Contemporary Literature

     I read "The Bus" by Paul Kirchner, and "Asterios Polyp" by David Mazzucchelli.

     The storyline of The Bus is about a guy and all he experiences he has waiting on the bus and riding on the bus. He must have a good imagination to dream up the possibilities drawn in the comic. For example, he imagines one passenger turns into a plant that grows all inside the bus, and another time he uses chalk to draw the bus stop. I always thought literature is like a book, but this comic is considered literature and there are no words. He tells a story by drawing pictures. The stories had some humor and some sad parts because he feel like his whole life is spent on the bus.

     "Asterios Polyp" by David Mazzucchelli is another contemporary literature comic, but this one is more serious because it is about a man's life and career. I like The Bus better because the main character is not so dramatic. I also liked the drawing style of the simple sketches of the bus better. The main character in Asterios Polyp is drawn in a way that makes him look kind of snobby and the character is a snob. The time line in the story is weird and hard to follow because it starts with the fire and flashes back and forward in time.

     Both of these comics tell a story, but I do not see the difference in these stories and other comic I have read. Why are these called literature?