GRAPHIC NOVELS
Kusama The Graphic Novel
Elisa Macellari, Edward Fortes (Translator), Laurence King (OCT 20) Hardcover $19.99 (128pp), 978-1-78627-716-9
Elisa Macellari’s graphic biography Kusama concentrates on the life and work of artist Yayoi Kusama.
The book follows a natural arc, moving from Kusama’s childhood in Japan, and her first interest in art, to her years of growing fame in America. It also covers her later resurgence after facing mental illness and suicide attempts. Kusama is fascinating: an underdog who seeks solace in creativity and becomes a major figure in the art world, despite her health troubles and disapproving parents. Her relationships with other famous artists, including Andy Warhol, Salvador Dalí, and Georgia O’keeffe, provide context for her own achievements, as well as a glimpse into the personality of the woman behind the art.
The distillation of Kusama’s long, full, and atypical life to a trim, fast-flowing graphic novel is admirable. The text draws from multiple sources, listed at the book’s end; chief among them is Kusama’s autobiography.
The book features an appealing, focused palette, heavy on red and teal. The interior art captures the essence of Kusama’s work, in panels showcasing paintings on museum and gallery walls, and by using patterns and backgrounds central to Kusama’s style, including her extensive use of polka dots and circles. This marriage of text and visuals is magical. Kusama hallucinated a talking field of flowers as a young girl; no text or graphic alone could convey the experience, but here, valuable understanding is imparted of not just her artistic mind, but also her budding psychological problems. Kusama: The Graphic Novel is a wonderful introduction to a gifted artist. Even those familiar with her work will gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the troubled
imagination from which it spawned.
Forbidden Surgeries of the Hideous Dr. Divinus
S. Craig Zahler, Floating World Comics (OCT 13) Softcover $15.95 (104pp), 978-1-942801-05-4
Hard-boiled horror is leavened with witty dialogue and humor in S. Craig Zahler’s Forbidden Surgeries of the Hideous Dr. Divinus. The story begins with an eerie episode in which a homeless man is drugged and taken to a hidden lab for an experiment that proves fatal. The focus then switches to a comatose woman, Lillian, and her two brothers—one a cop, the other a criminal. A strange man attempts to kidnap Lillian from the hospital, and as the brothers track him down, they uncover his identity, his purpose, and his employer—the mysterious Dr. Divinus. The book’s black-and-white art has a crude, quirky style with original touches, like word balloons with miniature phones or intercoms to indicate a distant, electronic voice. The handwritten text is sometimes compressed to a fault, but it also feels warmer and more intimate than any computer font. The story is clear and entertaining, sometimes losing shades of nuance because of the art, but it’s delivered with energy and humor. Strong conversations veer from tangential asides about pencil sharpeners and business cards, to amusing statements that move the plot forward, as when a young heiress calls out to her lost feline, “Presently, I shall find, scold, and kiss you.” In an example of the book’s rapid shifts between humor and horror, this scene precedes a violent turn. Half a surreal, modern day nightmare, and half evocative of 1940s noir detective films, Forbidden Surgeries of the Hideous Dr. Divinus is comic, creepy, and compelling.
Invisible Differences A Story of Aspergers, Adulting, and Living a Life in Full Color
Julie Dachez, Mademoiselle Caroline, Oni Press (AUG 18) Hardcover $19.99 (196pp), 978-1-62010-766-9
In Invisible Differences, a young woman struggles with Asperger’s syndrome, but also triumphs.
Asperger’s syndrome—an often misunderstood, high-functioning form of autism—is marked by social awkwardness and a tendency toward intense, specific interests. Julie Dachez bases her graphic text on her own experiences; in it, Marguerite is her fictional stand-in.
Marguerite tries to make sense of the noise, social interactions, and unpredictable nature of her daily life. She copes through routines and rituals, including regular stops at a bakery and a bookstore. But her social miscues jeopardize her employment, and her aversion to gatherings puts a strain on her relationship with her boyfriend, Florian.
It’s astounding to learn that France’s understanding and treatment of Asperger’s is well behind that of other industrialized countries, but makes Marguerite’s moments of success soar that much higher. She finds liberation in an official diagnosis and learns how to be a happy, productive person while spreading awareness of Asperger’s syndrome.
The book’s art is vital, expressive, stylish, and appealing, an equal partner with its script. The strong visual storytelling is perhaps best showcased after Marguerite shares her diagnosis with Florian: they both sit on the floor, facing the reader; she rests, at peace, eyes closed, as he sits open-eyed, stunned, and frightened for their future.
Though most of the story is delivered through dialogue or images, occasional captions add crucial information, as with “When she talks, Marguerite sounds like a book. A 19th-century book.” Bonus sections include a history of autism, facts about Asperger’s syndrome, tips on managing Asperger’s, and a list of further resources. Invisible Differences is an honest, enlightening, and inspirational graphic treatment of a serious subject.
Spellbound A Graphic Memoir
Bishakh Som, Street Noise Books (AUG 18) Softcover $18.99 (160pp) 978-1-951491-03-1
A fictional alter ego channels a true-life account in Bishakh Som’s Spellbound: A Graphic Memoir.
Anjali, a former New York architect, serves as a visual substitute for Bishakh Som. Her history and personality also mirror Som’s— for storytelling purposes, Anjali is Som. A series of chronological chapters, most one or two pages long, detail Anjali’s attempts to pay bills and care for her aging parents while creating and publishing a graphic novel. A few chapters extend longer to suit their subjects, including the twenty-three page “Vampiric Caterpillars,” in which Anjali deals with the deaths of her parents in India. Events flow, one to the next, with ease.
The book has an unpredictable, lively, and enjoyable rhythm. Gender, orientation, and identity are prominent themes: Anjali explores the possibility of romance with a longtime woman friend before beginning a promising relationship with a transgender person. Her questioning is an additional source of internal conflict throughout the book.
Anjali is a smart lead: she balances occasional bouts of self-pity with genuine, self-effacing humor. She’s both admirable and relatable as a mature person who finds herself drawn in different directions, trying to find her place in the world and following her dreams without ignoring her responsibilities.
The art is appealing in its clean, clear style, and is rendered in beautiful colors, aided by an architect’s eye for layout, design, and details. Spellbound: A Graphic Memoir is an absorbing graphic novel that takes common struggles and examines them through an uncommon lens.
To Know You’re Alive
Dakota Mcfadzean, Conundrum Press (SEP 1) Softcover $20 (160pp), 978-1-77262-049-8
Dakota Mcfadzean’s story collection To Know You’re Alive is deliberate, creepy, and wonderful.
These stories might be called haunting or disturbing, but that loose description doesn’t do justice to their subtle and graceful complexity. The first story profiles a man remembering his time as a young boy with the gnoshlox, creatures that came alive from the clay in his sandbox. As with a later story, “Hollow in the Hollows,” contemplative pacing indicates that something more than a simple scare is happening; both stories carry an implicit commentary on the dangerous power of childhood imagination.
Other stories feature kids exploring an old house, growing more misshapen as they do; a girl terrorized by a breakfast cereal mascot; and a stay-at-home dad narrating a strange experience while watching Mister Rogers with his son. Humor and terror sometimes share space in the same sentence: “There was something moving around the darkened set of Mister Rogers’ house.”
The writing is brilliant and imaginative, providing just a nudge in one direction or another that leaves the reader to fill in the blanks. It’s engaging, mysterious, and satisfying. The characterizations of children are noteworthy, with small details that speak volumes—a girl’s excitement over a Scholastic Book order in “Buzzy,” or her tortured, lonely classmate’s bitter response: “That book is for idiots.”
The masterful art shifts styles from one story to the next to suit the mood, or sometimes to ironically oppose it. One half of an equal partnership, the images convey as much plot and characterization as does the text. To Know You’re Alive is a thoughtful, chilling peek into the darkest corners of life.