Comics That Should Be Translated: Silence

Originally published in 1980, Silence is a graphic novel by the Belgian artist Didier Comés (1942-2013).Set in Beausonge, a fictional village located in the Ardennes, some decades after the second World War, it tells the story of its titular character, a young man who has been mute since birth.

Possessing considerable physical strength, Silence is nonetheless mocked and exploited by the rest of the village, particularly his 'master', Abel Mauvy, the richest and most powerful man in Beausonge. 

Not that Silence realizes any of this, pure of heart (or simple-minded, whichever you prefer), he knows nothing of hatred or the evil that dwells within the human soul.

However, an encounter with the blind woman who lives in the outskirts of Beausonge will change all that. It is this woman, known only as 'the sorceress' who will reveal to Silence the truth behind his origins and spur him to assist her in her revenge against the village who has made them both suffer. 

Silence made a great impression on me when I first encountered it in its Swedish translation many years ago and I'm happy to say that time has not diminished its potency. The Drama that unfolds is dark and utterly absorbing, blending the everyday with the fantastic and exploring several themes (good and evil, love and  hate, resistance against tyranny superstition, the treatment of 'the other' in society and so on). Comés' black and white artwork perfectly matches the writing, being very expressive and atmospheric.

As for the characters, Silence's innocence, his connection with nature and his empathy with all that lives makes him a moving and sympathetic protagonist, while  his antithesis, Abel Mauvy is one of the most striking portrayals of human evil I've come across in comics. 

As a rule, the characterization is superb, with each character from the blind sorceress, to her rival, the villagers and others all being memorable in their roles.

In conclusion, Silence is without a doubt a masterpiece. However, now that I think about it, its a bit strange that this is the only comic by Comès I've read, despite being aware of his other works for years. 

I think its about time that I did something about that.

Habibi by Craig Thompson

Before reading Habibi, the only work of Craig Thompson's that I was familiar with was Goodbye Chunky Rice, his debut comic, which I read when I was in fifth grade (or maybe sixth, my memory is a bit vague). As for Thompson's later comics, such as Blankets, at the time they came out, they didn't seem like the sort of thing I'd be into, so I never paid much attention to them. Habibi, on the other hand was a comic that had me intrigued from the moment I became aware of it and recently, I finally got around to read it and without giving too much away, I only wished I had read it sooner.

Originally published in 2011, Habibi is set in a fictional Middle-Eastern land. It is here that we meet our main characters; Dodola and Zam, refugee child-slaves, who have made a home for themselves in a ship, stranded in the desert. Dodola, the older of the two by nine years, takes it upon herself to act as a surrogate-parent to Zam, nurturing him and teaching him to read and write. Life is harsh, however and eventually, Dodola sees no other option but to prostitute herself to the passing caravans in exchange for food and other things she and Zam need to survive. One day, Dodola vanishes and Zam, having learned what his caretaker had to go through and feeling wracked with guilt, sets out to find her.

Stretching across six-hundred pages, the story of Habibi is truly epic in scope, allowing Thompson to show what a truly gifted storyteller he is. The story does not unfold in a linear fashion, but jumps back and forth in time and as it does, the reader is treated to new revelations about the characters and the world they inhabit. Dodola and Zam are both very engaging protagonists, particularly the former, who ranks among my favorite female leads in any work of fiction. The author does a great job making us root for these two and hoping that they and the love they share will prevail, allowing them to overcome the many horrible things they have to endure during the course of the story and find happiness.
Religion plays an important part in Habibi. When they were children, Dodola would tell Zam stories from the Quran. These stories are woven into the main plot, much like the stories-within-stories, seen in such works as Potocki's The Manuscript Found in Saragossa and, of course, The One-Thousand and One Nights. While not a religious person myself, I did find the way Thompson would compare and contrast the stories found in the Quran with their counterparts from the Old Testament (such as Abraham's sacrifice of his son) to be interesting.

The richness of Habibi's plot is matched by its art, which is some of the best black-and-white artwork I've ever seen. Apparently, it took Thompson six years to complete and I can definitely see why. Inspired by Islamic art and calligraphy, there are panels and pages here so intricate, that a reader can find themselves lost in them.

Habibi is well deserving of the praise that it has received over the years since it was first published. Craig Thompson has crafted an astonishing masterpiece, one which belongs on any list of great comics.

Berlin: City of Stone and City of Smoke

City of Stone and City of Smoke are the first two volumes in the Berlin trilogy, written and drawn by Jason Lutes. I borrowed the first volume at my local library recently and was so taken with it that I immediately ordered the second one.

It's 1928 and Germany is still recovering from its defeat in the Great War. Unemployment and poverty is sky-high and on the streets of Berlin, violent clashes between communists and national-socialists are a frequent occurrence. The days of the Weimar Republic are counted and the city, not to mention the rest of the nation, is about to change forever.

The two central characters of Berlin are Kurt Severing, a journalist with leftist leanings (though his political involvement is limited to writing articles) and Marthe Müller, a country-girl who has come to Berlin to study at the art-school. The majority of the action in the two volumes are seen through the eyes of these two, who meet when the story begins and will soon form a relationship. Lutes surrounds Kurt and Marthe with a huge cast of characters, including art-students, communists, entertainers and others and its a testament to Lutes' strength as a writer that each character in the comic comes across as a believable and recognizable human being.

On the art-side of things, Berlin is very good as well. Lutes does an excellent job at making the time-period comes to life and portrays both squalid poverty as well as the excesses of the nightclubs, with aplomb. He's also very good at facial expressions, to prove my point I present a scene from the second volume, in which a visiting African-American jazz band happens upon a poster meant to portray them. The look on their faces says more than a thousand words:

I strongly recommend Berlin to anyone who has either an interest in the time-period or just want to enjoy a truly great work of sequential art. My only real complaint (if it even counts as one) is that now I will have to wait for a long time until the final volume comes out. Still, as the saying goes; He who waits for something good can never wait too long.

Kill My Mother

I mentioned in my last post that during my trip to NY, I bought quite a lot of books. One of those books was Kill My Mother, a graphic-novel by renowned cartoonist Jules Feiffer.

I should perhaps start by saying that I'm only passingly familiar with Feiffer's work. I know who he is and I've seen a few of his drawings as well as his animated short-film Munro, about a four-year old who gets drafted into the US army, but that's as far as it goes. However, the cover of Kill My Mother, featuring a woman holding a smoking gun, as well as the enticing front-page blurb by Neil Gaiman, convinced me to shell out the bucks for it. Was it worth the prize? Short answer: Yes.

Kill My Mother is, according to Feiffer himself, a love-letter to the noir-films  and the classic adventure comic strips of yesteryear; those drawn by great artists like Milton Caniff or Will Eisner. The story begins in Bay City in the 1930's, it's here that we meet Elsie, the widow after a cop who was murdered during the Prohibition. Elsie now works as a secretary for her late husband's friend, Neil Hammond; a perpetually inebriated private-detective, in the hopes that the job will enable her to one day track down her husband's killers. We also meet Elsie's daughter, Annie, a rebellious teenager who harbors a schoolgirl-crush on Neil and resents her mother, believing that Elsie has effectively abandoned her. One day, a tall blonde by the name walks into Neil's office. She wants his help to find her old drama-teacher who has vanished without a trace. Neil suspects that there's something fishy going on, especially since the woman in the photo bears an uncanny resemblance to his client. Still, he needs the money, so he agrees to take the job.

I'll stop there, since I don't want to risk spoiling anything for those of haven't read Kill My Mother yet. Suffice to say that Feiffer tells a highly engaging story, one that takes many twists and turns and involves a large cast of characters. Speaking of which, the characters in this story are all memorable, whether it's the major characters like Annie and her boyfriend Artie or minor ones such as the communist liquor-store owner, I found them all to be interesting in their own ways.

On the artistic side, Feiffer draws in a sketchy style that may take some getting used to and may perhaps even put off some readers, which would be a great shame. Personally, I liked the artwork, it's very energetic with characters that sometime seem like they could leap out of the panels. In fact, this would make for an interesting animated movie.

All in all, Feiffer has certainly succeeded in creating a homage to the comics and movies of his youth. If you are a fan of the works of Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler (to mention a few names), I'd suggest giving Kill My Mother a go.