Citizen Rex

The multiple-panel sequence I chose for scrutiny in Citizen Rex was page 106. This page features very little dialogue, but utilizes pictures to convey a meaningful moment of the story as many comic artists do. By McCloud's definition the panels here follow an aspect-to-aspect form of transition. The second, third, and fourth panels have no dialogue, and the images create a sense of time standing still as the protagonist has a revelation of his past. This creates a mood of deep emotion and thought, and as McCloud says in his third chapter, "Rather than acting as a bridge between two moments, the reader here must assemble a single moment using scattered fragments."
At the bottom of the page, the protagonist finally remembers what had been plaguing him for throughout the story. The presentation of this moment is very unique and noticeable. The character is standing outside of the panels in the utter nothingness of "the gutter." rather than the thin strip the gutter usually is, the author puts the character out in the middle of an ocean of this white expanse. He is distanced from everything else, and from the comic itself. The character's realization is so intense that he has had a sort of "out-of-body experience." The gutter typically represents nothingness; a blankness that the reader must fill with his or her own ideas that can act as a transition or form of fragmentation. By placing the character in this area, it shows his disconnect and how he is lost in thought, thereby losing all sense of his surroundings.

A I have two questions regarding the comic,
1. What is the significance of the Block in the story? I realize it plays a role as the start and end of the comic, and ultimately leads to the climax, however I would like to discuss its purposes. The car crash on the side and the large "Why?" are very apparent, and there are multiple meanings behind it.
I would like to know the thoughts of the class on the Block.

2. Throughout this comic, the color scheme is clearly black and white, however there are moments where the author utilizes shades of color to add depth.  In many cases though, there is the use of only one shadeless color. This often allows the characters to melt into the environment, or vice versa. When a character wearing stark black is near a stark black object, they blend together. Was this an intentional strategy of the author? If so, why?

Some questions about Miss Clairol...

1.Why is Champ's mother Arlene getting dressed up? Why is the fact that Arlene is getting so dressed up significant to Champ? The close bond between Champ and Arlene is very prominent in this story. What points does the author raise about the mother-daughter relationships of the Chicano/a people and how the minority mindset of this culture is perpetuated through this dynamic?  

2.Why did Champ and her mother go to the store? What does Champ's mother hope to accomplish by getting dressed up? The author makes a point that Champ's mother feels the need to put on an "Americanized" visage by dressing up and dyeing her hair to impress her date. What does this say about the sociocultural dynamic of the Chicano/a culture?