Torchy Heartbeats and Patty-Jo

I was particularly intrigued by Torchy Heartbeats but the more I got into Torchy’s dramatic, man-obsessed partially text adventures, the more perplexed I became at its enjoyability. I have to remind myself to keep in mind the way this comic was originally circulated; through weekly doses, spread apart by days before the next issue came out. The closure in reality is enough to keep readers entertained each week; there is enough reader engagement between the gutters to have the readers guessing what may happen next. It seems necessary to instead examine each panel as a separate “issue” and paying specific attention to the closure, planning of panels, use of dialogue or placement of captions. Like Patty-Jo, each delicate background element and use of perspective has significant influence.

Some panels I found interesting was the use of cliffhangers, dynamic panels that leave the reader hanging at the end of an ‘issue’. The detailed background art is impressive. Her perspectives, close ups on faces and ways of presenting dialogue is creative. One element I found a bit frustrating was the amount of closure within the dialogue boxes. Whole events would be announced not visually, but through a caption box. Some panels contain walls of text with just recap.  

Reading this through a contemporary lens has me struggling to determine what this comic and this main character are attempting to accomplish. Literally, who is Torchy? To me, she seems to be an unchanging, obsessive, passive character, attempting to be on her own in sometimes obviously dangerous environments. The transitions in the plot are quick and her conflicts are identical, differing only in the male counterparts she becomes intensely involved with. Torchy is highly motivated by her love interests and she moves from one lover to another without remorse or worry about previous love interests. The story reads like a giant soap opera. Although this gets the plot moving, I am not as captured in the action as I was in previously read comics due to the intense focus on love interests.

In terms of Patty-Jo, it was very surreal, but interesting read to go from long-term comics down to serial one pagers. Since there are no closures in these one-panel works, elements of the pictorial sequence are instead place in the comic, such as objects in the background, stamps, props or the clothing herself. I again appreciate the intense detail put into the art and additional interactive sections with the clothing. I especially enjoyed her attention to detail when drawing fashion. Her comic was very up to date and she took time to havePatty-Jo engaging readers with political or social issues.

I also particularly enjoyed the amount of voice, opinion and stance Ormes was able to emulate through her characters. Sometimes, Patty-Jo felt like a PSA or advertisement, a creative image designed to get its readers to do something outside of the comic realm. Much of the topics in the comic translated into real life, something that was not as strongly emphasized in previous, more censored comics.