The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Thursday, January 19, 2012 - 3B

A new era of
alternative eats

Diving into comic books

W hen we think of
things that are
trending, our brains
bounce to TOMS, "Words With
Friends" and maybe even Ricky
Gervais, but
we bypass
society's
constantly
altering pre-
occupation
with special
foods (quinoa
and coconut JULIA
oil come to SMITH-
mind). @hip- EppSTEINERE
stermermaid
tweeted it
just right, further pinning him-
self down as a comedic and self-
loathing liberal: "I accidentally
ate some quinoa while listening
to NPR and now I drive a Prius."
The point here is not to make
fun of people who make quinoa
instead of rice and use soy bever-
ages instead of milk - I cooked
a quinoa dinner just the other
night. I was pretty damn proud
and delighted with the product,
and I no longer consume dairy
without a lactate pill. The idea
is to simply call attention to the
food quirks of today.
Lactose intolerance, gluten
intolerance, veganism, vegetari-
anism and pescetarianism: five-
too-many reasons to stay away
from a delicious cheeseburger,
bun included? And for what
reason? Well, I'm learningthat,
actually, there are many valid
and convincing reasons to stay
away from that mouth-watering
item (not that I have totally got-
ten to that place yet).
Let's begin with the cheese
"topping" that seems truly
essential while devouring. Sad
news: Humans would likely
benefit from ceasing to consume
dairy after the breastfeeding
period, as 75-percent of the
world's population is estimated
to be lactose-deficient. Accord-
ing to Medline Plus, approxi-
mately 30 million Americans
have some variant amount of
lactose intolerance by age 20.
It's possible to not realize that
you're a malabsorber of lactose
until later in life. As a malab-
sorber, you can train your body
to be tolerant of dairy, so that
while you may not be having the
typical gassy symptoms, you also
won't be absorbing the nutrients
that are positively connected to
dairy products. It's when you
decrease your intake of dairy
and then go back to it that you
may realize you're an intolerant
malabsorber who should start
purchasing non-dairy cream
cheese and taking Lactaid Fast
Act pills with irresistible items
like Annie's Mac & Cheese.
Next is the meat of the meal,
the meat. Our bodies don't need
the protein from meat nearly
as much as Americans think.
There's an expansive list of
reasons for not eating meat,
including global citizenship that
encompasses environmental
friendliness, the idea that ani-
mals are equal to humans and a

strong distaste for the cruel and
unnatural conduct of the food
industry.
My sister's explanation was
simple, but keeps her away from
all meats that are neither free-
range nor fish: "I will eat organ-
ic, free-range white meat that
doesn't have antibiotics or hor-
mones. I've learned about what
the food industry is like and how
the animals are raised and kept,
and it grosses me out that I con-
sume that. It's really just that I'll
eat clean, healthy meat, but it's
not that readily available in my
(college) life."
A phrase that would be typi-
cal among vegetarians who are
comfortable with bending the
rules a bit is something like,
"Don't worry, the animal only
had one bad day," meaning it was
a healthy animal that avoided
abuse. That might do the trick
for some, but for others, the con-
sumption of the animal in this
scenario is just as offensive and
unjust as the meat of the food
industry at large.
That tofurkey
isn't as
pretentious as
you may think.
We all know one thing more
about life in the context of food
- girls (and guys) just want to
have (a peek at) bun(s) - except
for those with gluten intoler-
ance. I know some people that
discovered it through hereditary
concerns, and others via think-
ing it was IBS, and then pro-
ceeded to keep a food diary and
edit foods out of their diet until
discovering what made them feel
well. I've even read that there
are a number of celebrities who
have removed gluten from their
diet to get skinny and healthy.
Stars as loved as Zooey Descha-
nel and Victoria Beckham (Posh,
if you prefer) have converted to
the gluten-free way, with most
of them describing it as invigo-
rating and a nudge toward that
unrealistic size zero.
People making trendy food
choices derived from physiologi-
cal intolerances or disagree-
ments with the healthiness of
certain edible items are easy to
poke fun at for eating "hipster"
meals - tempeh burger and rice
milk, possibly - but it's not an
uprising of non-dairy, non-glu-
ten and vegetarian foods without
reason. I'm unsure if I'll ever
say a hard-and-fast goodbye to
an In-N-Out omnivore lifestyle,
but I'm in mighty full support
of others' adherence to dietary
restrictions. Trendy owners of
happier-than-average intestines
and bodies, rejoice!
Smith-Eppsteiner is combing
the aisles of Whole Foods. To dine
with her, e-mail julialix@umich.edu

Peeling back the
many layers of
graphic narratives
By SEAN CZARNECKI
Daily Arts Writer
Most students have at least
skimmed one of Shakespeare's
plays. Of those who have read his
work, some can probably recite a
couple of his legendary lines. But
there's a much greater chance
they know the following main-
stream proverb: "With great
power comes great responsibil-
ity." As Curtis Sullivan, owner
of local comic book store Vault
of Midnight, said, "Everybody's a
geek in some way, and they don't
even know."
Sullivan and others recognize
that comic books have tradition-
ally been seen as a less high-brow
form of art. But critical views of
this medium have changed over
the years. Take "Watchmen" for
example. In 2005, Time magazine
included Alan Moore's magnum
opus on its list of the 100 Best Nov-
els since 1923, when the magazine
was first published. Or what about
the numerous film adaptions of
"Spider-Man" and "Iron Man"?
Comic books have indeed become
a powerful and even ubiquitous
force in the media.
However, the debate contin-
ues concerning their place in
academics and culture. Sullivan
argues that comic books are for
everybody.
"I'm constantly amazed," he
said, discussing the demograph-
ics of his store's fan base. "We
have neurosurgeons who have
been buying comics from us

for 10 years, college professors,
school librarians - it's just all
over the map."
"And I think ... geek culture is
almost mainstream," he added.
"Pretty soon there won't be a
geek culture."
But can a "graphic novel" be
considered a book? To attempt to
settle this question, Eric Rabkin,
a longtime professor who teaches
a course on graphic narrative at
the University, shed some light
on a genre that he has defended
and loved for many years.
"I think that 'Watchmen' is a
different kind - and that's what
the word genre means - a differ-
ent kind of work than a text-only
novel," Rabkin said.
"When people say that
('Watchmen') shouldn't be con-
sidered one of the 100 best books
of the year, or of all time, what
they're really saying is, 'It's not
a book,'" Rabkin said. "The fight
there is about whether or not
a given work can be a part of a
given genre."
Comic books provide a differ-
ent experience from the standard
novel, but their ability to tell a
story shouldn't be considered less
worthy than that of the novel.
Rabkin believes that language is
not what we read in words and
letters, that those are merely a
representation of language. In
his view, language exists in our
social relations, in the things we
do every day with each other.
Therefore, Rabkin thinks it
would be incorrect to think of a
comic book as a book with pic-
tures. That would imply that the
narrative could survive without
its graphic aspect, its language.
But the narrative of comic books
is entirely reliant on their visual

nature, he said. As opposed to
illustrations, which are unnec-
essary to the storytelling, comic
book visuals actually form the
narrative.
"If (the pictures) were missing,
you wouldn't have a story. When
that's the case, this is what you
call visuals," Rabkin said.
Rabkin's students learn that
distinction in his English 418
"Graphic Narrative" class.
"I think that you need to learn
the language of comics," Rabkin
said. "I want my students to be
able to write essay(s) that exploit
the possibilities of having visual
information in the overall argu-
ment that they'd developed."
His students use visuals as an
integral part of their creative sto-
rytelling and their essays as well.
If you can tell it, he thinks that you
might as well show it, too.
Sullivan, too, believes in the
importance of graphic narrative.
He sees potential in the combina-
tion of words and visuals, which
allow the storyteller to do things
that otherwise might be impos-
sible.
"It's not pictures plus words,"
Sullivan said. "It's a new thing.
It's one plus one is three."
But there are those who dis-
agree. Though she doesn't claim
to be an expert in comic books,
LSA sophomore Janet Hu, the
vice presidentofthe Undergradu-
ate English Association, believes
that visuals should not be used in
academic essays.
"I don't necessarily think that
comic book graphics are neces-
sary in a text," she said. "I think
they can help aid, but sometimes,
when it comes to literature, I
think the words should evoke an
image."

Again, the issue of genre arose.
That's not to say Hu thinks com-
ics are unworthy of respect; she
just believes visuals would only
be appropriate for academic
writing in classes like Rabkin's
graphic narrative course. But like
Rabkin and Sullivan, she asserts
that the popularity of comic
books in mainstream culture is
undeniable, and that it's certainly
a worthy medium.
There are numerous inde-
pendent comic books stocked at
Vault of Midnight that originate
in the Ann Arbor area. Sullivan
claimed these independent series
sell often, and he noted that one
locally produced comic in par-
ticular called "Nate the Noncon-
formist," is one of his favorites.
"The artistic community is
generally going full-tilt," Sullivan
said. "We sell five to 10 different
books that are all locally written
or drawn."
Inside Sullivan's store is a tow-
ering collection of comic books,
games and toys: a testament to
the owner's passion for "geek"
culture. And, of course, everyone
is welcome to have a taste.
To some people like Rabkin,
comic books have certainly pen-
etrated our culture and have even
gained prestige in academic cir-
cles. To others like Hu, its place
in culture and academics is less
clear. In a few more years, who
knows where comic books will
be?
"Anybody who's not paying
attention is really going to miss
the boat," Sullivan said. "They'll
be like those people who said
the Internet will never catch on.
Don't fall asleep on a medium
that's been kicking ass for 100
years in America."

'THE WEST WING' (1999), NBC
Puttg est upto the test

Like in the salons of 17th
and 18th century France,
this weekly installment
will feature two Daily Arts
writers discussing the finer
points of arts mediums
from at least 10 years ago.
"The West Wing" is one of the
greatest television shows ever
made, and for my money, it's
probably the single most enter-
taining. When it clicked, it could
do absolutely everything that was
within a TV show's power to do.
Aaron Sorkin writes the hell out
of the dialogue. There are about
eight or nine characters with as
much depth as any other series
lead. The plot makes tax codes
and trade disputes riveting and
the comic interludes are per-
fectly placed. The show wears its
lefty politics on its sleeve, but it's
also pretty good about not being
preachy.
"The West Wing" is also often
a problematic show, no matter
your politics. One thing com-
mon to all of Sorkin's TV work
("Sports Night" being the chief
other example) is that the epi-
sodic structure is often too neat,
so well put together that you
can paradoxically see the seams.

The show will throw three plots
at you, and at some point about
halfway through the episode the
thematic connection becomes
apparent. However subtle it is, it's
never quite subtext. The show
never hits you over the head. "It's
too well put together!" is kind of a
silly quibble, but a television show
reminding you how well it is writ-
ten is, tacitly, also reminding you
that it was, after all, written. And
being reminded once every three
episodes or so that, indeed, you
are watching a television show, is

a little jarring.
It's easy to make fun of every
great work of art, and Sorkin's
style lends itself to mockery par-
ticularly well. It's not really a
problem in the vast majority of
episodes, but "The West Wing's"
distinct visual and dialogic style
makes it obvious when the epi-
sode doesn't have much to say. I
can only think of five or six epi-
sodes during Sorkin's entire ten-
ure that came off as formulaic, but
all the walk-and-talks, the simple
conversations that have about five

minutes' worth of quips and SAT
words flying around the corridors
of power make up a hyperstylistic
tone that makes those episodes
so much more grating. I realize
the criticism really boils down
to "there were like five episodes
that were only pretty good," but
I have high expectations for the
best network show of the decade.
Unfortunately, it's impossible
to talk about "The West Wing"
without at least addressing the
Sorkin-less seasons. Season five
See WEST WING, Page 4B

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