Tonoharu: Part Two
Lars Martinson, Pliant (pliantpress.com), $19.95 (150p) ISBN 978-0-9801023-3-8
The second volume of Martinson’s semiautobiographical look at an American English teacher adjusting to life in rural Japan finds his protagonist Dan Wells trying to break out of his social isolation, and forming some relationships that aren’t particularly good for him: a crush on one expatriate (she’s not interested in him), an uneasy friendship with another one (he’s kind of sleazy and kind of a mooch), and a sexual liaison with a Japanese teacher (whose feelings for him he doesn’t really reciprocate). But what else is he to do? The undercurrent of the book is the crushing slowness of smalltown life and the way cultural clashes redouble Dan’s boredom, frustration, and isolation. The distinctive look of Martinson’s black-and-white artwork--four borderless panels on each page, fanatically cross-hatched backgrounds behind characters drawn as broad caricatures with a few bold lines, typeset dialogue--owes a lot to Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder’s Goodman Beaver. But Martinson’s breed of humor is less broad satire than a darker comedy of embarrassment: awkward silences, tedious karaoke, the frustration of trying to find a socially appropriate Secret Santa present, the wince of a one-night stand offering Dan her business card, Dan’s growing sense that nothing he does will let him fit in with any community. (Dec.)
Peaceful Warrior: The Graphic Novel
Dan Millman and Andrew Winegarner, New World Library (PGW, dist.), $14.95 trade paper (192p) ISBN 978-1-932073-48-5
Millman’s self-improvement franchise gets a graphic novel treatment in this adaptation of his 1980 autobiographical novel, Way of the Peaceful Warrior. UC Berkeley gymnast Millman is the star of the team as they prepare for the NCAA national competition until his father’s death causes him to lose focus. A strange dream leads him to a rundown gas station where he meets an enigmatic man he dubs Socrates, someone Dan swears he recognizes from a recent dream. Socrates urges Dan to consider his purpose in life and soon becomes the young man’s spiritual teacher and mentor, with the help of a mysterious young woman named Joy. When an accident threatens to destroy Dan’s gymnastics career, he must decide if he trusts Socrates and his unorthodox methods, which include fasts and mental, as well as physical, endurance tests. Socrates guides Dan on a journey to discover within himself not only his strengths as a gymnast but also as the Peaceful Warrior of the title. First time illustrator Winegarner capably brings Millman’s age-old story of master and pupil to life on the page with a style that won’t win any awards but tells the story cleanly. (Nov.)
The Sanctuary
Nate Neal, Fantagraphics, $22.99 (200p) ISBN 978-1-60699-388-0
This debut graphic novel ambitiously imagines the purposes of prehistoric art within the context of an imagined precivilization. Most strikingly, his tale is expressed entirely through the actions of his characters--their dialogue is written in an invented, phonetic language. The book’s central figure is an unnamed wall painter within a small cave-dwelling community. The painter (or “JANI”) is marginalized within his culture--perhaps because of his unsuitability for either hunting or child-rearing; however, the book mainly considers the relationship between art and power. In one sequence, a hunter persuades the artist to distort a historical record. Elsewhere, his picture writing presents an alternative vision of social organization, as opposed to the dominant ritualism. And in a pivotal moment, the artist’s unofficial history of his community’s life enables perspective and insight that affect subsequent events. Though inspired by real artifacts and motivated by recognizable, basic human motivations, this book is a fantasy, further clarified by a Twilight Zone twist at the book’s end. Neal’s dark pen work suggests texture, detail, and light effectively, and shoulders the burden of his almost-wordless storytelling. Despite some occasionally unclear moments, the broad sweep of the book’s action and ideas unmistakably raises thoughtful questions, marking Neal as an artist to watch. (Oct.)
