South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
‘Secret Identity’ brings comic book world to life; ‘Violin Conspiracy’ hits right notes
By Oline H. Cogdill
Comic books — especially those involving superheroes — are certainly entertainment and can be a diversion for children and teens, especially those struggling with their identity or feeling like an outsider. There’s a comfort and a kind of refuge in reading about characters who are themselves outsiders, yet become heroes.
Miami native Carmen Valdez — the 28-year-old heroine of Anthony Award winner Alex Segura’s scintillating “Secret Identity” — knows the power that comic books can have. They can show a child another world, with a different kind of storytelling, making reading exciting, even helping someone learn English, as she experienced each of those situations.
Now living in New
York City, Carmen sees the potential of comics “beyond the stapled, fourcolor stories.” Carmen desperately wants to write a comic, and even has an idea for a strong female character. But that’s not likely to happen as long as she is working as a secretary for Jeffrey Carlyle, the misogynistic owner and editor-in-chief of Triumph Comics, a thirdtier company not even close to DC or Marvel Comics. Jeffrey refuses to even listen to Carmen, believing that a mere secretary can’t know good storytelling, especially since women writers of comics were a rarity in 1975, the setting of “Secret Identity.”
Then Carmen’s coworker, junior editor Harvey Stern, wants her help in pitching a new series. She will ghostwrite a series, but he will submit it under his name until they can publicly acknowledge her involvement. The series will be the company’s first female superhero — the Lethal Lynx, a character Carmen has thought about for years.
Lynx is an immediate hit, but Carmen cannot admit it’s her creation, especially when Harvey is murdered. Who would believe her? Especially since all her notes and story boards were at his apartment. When another colleague is attacked, Carmen taps into her inner Lynx to investigate. Lethal Lynx panels interspersed throughout “Secret Identity” give voice to Carmen’s vision.
“Secret Identity” works well as a history of comic books — did you know that noir master Patricia Highsmith wrote comics? — as well as a look at New York during the mid-1970s and Carmen’s quest for her own identity
Segura’s respect for the comic industry shines as he shows how this medium evolved into the more sophisticated graphic novel. Comics remind Carmen of a “connection to a time . . . an intangible thing that got her through her own day-to-day.” No longer a wide-eyed fan because by working in the industry she sees “how the sausage is made.” But Carmen still wants a career in comics, and appreciates the medium on its own merits, not as “a lesser art.” She believes there “was more to be done in the space,” a chance to create “a piece of mythology,” as have other comics writers. Carmen also feeds off the “bustle” of a publishing office, “how things seemed to be spiraling into chaos only to jell at the last minute and produce art.”
“Secret Identity” also delves into the New York of 1975, a watershed year when the city “seemed particularly unhinged” with myriad vacant buildings and rising crime. “The most beloved city in the country was disintegrating, and all they could do was watch from the inside.”
Segura, a senior vice president at Oni Press and the author of several comics including “The Black Ghost,” brings a sense of authenticity to “Secret Identity.”
Segura isn’t the first to wrap a plot about around the comic book industry, yet “Secret Identity” is as engaging as Michael Chabon’s 2001 Pulitzer winner “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.” Segura’s sense of authenticity will have readers welcoming more thrillers set in the comic book world.
Alex Segura will discuss “Secret Identity” during a free virtual interview on Crowdcast, beginning at 7 p.m. March 24 through Books & Books in Coral Gables. Visit booksandbooks.com/events/ to register and for more information. Copies of “Secret Identity” will be available and will be mailed following the event.
A new talent
Brendan Slocumb hits all the right notes in his engrossing debut about a young Black man whose natural talent for music has become the only way to secure his future. “The Violin Conspiracy” works as a well-plotted heist novel, a look at racism, the music world and a comingof-age tale.
Growing up in Charlotte, N.C., Ray McMillian discovered his musical talent early, although he received little support for his gift. His single mother demanded he quit high school and get a job to help support her and his twin siblings. His high school music teacher refused to acknowledge his talent, forcing him to use the school’s most beat-up violin. When he landed a few jobs playing for weddings and other functions, he often was humiliated by the racists who hired him without knowing he was Black.
Only his grandmother and a college professor, who arranges for him to receive a full scholarship, support his ambition. It’s not just about the music, the professor tells him, but what he brings to the music. Ray’s playing reminds his grandmother of her own great-grandfather’s playing so she gives him his great-great-grandfather’s violin, hidden away in her attic for nearly a century. The instrument turns out to be a Stradivarius violin, worth about $10 million.
Suddenly, Ray’s family is very interested in his talent, demanding he sell the violin and give them most of the money. They are willing to sue Ray, claiming his grandmother never meant to give him the violin. Ray faces another legal battle — his ancestor had been a slave; descendants of the Marks family who owned him are claiming the violin belongs to them.
As Ray’s attorney says, “Think of the optics — slaveholder’s family making a claim against their former slave’s family. It doesn’t get more bizarre than that.”
But Ray’s most pressing setback occurs when his violin is stolen from his New York hotel room, a few weeks before he will perform in the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition. The thieves demand a $5 million ransom for its return.
Slocumb, a music educator who has performed with orchestras, delivers solid insight into why music and performing is important to artists. Readers can almost hear the symphonies that Ray plays. Slocumb’s affinity for realistic characters elevates “The Violin Conspiracy.” Ray is young and impulsive, prone to make mistakes but also a man of integrity with a deep appreciation of music. The scenes in which he endures racist situations are as heartbreaking as they are realistic.
“The Violin Conspiracy” introduces a new talent.
Literary Feast events
Brendan Slocumb (“The Violin Conspiracy”) will be among the authors participating in the annual Literary Feast sponsored by the Broward Public Library Foundation scheduled for April 1-2. A welcome reception with all the authors followed by the literary dinners will be on April 1.
The free LitLive panels will be April 2 at the Barnes & Noble, 2051 N. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale, 954-561-3732. The Fiction Panel (moderated by Oline Cogdill) begins at 11 a.m., featuring Xochitl Gonzalez, “Olga Dies Dreaming”; Jennifer Haigh, “Mercy Street”; Danya Kukafka, “Notes on an Execution”; Peng Shepherd, “The Cartographers”; Brendan Slocumb, “The Violin
Conspiracy.”
The Nonfiction Panel (moderated by Gail Bulfin) begins at 11:45 a.m., featuring Cynthia Barnett, “The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans”; Julie K. Brown, “Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story”; Nicholas Griffin, “The Year of Dangerous Days: Riots, Refugees, and Cocaine in Miami 1980”; Les Standiford, “Battle for the Big Top: P.T. Barnum, James Bailey, John Ringling and the Death-Defying Saga of the American Circus.”
With sponsors, dinner hosts and guests, the Literary Feast raises money for literacy programs and services at Broward County libraries. Visit bplfoundation.org/a-night-of-literary-feasts for details.
Oline H. Cogdill can be reached at olinecog@aol .com