Reviews: graphic novels
David Brin & Scott Hampton, The Life Eaters: Brin turned his story “Captain America Meets Thor” into a graphic novel. What if the Nazis had really raised the Norse gods and enlisted them in World War II? Brin starts with this premise - which makes things go very badly for the Allies indeed - and continues with the idea that, in self-defense, other cultures would have raised their old gods through similar horrific sacrifices. The outcome is a plea for rationalism (and maybe monotheism: in this strange new world, Jews and Muslims unite in a last-ditch defense of human free will). The art is dark, blurry, and disturbing, as befits the subject matter. Brin’s question is a fascinating one - can a foundational myth be defeated by reason rather than a competing myth? - even if his answer isn’t completely satisfying.
George R.R. Martin, The Hedge Knight: This novella was also turned into a graphic novel. It’s advertised as a prequel to A Song of Ice and Fire, but it’s nothing all that helpful to understanding the series; it’s really just a story set in the same fantasy world. If you like heraldry, it might be neat to see all the different shields as a self-proclaimed hedge knight tries to win some recognition at a joust, but accidentally gets caught up in greater political maneuverings and suffers for it. But if you’re not into heraldry, you could read the novella (it’s in Legends, I believe) and probably get a better Martin fix. The story features a pretty gypsy girl and a noble lord; narrative codes tell us how their trajectories interact with our poor but ethical hero’s, but Martin doesn’t let us off that easily.
Colleen Doran, A Distant Soil: Coda: This is the series that defines “cracktastic” for me. Aliens with beautiful floor-length hair and violet eyes! Orphans, Liana and Jason, with special psychic powers, going from one group of exploiters to another! Dozens of men (and a few women, not that you could tell the difference except for the breasts since they’re all drawn as exceedingly lovely) surrounding our pubescent heroine and fighting for her safety and honor! One of them is Galahad, ripped from his own universe of Avalon just to help Liana! I can’t get enough of it. Which is fair enough, since I’ve been waiting for the series to lurch closer to completion since the 80s. Supposedly the story will conclude in the next volume, whenever that appears. For now, I’ll have to be content with more Grand Guignol: In the wake of the failed attempt on the Avatar’s life, Liana is ensconced as the new Avatar, controlled by threats to a comatose Jason and to Seren, the ex-Avatar and former rebel leader. Seren’s lover/servant, from a race enslaved by the Hierarchy, takes up the mantle of rebel leadership, and does a better job of it than Seren. Our random Earthly crew, recruited for reasons that still make no sense, help prepare for another assault - but the Hierarchy is waiting, and willing to impose any cruelty to survive. If you don’t expect it to make sense, it’s quite enjoyable. And pretty.
Craig Thompson, Blankets: The graphic novel format still feels fresh enough to me that I can enjoy non-genre (or, I suppose in the case of comics, non-mainstream) works like this one, the gently painful story of a boy growing up in the cold midwest. He moves from conflicts with his brother -- funny in description but quite serious to them -- to first love with a girl from hundreds of miles away. At the same time, he’s struggling with his passionate faith in God and his commitment to his art, unsure about the role either should play in his life - but much more certain about God than art. The art contributes to this thoughtful coming-of-age narrative by turning landscape into metaphor and vice versa, swirls and dots of ink that resolve into snow or into dreams.
George R.R. Martin, The Hedge Knight: This novella was also turned into a graphic novel. It’s advertised as a prequel to A Song of Ice and Fire, but it’s nothing all that helpful to understanding the series; it’s really just a story set in the same fantasy world. If you like heraldry, it might be neat to see all the different shields as a self-proclaimed hedge knight tries to win some recognition at a joust, but accidentally gets caught up in greater political maneuverings and suffers for it. But if you’re not into heraldry, you could read the novella (it’s in Legends, I believe) and probably get a better Martin fix. The story features a pretty gypsy girl and a noble lord; narrative codes tell us how their trajectories interact with our poor but ethical hero’s, but Martin doesn’t let us off that easily.
Colleen Doran, A Distant Soil: Coda: This is the series that defines “cracktastic” for me. Aliens with beautiful floor-length hair and violet eyes! Orphans, Liana and Jason, with special psychic powers, going from one group of exploiters to another! Dozens of men (and a few women, not that you could tell the difference except for the breasts since they’re all drawn as exceedingly lovely) surrounding our pubescent heroine and fighting for her safety and honor! One of them is Galahad, ripped from his own universe of Avalon just to help Liana! I can’t get enough of it. Which is fair enough, since I’ve been waiting for the series to lurch closer to completion since the 80s. Supposedly the story will conclude in the next volume, whenever that appears. For now, I’ll have to be content with more Grand Guignol: In the wake of the failed attempt on the Avatar’s life, Liana is ensconced as the new Avatar, controlled by threats to a comatose Jason and to Seren, the ex-Avatar and former rebel leader. Seren’s lover/servant, from a race enslaved by the Hierarchy, takes up the mantle of rebel leadership, and does a better job of it than Seren. Our random Earthly crew, recruited for reasons that still make no sense, help prepare for another assault - but the Hierarchy is waiting, and willing to impose any cruelty to survive. If you don’t expect it to make sense, it’s quite enjoyable. And pretty.
Craig Thompson, Blankets: The graphic novel format still feels fresh enough to me that I can enjoy non-genre (or, I suppose in the case of comics, non-mainstream) works like this one, the gently painful story of a boy growing up in the cold midwest. He moves from conflicts with his brother -- funny in description but quite serious to them -- to first love with a girl from hundreds of miles away. At the same time, he’s struggling with his passionate faith in God and his commitment to his art, unsure about the role either should play in his life - but much more certain about God than art. The art contributes to this thoughtful coming-of-age narrative by turning landscape into metaphor and vice versa, swirls and dots of ink that resolve into snow or into dreams.