Comic Analysis

I will attempt to analyze page 94 in Citizen Rex.  It is when Sigi and Bloggo are at the mask ball at the Ritz.
First off it is a masked ball/party, so its suppose to add mystique to the individuals that are attending. The party is only for select people as well. Bloggo is there to get information on Citizen Rex and to watch his sisters dance.
The mask is an icon representing mystery.  As for what is "in" the gutter, it does not leave much room for interpretation as it is told in a moment to moment sequence.  In the background of the pictures the faces are abstract and nondescript, they are not really important to the scene playing out. The closure comes with the gutter, you can string it all together to make sense in your head/imagination.  The comic in it is when Bloggo asks if Sigi would like to dance with him, and she says yes but they cannot to the "hand jive" because of her new prosthetic hands, and she also does not shake his hand in the start of the scene because she has a 30-day break in period for her new hands as well. Through the interaction and facial expressions of Bloggo the reader can tell that he likes her, there is a nervousness in his face.  It is interesting that one of them wears a black mask and the other a white mask.  The only person in the sequence is Bloggo's dad and he is not wearing a mask. Even though Bloggo is wearing a mask you can see his facial expressions, his eyes and eyebrows, but with Sigi you can not see her eyes or eyebrows or any facial expression, her lips are the only determining way to figure out her expression. There are no descriptive words in this scene like, pow, crash, or clunk, no sound effect words.

Miss Clairol layered questions

1.  What kind of hair dye does Arlene use? Why is it that Arlene changes her hair color? Is Viramontes using hair dye as a symbol of the Mexican-American culture trying to assimilate or fit into the dominate culture?

2.Where does Arlene work? Why is it that Arlene has times to remember or times to forget? How is Viramontes using Arlene and her work place as a representation of what it was like for Mexican-American women in the United States?