The Naked Tree

The Naked Tree is a graphic novel version of a 1970 novel by the same name written by Park Won-suh. It paints a portrait of a Korea torn apart by what westerners call the Korean War. Koreans call it the American War. Cartoonist Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, author of the graphic novel Grass, brings this story to life with her bold, black and white drawings.

The story begins in 1951. Twenty-year-old wallflower Lee Kyeonga ekes out a living at the US military Post Exchange where goods and services of varying stripes are available for purchase. She peddles hand-painted portraits on silk handkerchiefs to soldiers passing through. When a handsome, young northern escapee and fine artist is hired despite waning demand, an unlikely friendship blossoms into Kyeonga's first romantic crush. However, her love is already married with children.

It was interesting to learn about how Koreans lived during the American War. While I read alot of history books I have never heard the perspective of the Koreans during this era. Their economy was in pieces as the war raged on and many families lost loved ones due to the American bombs dropping on them. This is Kyeonga's story though. It is told from her perspective and the reader gets a glimpse of her experiences working at the PX. She has an awful encounter with an American GI who tells her that he will liberate her in a hotel room, falls in love with that sensitive married artist, and tries to deal with the deaths of two brothers from American bombs. I feel badly for the Koreans who were living such a bleak existence and I must agree with Kyeonga's mother when she cries "how can the gods be so cruel?"  

The title of the book comes from a painting of a tree with no leaves. Kyeonga views it as a naked tree. Her telling of this story is magnificent. 5 out of 5 stars

Global: One Fragile World

Publisher: Sourcebooks Young Readers

Publication Date: April 11, 2024

Reading Age: 10 - 14

Pages: 144

ISBN: 1728262194

Global: One Fragile World is told from two alternating perspectives. One is a child living in the Arctic and one living in the Bay of Bengal. Both kids are dealing with the destruction of their homes and lifestyles from weather related events. Sami and his grandfather live in a village along the Indian Ocean. They earn their living by fishing. But the ocean is rising and each day they work harder but bring back fewer fish. Yuki lives in the Canadian North where warming temperatures are melting the ice. Polar bears have less food to hunt and are wandering into town looking for something to eat. Yuki is determined to do something to help the bears.

Both climate change subplots are suspenseful and are told with alot of emotion. The reader doesn't know how these two kids will survive. Sami and Yuki have terrifying experiences that they must endure but they are able to get through them with the aplomb only a child can exhibit. We also get a short account of Myanmar immigrants to the Bay of Bengal.

The reason I picked up this middle grade book was due to the richly saturated colors that illustrator Giovanni Rigano used. The drawings have been done in the traditional comic strip format and show detailed expressions on the characters faces. At the end of the story the author gives information about global warming. 

5 out of 5 stars.

Nikola Tesla

This comic is a graphic biography of Nikola Tesla that was originally published in Italy in 2021. Tesla was a contemporary of Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse. Author Sergio Rossi poses a question for the reader: was Tesla a brilliant inventor or a visionary detached from his time? It is one of five historical fiction graphic biographies published in March 2023 of famous Europeans by Comixology Originals. Comixology partnered with Italian publisher Becco Giallo to translate each of these comics into English. 

Tesla was raised in Austro-Hungarian Empire during the mid-nineteeth century. While his family was poor, he was able to study and become an engineer. Searching to make a fortune Tesla emigrated to France and then the United States. While in America he obtained a job in Thomas Edison's laboratory where the War of the Currents began. Edison was a proponent of direct current for energy while Tesla believed in an alternate current. Tesla won the war as his alternating current was chosen to be used on a national scale.

The story was told in black and white drawings, usually two to a page. The narrators were two men who were discussing Tesla while driving in a car. One of them was a scientist and the other was a documentary film maker. This format was easy to read and understand. Note, though, that this comic is not a complete biography. Rather, it offers a good starting point for further reading about Tesla.

5 out of 5 stars.

Mary Shelley: The Eternal Dream

This comic is one of five historical fiction graphic biographies published by Comixology Originals in March 2023 through a collaboration with Italian publisher Becco Giallo. Mary Shelley is the daughter of feminist Mary Wollstonecraft through whom she was able to meet many well known authors and artists. When Mary was 17 she eloped with romantic poet Percy Shelley. She later visited Europe with him, her step-sister Claire and her lover Lord Byron. While staying in a villa in Geneva the four of them combatted boredom by writing stories involving true terror. This is where and how Mary created Frankenstein.

I did not like this comic much. The writing was awkward and the artwork seemed to be horrifying. While the characters wrote horror stories in their villa, the biography itself is not a horror story. I am not sure whether the art matches the story. A few of the panels have red ink on them. I am not sure why as the emotion in similar panels were drawn exclusively in black. 

These historical fiction graphic biographies are not meant to be complete biographies. So much is left out of Mary Shelley's life that I didn't see a point to the comic. No rating.

Socrates

Socrates is another one of Comixology Original's historical fiction graphic biographies of famous European people. It was translated into English through a partnership with Italian publisher Becco Giallo and published in March 2023.

The publisher's summary:

Athens, 399 BC. In what may be remembered as the first trial for crimes of opinion, Socrates is sentenced to death. Accused of corrupting youth with atheistic doctrines, the philosopher's line of defense is uncompromising and defiant. He is thus sentenced to drink hemlock by an even larger majority of jurors, and once in prison, awaiting execution, he refuses to flee lest he violate those laws to which he has always been devoted.

Socrates was not only one of the best known and most influential philosophers in human history, but also the first martyr for his own ideas.

His trial tells how the greatest democracy of the time could have sentenced the best of its citizens to death. 

I found this comic hard to read. I had to concentrate on the words in order to understand what was going on. The style of writing fits with the philosophy of the era though. The author included a note in the back of the book stating that he based the book on Plato's writings. 

While philosophy lovers will enjoy the comic, I did not. It was just too heavy for me. No rating.

Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh Sadness Will Last Forever is a graphic biography written by Francesco Barilli and illustrated by Sakka. It was published in Italy in 2019. In March 2023 Comixology Originals published it in English. The comic was written as an intense and uninterrupted dialogue between Vincent Van Gogh and his madness. From his relationship with his brother Theo to his famous quarrel with Gauguin, resulting in the partial self-mutilation of his ear, to the extreme act of self-harm that led to his death.

I didn't know much about Van Gogh's life story before reading this comic. The writing was crisp and the illustrations were very French with an attractive French script font. With just 129 pages, it is an easy and fast read. There was a 70/30 split between dialogue and narration. A few times I needed the narration in order to figure out what was happening. All in all this was a fantastic biography of Van Gogh. I am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.