TOW #3 - Starting Out With Nothing (visual text)

The image pictured is a cartoon created by Jeff Parker and is a commentary on the ridiculous amount of school loans people are weighed down by even years after they have been out of college. Jeff Parker is an established writer and comic book artist. His works have been included in several well established comic books including many of the Marvel comics. This image by him depicts a middle aged man carrying a huge load on his back and coming home to live with his parents. His father comments something on the lines of kids these days are so lazy and can't even get their lives together whereas I (the father) had to start from nothing. The son replies in a way that says he wishes he had started with nothing. This is a humorous depiction of a real life occurrence. With the extensive cost of college tuition these days it isn't uncommon for a former student to be paying off their loans for several decades after they graduate. The reason that this visual text is effective is because of the fact that it accurately depicts modern American society. Many post college citizens do struggle with money after they have graduated and not everyone is fortunate enough to get a job straight out of college so things such as what is depicted in this comic, do really happen. The image is directed at those who suffer from this overload of loans and is done so humorously to bring light to a rather negative topic. Visual texts often have a harder time of conveying their messages because the creator cannot always be certain how the message of their image will be received. But the author uses humor so that a viewer can look at the image and think "hey, that's funny because its true and actually relates to me". To add to this humor Parker also uses hyperbole. Of course not all post college students end up back at home drowning in debts, but creating this image as a humorous exaggeration of the topic, brings it to light that college debts can be overbearing and a huge issue. The exaggeration helps the author get his point across that this is unfortunately true and that we don't all have the fortune of millions of dollars to give back to the bank for our loans.

http://debrasanborn.com/2012/01/16/starting-out-with-nothing/