I was home sick today and had nothing better to do than read through some newly aquired graphic novels (the first one was read two weeks ago). Next week, I'll do a couple books and maybe a couple essays.
Comic: Biographical.
By Jason Lutes (author) and Nick Bertozzi (artist).
96 pages.
On a recent busride down to San Diego to view the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the natural history museum, I figured it'd be good to bring some reading material. From my to-read pile I pulled the recently purchased Houdini: The Handcuff King. I was excited because I love Jason Lutes work (as previously seen in Jar of Fools and Berlin: City of Stones). And really, this book did not disappoint. There were, however, two surprises for me.
Surprise #1: While Jason Lutes penned the story that comprises the book's narrative, he did not contribute to its art. Really this should not have been a surprise as the cover plainly says Nick Bertozzi immediately beneath Lutes own name and the art on the cover is plainly not the work of Lutes' established style. At first, this surprise was a disappointment to me - not unlike when you think your glass has Pepsi in it but your first sip reveals apple juice instead. But after my initial shock, I came to appreciate Bertozzi's line and recognize that he really was a good choice for the book.
Surprise #2: I had brought a book to busy me during the ninety-minute drive, but had finished it within forty-five minutes. Houdini is not a long book. There is plenty to look at but little text per page, which makes it a fairly quick read. Wholly apart from disappointing, the brisk pace of the story was refreshing. I closed the back cover satisfied with a mid-morning snack of graphic reading.
When initially approaching the book, I did not know what to expect. With the blue note set by his prior works, I thought this might be an exploration of Houdini's last days and unforeseen death. Instead the narrative picks up on a morning nearly a full decade before his mortality asserted itself and ends later that day, presenting a slice of Houdini's life, a splash of what made him great. And the people he relied upon to feed that greatness.
Houdini: The Handcuff King is really a charming little story and I would pleasantly recommend it to anyone with an hour to kill.
Rating: 
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Comic: Teh Drama.
By Troy Little.
234 pages.
Years ago, before there was such a thing as Homeland Security, I used to visit my local comic shop every Wednesday to pick up any new comics that might have come in. Wednesday was important because it was new comics day, but there was a more important reason. My local would make an effort to get interesting works by indie publishers, little known pieces of particular wonder and delight. But not a big effort. It would typically get one of each of these books. So I would get there at lunch on Wednesday so that I would be the one to scoop up all the cool books.
That was where I encountered Troy Little's Chiaroscuro. And loved it.
The only problem was that either it stopped being produced or I wasn't getting there early enough. In any case, I had the first seven issues (save for #2 - which I was evidently too late to get). Still, even after six years or so, the memory of the book lingered and I would very occasionally check Amazon on the off chance that somehow the series survived and would be collected for me to purchase. And lo, the fruit of my diligence has paid off at last.
Last night, I blew through the 234-page hardcover in a single sitting (it was easier maybe because I had already read half the book in its periodical form). It was worth it, but now I want more and hope I don't have to wait another six years.
Chiaroscuro tells of a young man haunted. By ghosts, by mystery, by his inability to fill a canvas. Steve is a painter. Or so he says. He never actually does much to his canvas save stare at it in that understated horror that unlimited potential barters and trades in on a natural and daily basis. Along the way he hangs out with friends, gets drunk a lot, meets a girl, gets the crap kicked out of him, and mocks the artistry elite for their pretentious sanctimony.
It's better than it sounds. A lot better. And the art is gorgeous. Little's lines are confident and well-placed. I know this review cannot be wholly unbiased as I approached the work with that kind of sentimental taste in my mouth that presents the kind of experience in which Little would have to suck pretty bad for me to give him a negative review here. Still, I hope to think that I really did enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed it.
I only had one quibble: the story is not complete. At least I presume it isn't. It says "Book I" on the cover, which leads me to believe that this is merely Act I in a great story. Otherwise, I would have to reevaluate the story as some kind of experimental narrative. It would probably still succeed, but not as greatly. In any case, I can't wait for Book 2.
Rating:
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Comic: Drama/Race Relations.
By Gene Luen Yang.
240 pages.
It's funny that the most notable thing I can tell you about this book is that it's in colour.
That might not strike you as odd, but really, for the type of story Yang tells, the comics industry has almost universally awarded such stories a black and white printing. If not autobiographical, American Born Chinese is the kind of story that might very well be.
Examining the difficulty with which a child born in one country from parents of another country, the author explores the kind of dissatisfaction common to many in similar circumstances. The desire to blend in, the need to eliminate traces of heritage. I've never felt these things in my life, but through Yang's story, I could begin to understand in a manner other than pure academic assent.
Yang weaves three narratives together in a masterful way and each sings of a different life's lesson. There is the story of the Monkey King (the classic Chinese figure), the story of Jin and his difficulty fitting into a school in which he is the only student of Chinese descent, and the story of Danny, who is plagued by his ridiculous cousin Chin-Kee (who is appears as a stereotyped caricature complete with affected speech - Ls for Rs and vice versa). Strangely, the Chin-Kee episodes actually carry a laugh track.
It should be notable that the only bad thing I have to say about the book was that I didn't find it as good as its hype. Yang's book picked up a fistful of worthy awards last year. Not just Best Graphic Novel awards but several Best Book Awards.* As good as it was, I'd read better and while I would recommend it to anyone, I can't see myself reading it more than a couple more times if I live to seventy.
*note: Best Book Awards from Publisher's Weekly, School Library Journal, and San Francisco Chronicle. Plus piles of other awards from elsewhere.
Rating:
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Labels: comics, reviews
The story begins when Ryuk, a death god (known in the story's mythology as 
And even after that, the moral question that is explored by the book's author and artist really goes to lengths to get the reader thinking about means and ends and it's not at all clear who one should root for. It helps that Light, despite having an ego that won't quit, is entirely unselfish in his motivation. Death Note is almost a distillation of an important moral question.
