but an outward showing on emotional conflicts.[/QUOTE]

I like your reading of a classic film. The use of b/w and then color does show the "dreamlike" quality of Dorothy's nightmare. In that I mean the explosion of the color spectrum enhances her feelings and her own understanding for each of the people in her life. The life in b/w with the dustbowl atmosphere. Dusty and use of shadows and light also show emotions such as desire and fear. I believe that the emotions are apparent in the b/w sequences, but they are not "colored" by the turmoil of the storms on her horizon, if you let me combine the elements of her situation. The color representation in film such as this expands our understanding of the b/w sequence and also gets inside Dorothy's head and how she feels about the people around her.

Why do you think that graphic novels or comic books are popular for all ages? It is curious that a fantasy such as The Wizard of Oz continues to be shown in primetime for those young and old to discover or rediscover. I think that comic books or graphic novels offer us some of the same core values that is ours to explore.