A Picture is Worth....

The first real graphic novel I ever read was Maus by Art Speigelman. For those who tell me that graphic novels are kids stuff, I point to these books. Maus handles the holocaust in ways that are hard to describe. Even though the characters are animals there is no mistaking what is going on. The images are disturbing and sometimes truly gut-wrenching. It would be a hard hearted person who read these and didn't swept up in the emotions of the story. And I still claim that this story needed to be told in this format. Somehow the visual portrayal of these actions are so much worse then they would be through words alone. They are powerful stories.

But starting with Maus was interesting because when people would tell me that graphic novels are just oversized comic books (which I've read my share of) I couldn't believe them. Comic books have their own purpose but the beauty of a graphic novel is the depth it can take people. And since that time I have sought out graphic novels that educate just as much as I have the ones that entertain. There is far more to graphic novels than superheros. (although those are fun too.)

A friend of mine recently lent me Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. This starkly black and white graphic novel tells the true story of a young girl growing up in a very turbulant Iran. She lives through a dictatorship, a quick democracy, and the Islamic Revolution, until she is finally forced to leave the country. The story is brutal in parts and sweet in others. This is story of childhood told from the safer viewpoint of adulthood. The author mixes tales of relatives going to prisons, families fleeing, and the constant fear of discovery (her parents are revolutionaries). There are silly parts in the book but it left a vivid impression of darkness for me. The book has recently been turned into a film. A powerful story.

But I promise you, not all my reading selection is that dark. As I have mentioned in the blog before, The Arrival is a wonderful story of immigration, told entirely through pictures. The setting is strange enough to not be an identified place, but the emotions are very real. We follow one man as he leaves his family to travel to a foreign land. The reader gets to try to figure out the new society along with the protagonist. Until eventually he is able to welcome his family to the country and show them how to navigate. This is a wonderful story with a much happier ending then either of the previous two. If nothing else check the book out for Shaun Tan's amazing illustrations.

And for sheer humor (but also education) I'm reading Larry Gonick's The Cartoon History of the Universe, parts 1-7. This light and often silly graphic story starts at the big bang and looks at human history from early fish life through the Ancient Greek civilization. There is a long section on the Egyptians that was just fascinating and the stories of early Canaan and Persia are wonderful. For the first time I was able to keep track of at least some of the ancient rulers. Gonick mixes just enough silliness with just enough facts to make for a very entertaining and informative read. Jeff had recommended the book and I have to say I've learned a ton about ancient history and laughed out loud a couple times in the process. There are more books following that bring history up to the modern time.

Adult Fables

It all started out with a fish in the middle of the street. I had been looking for images by Adam Rex and stumbled upon a picture of a fish swimming down the street over the head of a little girl. This picture:
The image caught me. I loved the darkness of it, the absurdity of it, and the sheer beauty of it. When I first saw it I thought that it was not really Adam Rex's style. And with good reason. This was a website dedicated to illustrators. And the artist was Shaun Tan. This particular image is from the book The Red Tree and is the story of depression. I checked it out from the library the very next day. The story is simple, one line per page and often with a dark depressed theme. It is the images that make this book. Each image has a bit of oddity, a bit of darkness, and a little ray of hope. The end is simply glorious. It is simply one of the most beautiful books I have ever seen illustrated. And I couldn't believe they had listed it as a children's book. This was far too deep for children to get.

Tan is an Australian author and illustrator who is quite simply one of the best artists out there. After The Red Tree I had to go find The Arrival. This amazing wordless graphic novel tells the story of a new immigrant to a strange land. It describes his journey over, the family he left behind, and the struggles of learning a new language and system. Without any words this book tells more deeply the immigrant experience than any other I have seen. Again this book was listed as a children's book. And again I wondered.

I was surprised to find that one of the Shaun's stories The Lost Thing is being made into a movie. Irene Gallo, who writes a blog for Tor, mentioned it in one of her posts. The video is a very good overview of Tan's work and a wonderful interview with an interesting artist. In it Shaun talks about how he doesn't really see himself as a children's author. And things finally made sense for me. Most of his books are simply far too deep for children. Like adults reading The Lorax, things in his books seem that much better when you are reading them with a little more insight. His pictures may be fantasy images but they are not really geared towards children. Shaun describes them as adult fables and I think that sums it up well.

I'm also rather impatient to get my hands on Shaun's newest book, Tales from Outer Suburbia. The book, which is already out in Canada and Australia (lucky!), is a series of small stories that show the absurdity and strangeness of city living. This image which is taken from the book is one of my favorites. I'll be first in line when it's released here in the states. As for any of his other work I would definately see about getting your hands on a copy. The artwork alone makes it worth it.