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Finding the Light: A Mother’s Journey from Trauma to Healing

Marian Henley. Andrews McMeel, $16.99 trade paper (208p) ISBN 978-1-5248-8469-7

Henley, creator of the long-running weekly comic strip Maxine, recounts in this fearless and lyrical graphic memoir her decision to tell her adopted son, William, about her history as a sexual assault victim. Triggered by language degrading women in the pop music he listens to, she sits William down and discusses the two times she was raped: in her dorm room at age 19 in the 1970s, and at gunpoint in a clothing store in the ’90s. With brutal clarity, she depicts the attacks and their aftermaths, noting the callous way she was treated by the justice system in the ’70s, in particular. She excoriates the families of the perpetrators, describing how the mother of her first rapist, a privileged young white man, tried to get her son off the hook. The friends and family of Henley’s second attacker, who was Black, are depicted glaring at her with the labels “whore” and “white trash.” Lasting trauma arises at unexpected moments: “Rape is like a bomb,” she writes, “leaving part of you destroyed and part of you perfectly intact.” Henley’s loose, quivering linework is acrobatic; simple, understated panels periodically give way to a vividly rendered memory or a fiercely expressive face. The pain in her story is braced by her hope, elegantly expressed, that sharing it can make a difference, and her lithe art makes a difficult topic approachable. This joins the ranks of works like Diane Noomin’s Drawing Power that raise awareness of sexual violence through the immediacy of comics memoir. Agent: Betsy Amster, Amster Literary. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 03/22/2024 | Details & Permalink

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Advocate: A Graphic Memoir of Family, Community, and the Fight for Environmental Justice

Eddie Ahn. Ten Speed, $24.99 (208p) ISBN 978-1-984-86249-5

Ahn debuts with a warmhearted homage to community work that also captures the complex pressures on children of immigrants. In 2005, Eddie is a young adult working with AmeriCorps for an after-school program in Oakland, Calif. There, he discovers the small joys of helping underserved communities. However, his Korean immigrant parents, who own a liquor store, expect upward financial mobility. He goes to law school and discovers a knack for high-stakes poker, but eschews both to pursue a career in environmental justice, which he calls “the gamble of my life.” His personal and professional lives are constantly underfunded, and he’s nagged by guilt that he’s disappointed his family. He becomes the executive director of the nonprofit Brightline Defense, and serves on San Francisco’s environmental commission. A strong running motif is the casual racism he experiences in the gentrifying city, where he’s regularly mistaken as a car service driver or waiter. The graphic memoir is drawn with realistic, detailed portraits of Eddie, his comrades, and his beloved Bay Area, painted in alternating pink, green, yellow, and purple watercolor panels. Each scene is given the same weight and tone, which can flatten the narrative, and there’s a tendency to overexplain. Still, readers who have heeded the call of people over profit will find resonance here. Agent: Chad Luibl, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 03/22/2024 | Details & Permalink

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Light It, Shoot It

Graham Chaffee. Fantagraphics, $24.99 (208p) ISBN 978-1-68396-682-1

An ex-con heads to 1970s Hollywood looking for a second chance only to end up in deeper trouble than before, in this fittingly sleazy throwback noir from Chaffee (To Have and To Hold). Billy Bonney is an anxious stutterer just out of prison, hated by most people in his small Western town for burning down the local factory—so he heads to L.A. to find his older brother Bobby, a gofer on the set of a grindhouse horror flick costarring their pugnacious drunk of an uncle, a “notorious bad boy” of the film biz. Billy promptly gets shunted aside by Chaffee, and the narrative reorients around Saul, a skirt-chasing producer known as the “King of Lowbudget,” who’s being pressured by his hoodlum backers to torch his studio for the insurance money. The script spins its wheels, taking in the ambient scuzz while the gears click into place for a showdown too preordained to have much bite. Still, Chaffee’s pastel washes, clear affection for the period, and well-stocked gallery of colorful hoodlums and reluctant heroes make up for the lack of suspense. It’s a sure thing for comics fans who dream of Quentin Tarantino helming a Raymond Chandler adaptation. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 03/22/2024 | Details & Permalink

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We Live Here: Detroit Eviction Defense and the Battle for Housing Justice

Bambi Kramer and Jeffrey Wilson. Seven Stories, $16.95 trade paper (240p) ISBN 978-1-64421-242-4

Wilson follows up The Instinct for Cooperation (an illustrated dialogue with Noam Chomsky) by partnering with co-artist Kramer for this galvanizing chronicle of hardscrabble victories won by a grassroots coalition dedicated to rescuing Detroit families from home foreclosure and eviction. In most of the firsthand accounts, success for the Detroit Eviction Defense hinges on preventing the delivery of a dumpster, which signals the final step in an eviction. “If that happens, they’ll remove you physically from the house,” says an organizer at a meeting with a family threatened with eviction. While battling evictions in courtrooms and bank cubicles, the DED’s most potent tactics include picket lines and crowding properties with parked cars to block dumpster deliveries. These efforts may take months, and depend on extensive volunteer commitment. In capturing the powerlessness felt by individuals pitted against unresponsive mortgage lenders, the portraits lay bare the racial disparities baked into Detroit’s much-celebrated revitalization. But as DED efforts repeatedly force banks to the negotiating table, the accounts also serve as testaments to organized action and strength in numbers. Kramer’s lightly stylized sketches lend each firsthand narrative a verisimilitude shaded with pathos and dignity. Personalizing the lingering aftereffects of the subprime mortgage crisis, this collection of resilient first-person testimonies is comics journalism at its most vital. Agent: Roisin Davis, Roam Agency. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 03/22/2024 | Details & Permalink

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I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together: A Memoir

Maurice Vellekoop. Pantheon, $35 (496p) ISBN 978-0-307-90873-5

Vellekoop (A Nut at the Opera) presents a sumptuously drawn memoir of his long, winding journey from childhood in 1960s and ’70s Toronto to a celebrated artistic career. Along the way, he grapples with being gay in a deeply conservative family of Dutch immigrants and an often hostile society at large, and the resultant psychic scars. The adored son of a doting, fashionable, and devoutly religious mother (“Mum and I were so in love it was almost like we were one seamless being”) and a stern, remote, and sometimes explosively angry father, Vellekoop is bullied at school and escapes through his obsessions with pop culture, including Disney’s Fantasia, which “pretty much set the course for my life.” As an adult, he becomes a successful illustrator and dates widely but struggles to connect emotionally and sexually with other men. As one chapter’s succinct title alludes, there are many “Guy Troubles.” However, he does form a lasting friendship with Paul and Martin, a sophisticated older couple, and, with the help of an empathic therapist, begins to confront his intimacy issues and unpack the baggage from his family. Vellekoop’s writing flows easily, with a light wit bolstered by gorgeous drawings that have a classic, nostalgic look and rich colors. There’s a whimsy to the linework yet sharp individuality to each character, and the detailed cityscapes are masterfully rendered. Vellekoop will enchant both his longtime queer comics followers and newcomers with his frank storytelling and tantalizing art. Agent: Sam Hiyate, Rights Factory. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 12/01/2023 | Details & Permalink

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Degas & Cassatt: A Solitary Dance

Rubio Salva and Efa, trans. from the French by Edward Gauvin. NBM, $24.99 (96p) ISBN 978-1-68112-324-0

Spanish cartoonists Salva and Efa follow up Monet with a stylish and stylized chronicle of the life of French impressionist painter Edgar Degas (1834–1917). Early in the narrative, Degas dedicates his fiery temper to discovering an aesthetic that stands out from both the radical bohemian style of Monet and Renoir and the canonical exclusivity of the elitist salon that rules the Paris art world. He sets his heart on becoming a master painter (“my goal, my destiny, my obsession”)—claiming he’ll burn bridges (and the Louvre) in pursuit of a fresh vision. Eventually, he finds his muse watching young ballerinas perform. From there, Degas commits to “painting men in the honesty of their true nature.” He loves the American painter Mary Cassatt, yet never pursues her romantically, only opining on her art. Misogynist, curmudgeonly, and at times cruel, Degas dons a mask to visit brothels and take in the female form, then runs out. He fights for the independence of impressionists (“Death to the salon!”)—then turns his back on them after gaining fame. Salva and Efa lend nuance to what might have been a stereotypical portrayal of a tortured genius with asides from Cassatt, who expresses her empathetic perspective on a “man defined by his loneliness.” The small-stroke composition of the comics creates an intimate dual portrait of artists dueling with their own demons. This clear-eyed and holistic vision of a leading light of impressionism should appeal to art history buffs. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 03/15/2024 | Details & Permalink

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How War Begins: Dispatches from the Ukrainian Invasion

Igort, trans. from the Italian by Jamie Richards. Fantagraphics, $29.99 (168p) ISBN 978-1-68396-924-2

Italian cartoonist Igort (The Ukrainian and Russian Notebooks) compiles in this harrowing work of graphic journalism “testimonies” from “people who led regular lives” during the first 98 days of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Drawing on transcripts of phone calls from his friends in Ukraine, Igort draws vignettes depicting people desperate to leave, the bleak realities of refugee camps, and widespread destruction and cruelty. (In one scene, Russian soldiers pillage stores, then offer the food they’ve looted to townspeople as “humanitarian aid.”) Nighttime scenes, drawn in impressive shadows, capture the tense uncertainty of people seeking shelter. Interludes that flash back to the 1999 invasion of Chechnya and the 2014 outbreak of fighting in the Donbas region, as well as the 1932–1933 Ukrainian famine, provide concise and illuminating background to the current crisis. An especially powerful side-story profiles Evgeny Myazin, a Russian soldier whose suspicious death followed his request for discharge from the invasion force. The art shifts between improvisational, sketchbook-like compositions and realistic, fully backgrounded images with a somber, earth tone palette. The accounts are scattershot and disjointed in a way that conveys the messy, complicated, still-evolving reality of the situation. These dispatches make the scope of the war (“nothing epic, no glory: only misery”) both easier to grasp and that much harder to witness. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 03/15/2024 | Details & Permalink

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How to Baby: A No-Advice-Given Guide to Motherhood, with Drawings

Liana Finck. Dial, $28 (272p) ISBN 978-0-593-59596-1

New Yorker cartoonist Finck (Passing for Human) depicts her pregnancy, childbirth, and early parenthood in the form of a facetious guidebook with no definitive answers or advice but plenty of gentle snark. Spindly, abstracted female figures illustrate wry observations on such topics as the physical changes of pregnancy (“Is your bladder in on the sexist conspiracy that relegates women to the home?”), dealing with “In-Laws and Other Invaders” (“The walls of your home will dematerialize”), and figuring out baby products (“To my knowledge, there is no way to use a boppy pillow”). Finck’s illustrations sometimes expand into striking expressionism; a pregnant woman’s body is first depicted stuffed with random objects, then as a cage containing a baby, then as an enormous baby’s head. She touches lightly but acerbically on political issues surrounding childbirth and childcare, including the infuriating bureaucracy of the American healthcare system (pretending to be a patient on hold with insurance is “good practice for parenthood”), the uneven gendered division of labor, and the isolation new mothers face. Parents will find plenty here that’s both familiar and funny, and all of it presented with a refreshing lack of judgement. Agent: Meredith Kaffel Simonoff, Gernert Co. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 03/15/2024 | Details & Permalink

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Dwellings

Jay Stephens. Oni, $34.99 (224p) ISBN 978-1-63715-291-1

In the faux-serious introduction to this addictively squirmy collection of linked comics, Stephens (Land of Nod) claims the “tainted” town of Elwich has “more hauntings per capita than any other place in Ontario.” Drawn in the disarmingly perky style of an old Disney comic, where all the characters have adorably big eyes and plucky attitudes, the comics jump from one gory, blood-drenched terror to the next. In the first entry, a teenager accosted by a man claiming the 19-year-old sold his brother out to the police nonchalantly kills the man with a rock (then pops his earbuds back in and strolls off), only to eventually find a gruesome vengeance that will put readers in mind of an Edgar Allan Poe story. In the volume’s other tales, a crook goes on a killing spree before ending up in a torture chamber, an obnoxious influencer gets more than he bargained for when he opens a haunted house, a demonic cult sacrifices a child, and a cursed hand puppet causes mayhem. Though the pacing is zippy and the tone verges on tongue-in-cheek (retro-comics interstitials advertise a “Baby-AK 47 Kid-Lashnikov” and a “Memento Mori Funhouse”), the layering of dread is surprisingly effective. Stephens threads in recurring characters and Elwich lore, rendering a believably cursed hellscape. It’s the kind of nightmare horror fans won’t want to wake up from. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 03/15/2024 | Details & Permalink

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Left Turns

Joshua Ross. Source Point, $29.99 (368p) ISBN 979-8-88876-002-4

Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy draws sad comics about girl—the Chasing Amy–esque story line rings only too familiar in this earnest if uneven outing from Ross (Tales of Mr. Rhee). Through years of sacrifice, David has nursed his ambition—always just out of reach—to become a professional comic book artist. Along the way, his neuroses have confounded his family and alienated his friends (“Can’t I sulk by myself?”)—and now his longtime girlfriend has dumped him. The aspiring cartoonist struggles at the drawing board and in pitching his portfolio, and is introspective to the point of myopia, ignoring more than one cute girl throwing herself at him as he bemoans his lack of dating opportunities. Drawn classically handsome, he’s also a classic crank, literally bothered by the cracks where the light gets in: “There’s just enough sun shining through these windows to be annoying.” Ross’s clean-line style and simple monochromatic color scheme draw readers into David’s world, and there are insightful and self-aware moments that will resonate with starving artists and the people who love them. But the inability to connect is David’s fatal flaw, both in the plot and for those weary of romans à clef detailing the angsty love lives of misanthropic cartoonists. Whether readers dig this may depend on how stuck they still feel in their own youthful regrets. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 03/08/2024 | Details & Permalink

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