!
"#$%& ())"* +,
1hls essay uses Lhe followlng page from Lhe flrsL appearance of 8aLman, ln !"#"$#%&" ()*%$+ 27, whlch ls
reproduced here. ?ou do noL need Lo reproduce Lhe comlc page ln your essay.
8ob kane (arLlsL) and 8lll llnger (wrlLer), 1he Case of Lhe Chemlcal SyndlcaLe," !"#"$#%&" ()*%$+ #27,
May 1939, page 3.
1lm urake
Lssay AsslgnmenL #1
Comlc 8ooks and Craphlc novels
rof. kuskln
1hls page sLarLs wlLh Lwo crooks cllmblng up Lo Lhe roof. 1helr Lhey see 1PL 8A1MAn. Pe flghLs wlLh
Lhem, and l Lhlnk he Lhrows one of Lhem LoLally off Lhe rove. Pe geLs a plece of paper from Lhem LhaL l
Lhlnk ls a clew for laLer buL he has Lo run off Lhe roof when Lhe cops come. ln Lhe end, he drlves away,
and you can Lell lLs an early baLman comlc book because hls baLmoblle ls [usL a red car!
llrsL, you can see Lhe panels. 1he maln panel l wanL Lo Lalk abouL ls ln Ller Lhree, panel Lwo. 1hls ls a
good panel, because lL glves us a wlde shoL of Lhe enLlre house. lLs good, because Lhe panel before lL ls
a close up on 1PL 8A1MAn, buL Lhen we geL a wlde shoL. Commlsslonar Cordon (l Lhlnk) pulls up ln hls
green car and baLman [umps off Lhe roof. lL looks llke Commlssloner Cordon ls shooLlng aL 1PL
8A1MAn, and ca cop ls runnlng up from Lhe lower rlghL. 8aLman ls runnlng away. Pe ls Lhe bad guy, as
far as Lhey are concerned..
ln addlLlon Lhelr ls Lhe flghL scene. 1hls happens ln panels four, flve, and slx ln Lhe second Ller. lL's a
really good flghL scene because you can see LhaL baLman has no powers beyond belng LoLally flL and buff
guy. ln Lhe flrsL panel he socks Lhe guy ln Lhe green [ackeL. ln Lhe second panel he grabs Lhe guy ln a
headlock, and ln Lhe Lhlrd he fllps hlm around. lL says LhaL Lhe crlmlnal was burly" so Lhe guy was
heavy, and even Lhrough Lhe drawlngs aren'L really greaL, you can see LhaL baLman ls uslng Lhe
Lechnlque of leverage Lo geL hls body around and Lo fllp hlm over Lhe roof. lf you look back aL Lhe panel
l wroLe abouL ln Ller Lhree, you can see LhaL baLman has acLually fllpped Lhe guy off Lhe roof, probably
kllllng hlm. 1he guy ln Lhe green [ackeL ls knocked down on Lhe roof. lf you've ever seen a real flghL, you
can see LhaL lL's llke Lhls-all chaoLlc. AfLer looklng aL Lhe panels ln Ller Lwo, l changed my mlnd.
Crlglnally, l LhoughL Lhey weren'L well drawn, buL afLer l looked aL Lhem for a blL, l reallzed LhaL ln a way
Lhe super bulked up 8aLman of Loday ls unreallsLlc, and lf somebody who was ln shape and puL on a
cosLume LhaL he could move around ln, he mlghL look more llke Lhls 8aLman. Lean, LlghL and aglle. 1hls
baLman ls reallsLlc. Pe's noL a superhero, he's a half superhero, half normal person, and maybe even
half crlmlnal.
llnally, we geL Lo 8aLman's face. ln Lhe lasL Ller, mlddle panel you can see 8aLman behlnd Lhe wheel of
hls car. Pe's readlng Lhe clue and puLLlng Lhe crlme LogeLher. We don'L even know whaL Lhe clue ls, buL
we know by looklng aL hlm LhaL he's flgured lL all ouL. lL says 1PL 8A1-MAn" 8LAuS 1PL AL8 PL
SnA1CPLu l8CM 1PL klLLL8S Anu A C8lM SMlLL CCMLS 1C PlS LlS.". Look ln LhaL panel and you
can see hls smlle. lL ls a nasLy smlle. lL ls noL Lhe smlle of a normal do-gooder superhero. 1hls ls Lhe
smlle of someone who knows whaL evll ls and who ls ouL Lo Lrack lL down and beaL lL. Why? 8ecause
he's lnLo lL. we know LhaL 8aLman ls one Lhe good guys slde ln Lhe end, buL Lhe Lhlng ls, rlghL here ln
LhaL llLLle red car, he's on nobody's slde. Pe's on hls own slde.
l'm more a ueadpool fan, buL readlng Lhls page abouL 8aLman made me Lhlnk l could llke hlm more. ln
Plgh 8ollers Cld School rapper lCL-1 raps (and Lhls was before he was on Law and Crder), 8uL l'm noL
here Lo Lell ya rlghL or wrong l don'L know whlch slde of Lhe law you belong ?es, Lhe game has flash, buL
someLlmes hurLs 8ehlnd any mlsLake, hard Llmes lurks." ln Amerlca we are all Lrylng Lo geL ahead, buL
also Lo be heroes ln a way. Lven gangsLers Lhlnk Lhey are heroes ln a way, because llke lCL-1 says, Lhe
game has flash." ln Lhls comlc book, baLman has flash as lL was back ln Lhe day. And Lhe pollce cerLalnly
don'L know whlch slde of Lhe law he ls on. 1he law makes Lhe sldes LhaL we walk along. lf we choose
Lhe wrong slde, we have Lo suffer Lhe consequences. 8uL maybe Lhe besL way ls Lo walk along Lhe
mlddle, llke 8aLman on LhaL roof, Lrylng Lo do rlghL, wlLhouL dolng Loo much wrong ln Lhe process.
(-./0.1234
5676#8# 9&:869&#&7;< 1he essay has more Lhan one paragraph and dlscusses one of Lhe asslgned
comlc pages.
?es (30 polnLs)
no (0 polnLs)
27;9=>8?;6=7< 1he essay has a LlLle and Lhe lnLroducLlon paragraph has a Loplc and argumenL.
8 polnLs: 1he LlLle, Loplc, and argumenL are presenL and focus on a speclflc page beyond mere
ploL summary. 1he lnLroducLlon develops a clear relaLlonshlp wlLh Lhe reader LhaL bullds Lo Lhe
Lhesls sLaLemenL.
6 polnLs: 1he LlLle, Loplc, and argumenL are presenL and focus on a speclflc page beyond mere
ploL summary, buL do noL speak Lo Lhe reader or bulld Lo Lhe Lhesls sLaLemenL.
4 polnLs: 1he lnLroducLlon lacks one of Lhe Lhree elemenLs.
2 polnLs: 1he essay has an lnLroducLlon, buL does noL follow Lhe sLrucLure of LlLle, Loplc, and
argumenL.
0 polnLs: 1he essay does noL have an lnLroducLlon.
1@&)6) !;";&#&7; 67 ;@& 27;9=>8?;6=7< 1he lnLroducLlon ends wlLh a Lhesls sLaLemenL LhaL deflnes Lhe
enLlre essay and explalns why Lhe essay ls lmporLanL.
10 polnLs: 1he lnLroducLlon ends wlLh an orlglnal Lhesls sLaLemenL LhaL guldes Lhe enLlre essay,
announces Lhe paper's meanlng and explalns lL.
8 polnLs: 1he lnLroducLlon ends wlLh an orlglnal Lhesls sLaLemenL LhaL guldes Lhe enLlre essay,
announces Lhe paper's meanlng, buL doesn'L explaln lL.
6 polnLs: 1he lnLroducLlon ends wlLh a Lhesls sLaLemenL LhaL provldes a reasonable sense of Lhe
enLlre paper, buL lL ls noL sLaLed sufflclenLly clearly or ls confused wlLh Lhe lndlvldual deLalls of
Lhe argumenL.
4 polnLs: 1he lnLroducLlon ends wlLh a sLaLemenL LhaL relaLes Lo Lhe essay overall buL ls bland or
obvlous.
2 polnLs: 1he lnLroducLlon ends wlLh a general sLaLemenL LhaL only summarlzes Lhe page or ls
off-Loplc.
0 polnLs: 1he lnLroducLlon does noL end wlLh any sorL of flnal sLaLemenL.
.7"%*)6) A !*7;@&)6)< 1he essay addresses and lnLerpreLs Lhe plcLorlal and LexLual deLalls of Lhe page.
8 polnLs: 1he essay lnLerpreLs speclflc plcLorlal and LexLual deLalls from Lhe page ln an orlglnal
manner, lnLerpreLlng Lhem so as Lo go beyond Lhe sLory.
6 polnLs: 1he essay lnLerpreLs speclflc plcLorlal and LexLual deLalls from Lhe page and explalns
LhaL Lhey are lmporLanL, buL lL does noL lnLerpreL Lhem beyond Lhe sLory.
4 polnLs. 1he essay summarlzes plcLorlal and LexLual deLalls.
2 polnLs: 1he essay menLlons some plcLorlal or LexLual deLalls, buL mosLly focuses on characLers
or an ldea.
0 polnLs: 1he essay does noL dlscuss plcLorlal or LexLual deLalls.
B"9"C9"$@)< 1he essay uses clear paragraphs wlLh LranslLlons.
8 polnLs: 1he essay ls dlvlded lnLo more Lhan Lhree full paragraphs, each focused around a maln
polnL, ln a loglcal order of LranslLlon, and endlng concluslvely. 1he LranslLlons beLween
paragraphs are smooLh.
6 polnLs: 1he essay ls dlvlded lnLo more Lhan Lhree full paragraphs, each focused around a maln
polnL, ln a loglcal order of LranslLlon, buL some paragraphs lack concluslve endlngs or Lhe
LranslLlons beLween some paragraphs are noL smooLh.
4 polnLs: 1he essay ls dlvlded lnLo more Lhan Lhree full paragraphs, buL each paragraph ls only a
few senLences. 1he essay ls a llsL of shorL sLaLemenLs (llke lndlvldual bulleL polnLs) LhaL do noL
flow LogeLher.
2 polnLs: 1he essay ls dlvlded lnLo aL leasL Lhree paragraphs: an lnLroducLlon, a body, and a
concluslon, buL Lhe paragraphs are Loo blunL Lo connecL wlLh each oLher loglcally.
0 polnLs: 1he essay ls Loo shorL or blank.
D=7?%8)6=7< 1he essay has a concluslve endlng.
8 polnLs: 1he essay has a powerful concluslon LhaL summarlzes Lhe argumenL, resLaLes Lhe Lhesls
ln new words, and suggesLs Lhe lmpllcaLlons of Lhe argumenL for fuLure LhoughL.
6 polnLs: 1he essay has a concluslon LhaL summarlzes Lhe argumenL, resLaLes Lhe Lhesls ln new
words, buL doesn'L suggesL Lhe lmpllcaLlons of Lhe argumenL for fuLure LhoughL.
4 polnLs: 1he concluslon summarlzes Lhe argumenL, buL sLaLes Lhe Lhesls ln roughly Lhe same
words as Lhe lnLroducLlon.
2 polnLs: 1he essay has a flnal paragraph, buL Lhe relaLlonshlp Lo Lhe essay ls noL evldenL.
0 polnLs: 1he essay doesn'L have a concluslon.
D%"96;*< 1he essay conLalns readable prose.
8 polnLs: 1hls essay ls well wrlLLen. l could noL flnd slgnlflcanL errors.
6 polnLs: 1hls essay ls well wrlLLen. l found errors, buL noLhlng severe.
4 polnLs: 1hls essay ls readable. Some parLs of Lhe essay are rough, buL Lhe essay made sense.
2 polnLs: 1he essay ls messy and/or has mulLlple grammaLlcal problems, whlch make lL dlfflculL
Lo undersLand.
0 polnLs: 1he essay ls blank or ls Loo shorL Lo assess.
lease wrlLe a Lhree-senLence evaluaLlon of Lhe essay.
use one senLence Lo explaln Lhe essay's greaLesL sLrengLh.
1@& &))"* @") "7 67;&9&);67C 6>&" "E=8; %"F "7> =9>&9 ;@"; *=8 E967C =8; 67 *=89 ?=7?%8)6=7G
H=8 "%)= $"* ";;&7;6=7 ;= ;@& >&;"6%)G !=I *=8JK& C=; L8)M67 N8%&) +O A +,G
use one senLence Lo explaln Lhe essay's greaLesL weakness.
H=8 7&&> ;= F=9M =7 ;@& 67;9=>8?;6=7 )= ;@"; 6; P=%%=F) ;@& ;6;%&Q;=$6?Q"9C8#&7;Q;@&)6)
P=9#";G H=8 7&&> ;= $9==P9&"> *=89 F=9M "7> ;9* ;= E& " E6; #=9& ?"9&P8% R*=8 "?;8"%%* ?=87;
=8; ;@9&& @"%K&) ;= S";#"7TUG
use one senLence Lo suggesL an lmprovemenL.
L8)M67 )"6> ;9* 9&">67C 6; =8; %=8>G 1@& #=); 6#$=9;"7; ;@67C 6) ;@"; *=8 7&&> ;= 9&K6)& ;@&
67;9=>8?;6=7 )= 6; ;&%% 8) "E=8; F"%M67C E&;F&&7 %"F "7> =9>&9 96C@; P9=# ;@& );"9;< 6; ?=8%> E&
*=89 ;@&)6) );";&#&7;G
131./< VW RXU
