Constitution Illustrated

Constitution Illustrated gives the reader the entire text of the U. S. Constitution. It is a graphic novel with drawings done in the iconic styles of over one hundred different classic and contemporary American comic artists. The characters are well known cartoon characters. This book was published in 2020. 

The publisher's summary:

Among Sikoryak’s spot-on unions of government articles and amendments with famous comic-book characters: the Eighteenth Amendment that instituted prohibition is articulated with Homer Simpson running from Chief Wiggum; the Fourteenth Amendment that solidifies citizenship to all people born and naturalized in the United States is personified by Ms. Marvel; and, of course, the Nineteenth Amendment offering women the right to vote is a glorious depiction of Wonder Woman breaking free from her chains. American artists from George Herriman (Krazy Kat) and Charles Schulz (Peanuts) to Raina Telgemeier (Sisters) and Alison Bechdel (Dykes to Watch Out For) are homaged, with their characters reimagined in historical costumes and situations. We the People has never been more apt.

 

This is a short graphic novel; just 132 pages. The "dialogue" or text in this book consists solely of the words of the Constitution. The characters are from TV shows or cartoons. Donald Duck, Dennis the Menace, Charlie Brown, Lucy and Dagwood Bumstead are some of the characters. 

I like that there is background material at the end of the document. There is a Comics Index, Notes on the Constitution itself, amendments made to the original language by Congress, a Chronology of the drafting of the document and the Selected Bibliography. After Congress approved the final draft of the Constitution it was sent to the states for ratification.

There were some amendments that I forgot about so I had a nice learning experience. With the recent decision of the U. S. Supreme Court confirming birth right citizenship, the Fourteenth Amendment was fascinating to read. This book is an entertaining way of learning American history. It is fun and easy to read. I highly recommend it to readers of all ages.

5 out of 5 stars.

Declaration Illustrated

Declaration/Emancipation Illustrated is a unique, double-sided graphic novel by cartoonist R. Sikoryak. It pairs the unabridged text of the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Gettysburg Address with visuals rendered in the iconic styles of over 100 different classic and contemporary American comic artists.

The publisher's summary:

The severing of colonial ties to Great Britain and the critical turning points in American history that followed have never been more vividly manifested than in the skillful hands of Sikoryak, who doesn't hesitate to dream up Jeffy from Family Circus as Thomas Jefferson and Mr. Magoo as a British loyalist. King George III is deliciously portrayed as pop culture’s most famous villains, such as Thanos, The Joker, Scar from The Lion King, and many more. Sikoryak also skillfully adopts the styles of such comic artists as Will Eisner of The Spirit, Allie Brosh of Solutions and Other Problems, Morrie Turner of Wee Pals, Mark Beyer of Amy and Jordan, and Floyd Gottfredson of Mickey Mouse. The Civil War era pays homage to Black Panther, Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, Steenz’s Heart of the City, Justice League, and many more.

The comic is short; just 134 pages. The Declaration part of the book is on one side of the book. Turn it over and you find the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address. The verbage is exclusively the words of the Declaration, the Proclamation and the Address. At the end of each of these three documents is a chronology of events that brought us the documents and a bibliography. The illustrations use characters ftom comic strips and TV series including The Simpsons, Black Panther and the Powerpuff Girls.

The author stated in an online interview that he had a rule to only use American characters in this book. Also, his reason for putting the Emancipation Proclamation as the second side of this book was because 

"someone, Abraham Lincoln, took what was in the Declaration and said, ‘This is important, this part at the beginning about “All men are created equal,” because he references the Declaration in the Gettysburg Address and in the Emancipation Proclamation. 

“Four score and seven years ago,” that’s referring directly to the Declaration, so you can take these documents and you can think about what they’re saying to you, and you can act on them."

I had no idea that that the Gettysburg Address referred to the Declaration. I always wondered what "four score and seven years ago" referenced. 

I agree with the publisher's blurb that this book is an entertaining trip through American history. It is a fun, easy to read history of three of the U. S.'s foundational documents and I highly recommend it to readers of all ages.

5 out of 5 stars.

Redbone

Redbone is a full length graphic novel that was created with cooperation from the Vegas family, authors Christian Staebler and Sonia Paoloni. Pat and Lolly Vazquez started the Redbone rock n' roll group after playing their music for years on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles and on the radio. In their beginning, politics made them change their surname to Vegas. It was the only way to get gigs. The book is part biography and part research journalism and tells a the story not only of the group but also about the history of Native Americans.

The publisher's summary:

Experience the riveting, powerful story of the Native American civil rights movement and the resulting struggle for identity told through the high-flying career of West Coast rock 'n' roll pioneers Redbone.

You've heard the hit song "Come and Get Your Love" in the movie Guardians of the Galaxy, but the story of the band behind it is one of cultural, political, and social importance.

Brothers Pat and Lolly Vegas were talented Native American rock musicians that took the 1960s Sunset Strip by storm. They influenced The Doors and jammed with Jimmy Hendrix before he was "Jimi," and the idea of a band made up of all Native Americans soon followed. Determined to control their creative vision and maintain their cultural identity, they eventually signed a deal with Epic Records in 1969. But as the American Indian Movement gained momentum the band took a stand, choosing pride in their ancestry over continued commercial reward.

Redbone was officially formed in 1967. Their first album was a double album. They went on a national tour as well as playing concerts in Europe. When the song "We Were Wounded at Wounded Knee" was recorded it was banned in the U. S. While it was popular in Europe the American powers that be thought it would encourage civil disobedience and there already was alot of unrest over the Vietnam War. At their last concert in 1974 they were told that if they sang the song, the concert promoter would pull the tour. Well, they sang it and the promoter, true to his word, ended the tour. This was also the end of the group's career. 

At least half of the book tells the history of Native Americans, especially the past 100 years. The authors delve into the U.S.'s attempts to assimilate them by sending Indian children to western schools. Many of these schools were boarding schools so the kids were separated from their families and culture. English only was required at the schools. If a student spoke their Native language they were severely punished. This assimilation attempt was news to me. I have never heard about it before and, yes, I was shocked.

The book ends with an interview of Pat Vegas by the authors. A bibliography and discography follow. 

Okinawa

Okinawa is a manga story that examines the history of Okinawa, Japan and its military occupation by the U. S. It is a manga classic that was recently translated into English and it was published in the U. S. in August 2023.  I have not read any manga before but enjoy reading about history in comic form so I picked up this book. The comic won several awards: 2024 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction - Longlist, American Library Association Best Comics for Adults 2023, Booklist Editors' Choice: Best Graphic Novels 2023, and Washington Post Book World Editors' Staff Pick 2023.

The publisher's summary:

A peaceful, independent kingdom until its annexation by the Japanese Empire in the 19th century, Okinawa was the site of the most destructive land battle of the Pacific War. Today, the archipelago is Japan's poorest prefecture and unwilling host to 75% of all US military bases in Japan.

Okinawa brings together two collections of intertwined stories by the island's pre-eminent mangaka, Susumu Higa, which reflect on this difficult history and pull together traditional Okinawan spirituality, the modern-day realities of the continuing US military occupation, and the senselessness of the War. The first collection, Sword of Sand, is a ground level, unflinching look at the horrors of the Battle of Okinawa. Higa then turns an observant eye to the present-day in Mabui (Okinawan for "spirit"), where he explores how the American occupation has irreversibly changed the island prefecture, through the lens of the archipelago's indigenous spirituality and the central character of the yuta priestess.

Okinawa is a harrowing document of war, but it is also a work which addresses the dreams and the needs of a people as they go forward into an uncertain future, making it essential reading for anyone interested in World War II and its effects on our lives today, as well as anyone with an interest in the people and culture of this fascinating, complicated place. Though the work is thoroughly about one specific locale, the complex relations between Okinawan and Japanese identities and loyalties, between place and history, and between humanity and violence speak beyond borders and across shores.

Please note: This book is a traditional work of manga and reads back to front and right to left.

All of the drawings were done in black and white, not my favorite style but I wanted to read this history book regardless. The colorful cover design is deceiving. Also, I had problems following the story. Much of the plot action was shown in the drawings and I became confused between real action and the drawings of spiritual beings. In addition, the book shows the Japanese viewpoint of events which I knew beforehand. However, I was offended by many statements made by characters who were obviously anti-American. This is an unfair statement on my part because the book is from the Japanese viewpoint and, let's face it, the Americans were occupying Okinawa. I was unable to change my feelings though. Another reason I developed bad feelings about the book is that after the Japanese surrendered in WWII, they sunk a submarine off the coast of Okinawa that my uncle was on. I did not expect to feel this way about the city of Okinawa but it was unavoidable.  

I am rating the book 3 out of 5 stars. I had problems understanding the action. This was probably due to it being a manga story but, nevertheless, I had issues with it.

A History of Japan in Manga

I loved reading this graphic history of Japan. What initially attracted me to the book is the color palette. The book has line drawings colored in a cool pink. Pink is my favorite color. The book tells the Japanese saga from its misty origins up to the present day. Epic battles, noble Samurai and duplicitous leaders are all portrayed in modern manga fashion. The stories in this book include:

• The Birth of Buddhism and the transition from hunters-gatherers to agricultural societies of ancient times;

• Savage battles between the Taira and Minamoto clans that led to the powerful warlord Minamoto no Yoritomo naming himself Japan's first Shogun;

• A decade-long struggle for domination of Japan in which thousands of Samurai fought and tragically lost their lives; known as the Onin Wars.

• Loyal Samurai who vowed to avenge the death of their master, choosing honor over surrender and being forced to commit mass ritual suicide as a result;

• A dramatic last stand by Samurai loyal to the Shogun who revolted against the new Meiji government and its plans to finally modernize Japan; known as the Satsuma Rebellion.

This history is told with plenty of portraits, manga stories, maps and informational sidebars that bring the entire sweep of Japanese history into life in one easy-to-read book. I have been using it along with other Japanese travel guides to prepare for my October trip. One place that I will be visiting is a samurai village. Without knowing much about the samurai, this book helped me decide to spend some time there.

4 out of 5 stars.

Displacement

Displacement is a graphic novel about the internment of the Japanese in America during WWII.  I have read 2 other comics on this subject and they all gave the same information. In this story our heroine Kiku is on vacation in San Francisco where her family is from. The displacements begin when she magically finds herself transported back to the 1940s when her grandmother Ernestina was forced to relocate to an internment camp. Living alongside her young grandmother and other Japanese-American citizens in internment camps, Kiku gets the education she never received in history class. She witnesses the lives of Japanese-Americans who were denied their civil liberties and suffered greatly, but managed to cultivate community and commit acts of resistance in order to survive.

What separates this account of the tragedy from others is the illustration. I like that the comic strips were larger, with 4 to a page. It made the dialogue much larger for me to be able to read on a cell phone. When reading other comics on my phone, I have to enlarge the page in order to be able to read. Then I have to reduce the page in order to turn the page. Author Kiku Hughes drew all the illustrations. This is her first graphic novel and I am very impressed with both her ability to tell a story and her drawing skill.

Hughes makes many insightful quotes in her book. One of them is:  "I think sometimes a community's experience is so traumatic, it stays rooted in us even generations later. And the later generations continue to rediscover that experience, since it's still shaping us in ways we might not realize. Like losing the ability to speak Japanese, losing connection to Japanese culture, they're all lasting impacts of the camps that travel down the generations." I never realized before that the generation who suffered through the internment experience would raise their children to be American, not Japanese. They felt it would make successive generations safer from the government. They made sure their descendants did not know how to speak Japanese or cook Japanese food. It was a strategy that the entire generation followed.

Displacement gives an honest history of the internment camps run by the U. S. government during WWII. While it is a sad story, it is one we all should know about. 5 out of 5 stars. 

We Hereby Refuse

 

We Hereby Refuse is a graphic novel about the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. After the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, tens of thousands of Americans of Japanese descent were rounded up and placed in detention camps around the US. They lost their jobs, their businesses, and even their homes, not because of any crimes committed, but simply for their ethnic roots. Three characters are featured in the book. Jim Akutsu, Hiroshi Kashiwagi and Mitsuye Endo each embody a typical Japanese American experience during this time period.

Mitsuye Endo was a 21-year-old typist who lost her State of California job when she was ordered to report to the internment camp. A lawyer asked her to sue the government for causing her job loss. He recruited her because she seemed the ideal candidate at a time when everyone was scared of Japan. She did not speak Japanese and didn’t follow a Japanese religion like Buddhism or Shinto so didn’t believe that she could be threatening in any way. She even had a brother serving in the US army and she had also done everything the government had ordered her to. Her case eventually was heard by the U. S. Supreme Court, where she won.

Jim Akutso, who repeatedly tried to sign up for the Army but was refused because of flat feet. After he was imprisoned in a detention camp he was found out he’d been drafted, but now he refused. His reasoning was that if his country wasn’t willing to let him live freely, then he wasn’t going to fight to protest the freedoms he didn’t even have. He was convicted of dodging the draft and moved from the camp to a regular prison where he was given a sentence that extended past the end of the war.

Twenty yesr old Hiroshi Kashiwagi was waiting for his younger brother to graduate from high school so they could go to college together. Hiroshi was helping his parents on their fruit farm when the internment order came. He immediately registered for the draft but was soon dismayed to find out that the army changed his classification to IV-C, the category for enemy aliens. When army recruiters arrived at the Tule Lake Camp with a questionnaire to be completed, Hiroshi refused to agree to be drafted because of one question that required him to foreswear allegiance to Japan. He never had any allegiance to Japan and believed that to agree made him a criminal. He could be deported though for not completing the form. Hiroshi organized several resistance efforts at Tule Lake.

The graphic novel format helped to tell this story in an engaging and easy to read way. It immediately drew me into the dilemmas that these three characters faced. Chapters alternated between each of the characters and the illustration style was different for each of them, which helped me to follow the subplots easier. 

We Hereby Refuse is essential reading. Each of us should be familiar with this part of American history. 5 out of 5 stars. 

Vann Nath: Painting the Khmer Rouge

 

This is a graphic biography of Vann Nath, a Cambodian painter. Nath used his art to fight against the tyranny of the Khmer Rouge. In 1978, the young painter was arrested by the Khmer Rouge, the violent and totalitarian Communist Party of Kampuchea that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. Imprisoned in the infamous Tuol Sleng prison, better known as S-21, painting became synonymous with survival for him. Ordered, like many Cambodian artists and craftsmen, to put his talent to use to glorify his captors, upon his release he continued painting, this time, to remember and pay tribute to the victims of Pol Pot's regime.  The only reason that he survived is because the man running the prison needed someone to paint of portrait of their supreme leader, Pol Pot. Nath became the most celebrated survivor of the prison. He died in 2011.

I learned much from this book. I knew that the Khmer Rouge were brutal but had never read about any specifics from their reign of terror. Vann Nath's graphic depictions of the torture he experienced in S21, which he painted after his release, brought it to life. The story is unsavory but sometimes the truth is brutal. At the back of the book are copies of the paintings Nath painted for the regime during his incarceration. I like his style and wonder what subjects he would have painted if his life had not been so difficult. 

If you love history, you should read this book. 5 out of 5 stars.

Where We Live

Where We Live is an anthology of stories of the 2017 Las Vegas music concert mass shooting told in a graphic novel format. The shooting resulted in 58 deaths and injured more than 500 people.  Where We Live is an unusual graphic novel as it has both fictionalized cartoons and cartoons from eyewitnesses.  Several themes are discussed such as gun control, a compassionate society, the stigma of mental health, and how communities persevere after a tragedy.

All of the 90 cartoonists used bold, vivid colors in their comic strips which was what initially made me interested in the book at my local bookstore. After reading the back cover blurb describing the book I decided that I had to buy it.

After beginning to read, I had to put the book down several times because the darkness of the stories was overwhelming. There were many eyewitness accounts in the book's 331 pages. They were riveting but the fear and grief expressed in them consumed my spirit because the darkness in each of the stories never seemed to end for me while I was reading. Each comic strip exuded so much emotion that it was hard to handle. One or two short essays on the beginnings of guns in the U. S. is included and I learned a few facts from them. However, even the essays exuded negative emotions.

Where We Live is a difficult read. I can understand why the editor, Will Dennis, included all of these comic strips  in the book. He is from Las Vegas. If you are from Las Vegas, the fear and grief is one you share with the cartoonists. For me, who doesn't live there, it seemed to be over kill. While I understand this is an anthology of comic strips its impact on me was one of horror, too much horror to be affected by the social commentary. It meant nothing to me. All I felt was the fear of the people who were present at the shooting. I do not know if that was the editor's intention or whether this book was written for the people of Las Vegas.

4 out of 5 stars. 

Windows on the World

Windows on the World chronicles a son's search for his undocumented father who was working in the Twin Towers on 9/11. His father had a job as a dishwasher at the Windows on the World restaurant to support his family in Mexico. When his family does not hear from him within two weeks after the catastrophe, his son Fernando travels from Mazatlan, Mexico to New York City to look for him a/nd bring him home. Fernando searches New York from the downtown area to the Spanish Harlem neighborhood.  Along the way, Fernando experiences a warm embrace from fellow immigrants and a cold shoulder from American citizens.

This book was based not the 2019 movie of the same title. The plot moves fast as it shifts from Fernando's family life in Mexico to his illegal entry into the U. S. to begin his search for his father Balthazar. While this is a story that Americans should be used to hearing, it continues to grip our hearts 19 years later. I was unable to stop reading and wished that it continued on after the ending. It pulls at the heartstrings when you read that Fernando is told at a 9/11 rescue center that "if your father didn't officially work in the towers he can't officially be missing." The reader can feel Fernando's disappointment and desperation.  However, he knows what his mission is and does not let anything or anyone keep him from his search. 

Windows on the World is a story that never gets old.  5 out of 5 stars.

Nanjing: The Burning City

I was disappointed in Ethan Young's Nanjing. It is a wartime narrative of the fall of China's former capital city Nanjing to the Japanese in 1937. The book showcases 2 Chinese soldiers who were caught in the city after it was captured by the Japanese.

I did not learn much about the WWII fight commonly known as the Rape of Nanjing. Perhaps I am used to this type of story being told as a reportage comic which has tons of detail via the dialogue.  There is little dialogue in Nanjing and the artwork consists of black and white drawings in comic strips.

Unfortunately, I can only give this graphic novel 1 out of 5 stars. It just didn't teach me anything about this episode in history.

The Best We Could Do

The Best We Could Do is the story of the Bui family in both Vietnam and the U. S. Most of the story, though, takes place in Vietnam.  It gives the family's history from the time of the  author's grandparents to the family's arrival in America in 1978 and then to the present time.

The story opens and ends in 2005 with the author giving birth to her first child and then switches to 1999 when the author left home to move in with her boyfriend. The cultural differences between the author and her mother and their inability to communicate confounds the author and results in her wanting to search for her roots in Vietnam.  Her memories move back to 1978 Malaysia where the Buis lived in a refugee camp for several months before emigrating to America. Then we travel back in time and to Vietnam as the author's father tells her the family history. This is where most of the story is told.

The Bui family was quite resourceful in adapting to the changing political terrain in Vietnam. They were always able to remain just above destitution until the Vietnam War decimated the country. The Buis were not concerned with which side of the war was right or wrong.  They were only trying to survive and keep their extended family safe. Author Thi Bui's parents' relationships with their own parents is dissected and how the grandparents coped with a changing country is shown. Likewise, Thi Bui's siblings' relationships with their parents also unfolds as they grow up and learn to deal with the harshness of their lives.

I was captivated by the family's story and believe that their cultural background aided their ability to survive conflict and make a new life in a different country. The Vietnamese are longsuffering.  They are family oriented and as long as the family is OK, life is good.

I am unclear on the reason for title of the book. Obviously, the family's sufferings to survive could be the reason the author chose "The Best We Could Do." However, I think it is about her relationship with her mother. Thi Bui became assimilated into American culture including its expression of affection. Her mother rarely displayed affection or said what she felt in her heart, which I believe is pretty normal for a person who experienced the trauma of war and displacement. These differences seemed to create a divide between them that could not be breached. Ms. Bui clearly wants to be closer to her mother. Another thing I noticed is that throughout the book the author included several private moments that she had with her mother. She did not share her siblings having these moments. With the book opening and closing with the author having a baby, and her mother being present for the birth, instead of this being a family saga, it seems more like the back story for the reason that their relationship is restrained.

I feel that I must mention the artwork. Ms. Bui used pen and ink drawings to tell her story. They were colored in cool-toned orange shades.

The Best We Could Do is such a great story that I read it twice in a row. I cannot recommend it more highly. I think that you will love it and, at the very least, you will learn about the history of the Vietnamese in the 20th century.

Palestine

Journalist Joe Sacco wrote Palestine in 1991 and 1992 as a 9 issue comic book series.  He wrote it after spending two months in the Occupied Territories and it is about the first intifada against the Israeli occupation which he says in the Foreward was running out of steam at the time of his visit. The edition that I have read is the 2015 Fantagraphics Books edition. The original comic book series won the 1996 American Book Award.

Sacco interviewed many Palestinian families but heard the same stories over and over. People were run out of their homes by Israeli policemen or soldiers, were arrested and jailed for offenses that they did not commit, lived in squalor, were n

atred of Jews. The book opened with a discussion he had with a Palestinian about Jewish American tourist Leon Klinghoffer being thrown over the ledge of a cruise ship in his wheelchair by the PLO. The Palestinian only cared about the international news coverage that he felt the Jews were getting over the murder.

The artwork is a little different from what I am accustomed to seeing.  The author used black line drawings and text in full page and double page spreads as well as an occasional traditional comic book page layout.

Had I read this when he wrote it, it would have been newsworthy for me.  However, I have heard these stories from several different news sources and have read one or two books on the Palestinian/Israeli issue. I am aware that Sacco's book was groundbreaking for it's time, particularly for a graphic novel and therein lies it's value.

Weapons of Mass Diplomacy

French author and diplomat Antonin Baudry, writing under the pen name of Abel Lanzac, has written a fictionalized account of his time working for the French Foreign Ministry during the time period leading up to the U. S. invasion of Iraq. 

The story begins with Arthur Vlaminck getting hired as a speechwriter for Foreign Minister Alexandre Taillard de Vorms.  De Vorms has a nasty temper and loves to quote poets and philosophers. He is never happy with what Vlamink writes. Never. Vlamink gets to travel with the Minister on diplomatic trips abroad and to the United Nations (U.N.) where he sees the American president (George W. Bush) and Jeffrey Cole (Colin Powell) address the U.N. concerning Resolution 1441 which provided for inspections on the nation Khemed's (Iraq) weapons of mass destruction in order to avoid war.

While this is a serious topic, the author has written a wonderful satire of this part of our recent history. He has shown the difference of opinions between France and the U. S. on the subject all while showing the reader how diplomacy works.

I do not understand why the author does not use his real name, the name of his boss, Bush, Powell or Iraq. I am certain there is a professional reason for this but I do not know what it is.

This book was pretty amusing.  I highly recommend it.

Shanghai Dream

Shanghai Dream is a sad book.  It is well written and illustrated but because the story concerns Jews running away from Nazis, and then the Japanese, in order to save their lives.  It ends abrultly without a denouement and I feel the rest of the story should be told in a subsequent novel. Luckily, Shanghai Dream is Book One.

The publisher's summary:  

"A young German Jewish filmmaker escapes the Nazi threat in Shanghai, where he is forced to adapt to a new land and cope with familial loss through the magic of filmmaking.  In 1938 Berlin, aspiring filmmaker Bernard Hersch works at the UFA studios and dreams of one day directing the screenplay he and his wife Illo are writing. But as a Jew in Hitler's Germany, Bernard faces increasing danger and discrimination, and is soon forced to accept deportation to Japan as his only hope.  However, Illo, disconcerted at having to abandon her elderly father, leaves Bernard behind at the last minute and returns to Berlin, where she and her father are shot by Nazis.  Rerouted to China, a heartbroken Bernard struggles through grief and vows to bring his and Illo's screenplay to life as a tribute to her legacy. Along the way, he finds love in a city under siege."

I was spellbound by the storyline. It was an emotional roller-coaster to read how the family made one choice after another, all of them lose-lose choices. I fell in love with the Bernard and Illo characters and felt like I knew them, perhaps because I have friends who lived this reality. The writing was suspenseful. A fast pace increased the suspense but it was also written with a sense of dread as the family had to make decisions quickly if they were going to survive the antisemitism directed at them. 

The artwork was drawn in comic strip panels. Some pages were colored by Delf in sepia tones and others were in black and white. All of the pages that referenced the writing of Illo's screenplay were drawn in black and white. 

Shanghai Dream is an accurate retelling of a part of WWII history. I highly recommend it, especially for young people.  5 out of 5 stars!

The Photographer

The Photographer, Into War-Torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders is a reportage comic written by Didier Lefevre. In July, 1986 he traveled to Afghanistan with the French Doctors Without Borders during the height of the Soviet war to photograph their mission. The artwork of Emmanuel Guibert also helps to tell the story of their 3 months in Afghanistan. The book was published in three sections in France between 2003 and 2006. It was translated into English by Alexis Siegel who also wrote the Introduction and was published in English in 2009.

The book is divided into three sections. The first section is the month long trek to the mission location. The second section deals with the provision of medical treatment to the Afghans and the third section is the month long walk out of the country.

The graphic novel begins with the photographer leaving France for Pakistan where he meets up with other members of the mission and helps them prepare to enter Afghanistan. The first glimpse of local flavor is here.  The MSF (French name of Doctors Without Borders) packs up their supplies in boxes so that there is no room inside due to the battering that the boxes will go through during the expedition through the mountains to their post in Badakhshan. I was quite surprised to discover that the contents of a pack of pills could be crushed to a fine powder if they were to shift within the boxes. The boxes then must be covered in waterproof tarp in case they fall into a river. Negotiations over the purchase of animals for the expedition take place, where else, in a refugee camp.

The medical mission itself was pretty straightforward. Most of the harrowing stories dealt with how the group got into Afghanistan and how they got out.
The book ended with an update on what each member of the mission is currently doing with their life.

The artwork is colored in the browns of the region. While some of the drawings are detailed, many are not. They were drawn first in a black outline and later colored in by Frederic Lemercier. The photographs are all in black and white. A few of them are out of focus and I cannot understand why they were used in the book. Most of the photos are dark and I am not sure why.  Lefevre had good cameras with him. I wonder if the brown terrain made everything dark. However, in some places he said he was in beautiful terrain and the photos were still dark. His photos of the wounded and the surgeries were very clear. The comic print style of putting a page together is used regardless of whether there are photographs on the page, drawings or a combination of the two.

The story told here is an important one. It not only is an MSF story and an Afghanistan story, but a story of how the American war on terror began. The Introduction discusses the people involved in Afghanistan at the time of this mission who were also involved in the September 11 attacks in the U. S. The role of the CIA in Afghanistan is also discussed.

I highly recommend this book.

Fever Year

Fever Year is a history of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. Don Brown published this book in 2019, the newest addition to his disaster novels. Brown has previously written novels about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Great American Dust Bowl, and about Syrian refugees.

Fever Year is a short, 51 page book that was written as a straight history book. There are no characters or plot. The author tells the reader how the pandemic began, how it worked its way around the globe and how people reacted to it. It is eerily similar to our current COVID-19 pandemic. With governments arresting those who violated the quarantine it provides some details concerning what may be next for us today. The 1918 quarantine was a real quarantine. It was not a stay at home order where you could leave your home to buy food and prescriptions. People had to do without. Those who needed medication for pre-existing illnesses died. Masks were required to be worn and there were several health care hucksters pedaling drugs that did not ease the symptoms of the flu. Sound familiar?

I liked this book. It is important to know about prior pandemics so that we can obtain clues concerning what can happen again.  Humans being humans, it does not matter how technologically advanced society is. We will act in desperate ways.  5 out of 5 stars.

Filmish

Filmish:  A Graphic Journey Through Film offers the reader a history of the film industry.  Drawn in black and white comic panels, author Edward Ross teaches readers about the biases that are built in to the movies that we watch.  He focuses on seven aspects of filmmaking. They are the eye, the body, sets and architecture, voice and language, time, ideology, and technology and a separate chapter addresses each of these topics. The information he gives is beefy enough to be a textbook on films. The words and writing style that he used are also typical of a textbook. I certainly see it this way. Knowing nothing about movies before reading Filmish, I have come away with a long list of movies that I need to watch in order to see more clearly what Ross is talking about in each chapter. 

The first films were only a few seconds long and were created by putting several photographs together. The human eye will see movement where there is none and a new type of entertainment was born. Subsequent filmmakers improved upon this technique with new technologies. One aspect of filmmaking that has never changed is "male gaze." In the early days of the movies, producers purposely used storylines that could be enhanced with female subjects in situations that men like to watch. While several films have been made recently showing male muscle and nudity so that women could have "women gaze," the author states that men primarily watch these films to determine what women want from them. Nothing has changed here in a hundred years of making movies. One interesting fact about the use of sets is that heroes are shown in natural environments and villains are shown in stark, monochromatic environments. I never noticed this before and can't wait to watch a movie to see this for myself. Censorship is an issue covered at length in Filmish. The author writes that filmmakers will sign a contract with the Pentagon agreeing to only show the military in a positive light in exchange for the use of their machinery in a film. Producers see this as a way to save money as they can be assured of making an "approved" movie that will not be banned by theaters. 

I have learned so much about films from reading this book. I can't recommend it more highly. Anyone who loves movies as well as students who concentrate on studying filmmaking should read this book. 5 out of 5 stars.

Berlin

Jason Lutes' historical graphic novel Berlin is a masterpiece. It tells the story of the fall of the Weimar Republic and the rise of the Nazi Party during the years 1928 through 1933. It was originally serialized in 22 issues over 2 decades but it was published in one volume by Canadian publisher Drawn and Quarterly in September, 2018.

The story opens with Marthe Muller arriving in Berlin on a train where she has met Berlin journalist Kurt Severing. Muller has come to Berlin to take art classes and is mourning the loss of her brother in World War 1. Many of the scenes in the book show both of them throughout their days with the people they meet and live with. The Braun family is also prominent. They are a working class family struggling to make ends meet. Another family prominent in the book is a Jewish family adapting to the political environment.

The city of Berlin is actually the protagonist of the story. Both its luxuriousness and poverty are shown. The author has scenes depicting lavish salons, severely disabled homeless veterans, automobiles for the rich, crumbling buildings, and elaborate train stations. He also uses characters to show that it was a city of intellectualism with a loose sexual culture before it fell into decline.

While the main characters are interesting, there are many secondary characters that tell a major part of the city's story. Some of them you may only see in one scene but they reflect the views of people in a changing society who don't really care for change whether it be political or technological. Other secondary characters are members of political groups fighting for change.

The artwork consists of intricately detailed black and white drawings set in a traditional comic book page spread. Every couple of pages there is a full page drawing so detailed that I think it could be colored in with watercolors in the same way that urban sketchers work. Even the drawings without dialogue say a lot because the faces within them are so expressive.

Berlin is truly a masterpiece. It is an epic historical novel in 575 pages. I highly recommend it.

After the Spring

After the Spring, a Story of Tunisian Youth was created by Helene Aldeguer. It shows the disillusionment of young people in Tunisia after the 2011 Arab Spring. The back cover blurb summarizes the story:

"Two years after the 'Jasmine Revolution' Tunisia is unstable and facing economic hardship. Saif, Aziz, Meriem, and Chayma are among those who feel abandoned by the developing turmoil surrounding the government. Saif goes to college but worries about his younger brothers; Aziz struggles to find steady employment, hoping to gain approval from Meriem's family, while Meriem attends law school; and Chayma, after watching a man set himself on fire, considers emigration to France. As the situation becomes more serious and calls to activism in the streets get louder, each must consider in what direction their future lies."

I had this book on my wish list for six months waiting for its publication. When it finally arrived in the mail I couldn't wait to read it. However, it was not that exciting of a read. It was a quick read, but it was a little boring. The author was true to the historical facts in Tunisia but her characters were flat as was the dialogue. I have read many similar comics about war torn countries that were engaging with fully developed characters. After the Spring did not meet my expectations.

The artwork was done in black and white drawings on traditional comic book strips. With the color black being used to fill in many of the subjects drawn, the book's graphic appeal was rather dark. Personally, I like plenty of color but am not opposed to black and white drawings in general. These just seemed too dark for my taste.

3 out of 5 stars.