RUDOLPH WILLIAMS

Freshman at Bergen Community College

Leadman
2022
Pencil, Ink Pen, Screentones, Digital Editing.
Digital Management by Nicholas Tyler Brathwaite

Rudy’s Leadman offers a unique perspective on the use of violence in manga, anime, and comic books, which are now ingrained in global popular culture. As we may recognize or experience, violence in media is often used as a stylistic tool designed for audiences to rave in the excitement of action. However, violence in the real world has largely damaging effects.

Leadman follows the story of a mute man made of lead, who is often met with hostility by humanity in his attempts to assimilate. In the following scene, Leadman walks into a grocery store to purchase bread with a ski mask on, which is meant to hide his physical differences from people. However, not knowing the pretenses behind this, he is mistaken for a robber. He is quickly met with an ensuing conflict with the market workers, who quickly resort to violence based on their misunderstandings. However, what characters in the comic don’t see coming is that Leadman unwillingly omits fragments of lead when his body is harmed, poisoning the air around him. The idea behind this brief interaction is to gain insight into how quickly resorting to violence can have devastating repercussions and can further isolate
people who are considered different.