This could
be subtitled "my birthday comics". They were both books that I
requested for Christmas, and were not received. I had written earlier about how
difficult it was to locate a copy of I'm a German Shepherd. Island of
Memory was readily available through Floating World Comics, but for people
who were only used to looking at Powells and Amazon there was still some
difficulty. Fortunately my older sister really outdid herself in terms of
hunting down leads, and so the one book was a little late, but I now have both
in my hot little hands.
I will be
reviewing comics all week, but these two go together. It is not just because of
how they were both obtained, but these are also both single artist works, with
writing and illustration and color all being done by the same person. Bak
worked with Floating World, while Martins self-published, but I think both have
to be considered as labors of love.
Island of Memory by T Edward Bak
We begin
with a quote, from Seneca - "There is nothing dead in nature" - and
we see four pages of sea life: otters, birds, crabs and sea weed. The colors
are muted, but there is a lush feeling to the images. Then there is a colored
band with similar figures down the center of a stark black and white page. The
otters are still there, but a ship enters, and soon we have humans.
The
narrative goes back and forth between Alaska and Russia. Sometimes there is color, though
never overpowering. There is often an awkwardness to the human figures,
especially in Russia. The most beautiful work seems to
go to the Russian animals, but it is interesting watching the artistic style
change. Sometimes we know we are in a memory or a dream, and sometimes there is
something else entirely. I think the last few pages function more as a vision.
There is a
sense of foreboding that things can't go well. There are very harsh elements
for the expedition. There are always storms coursing through the work, and
foxes breaking up dreams and digging up graves, yet the Russian society is
clearly full of threats too, and the formality with which the are approached is
kind of more chilling than the snow.
It is very
clear that this is just one volume of a longer work. Even if that were not
specified on the last page, there are just many things that we don't know. It
is not merely not knowing what is going to happen from this point in the story,
but there are things in the past that are only hinted at. That may be a little
overdone - it might work to let some things be more clear - but that depends on
how it will all take shape.
It's
interesting in that we all know names like Stellar and Bering, but we don't
really know much about them. This is a chance to learn more, and to see some
compelling artwork. I do love the otters, but I really want to see the sea cows.
I'm a
German Shepherd by
Murilo Martins
Dogs are an
easy sell with me, and the bold, vividly-drawn German shepherd on the cover
appealed to me right away. There is so much personality in that fairly simple
drawing, and you can easily imagine him saying the titular line.
I have to
admit, it was not what I expected. The cover looks like you are going to have a
cute and humorous story, and there is a much darker vein than I had possibly
expected. Actually, the ending was really a shock, and since our recently adopted greyhound looks and barks rather like a German shepherd in some ways,
that kind of made it more alarming.
That
doesn't mean the book doesn't have merit. I have thought about it a lot more
seriously than I would have otherwise, and wondered how much it was influenced
by the political situation, and what could have gone differently.
Still, I
think it is strongest on the art. There is a surface simplicity but it is
really effective and elegant, and just naturally draws the eye.
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