Persepolis 2 + Ordinary Victories

For this week I read a good portion of Persepolis 2 since I had read the first book previously, and Ordinary Victories.

Persepolis 2 was a little different than Persepolis 1. Where Persepolis 1 seemed to focus more on Marji learning through her own mistakes, where as in this 2nd book she's starting to figure out things without having to be reprimanded for it. I feel that her story really mostly focuses on being separated from family for the first time, and how to adjust to these new freedoms, both due to being away from parents and from being out of Iran. This book reads very much like a novel and is very dense in text compared to some of the other works I've read. However, I feel in this book it is necessary for her to use more because she really is documenting heavy internal struggles with her friendships, relationships, living situations, and just general response to her environment. I wasn't able to get to the end of this one, but I plan on finishing it up soon. I feel one of the key moments that I was able to relate to was Marji's return to Iran after having her plans crumble at the hands of her cheating ex, and suddenly realizing how different everything was. As a student from out of state, returning home for me after spending the first semester here was a strange experience, because although it was a familiar place it still felt very foreign.

Ordinary Victories was a story that started out light-hearted enough but fell into some darker themes throughout. Marco is very stubborn, very attached to the way things are currently and not exactly looking to rock the boat anytime soon. Most notably his strangely endearing back and forth with his brother, calling each other by George, and through his relationship where he feels like he's rushing by moving in with his girlfriend. For the most part to enact any change he needs a pretty big catalyst. The first really truly noticeable change in him happens when Adolf gets shot by the overly aggressive and protective farmer near his house. At this point his shift into being able to change and listen to other people becomes pertinent to the story moving along. I feel what I was most able to relate to in this story was his actual career path as a showing gallery artist. The difference between personal connection and perception of others regarding artwork, especially photography, can be a tender subject. Although he is very proud of his work, specifically because it is different and close to him, the documentary photographers he looks up to don't see it as something even remotely interesting because it doesn't deal with any sort of international upset. I feel as though sometimes we are expected to work towards what everyone else wants to see rather than what is of personal interest to us. However, the perseverance of Marco to continue to not only shoot but really learn more about his subjects was a great viewpoint on how the world of documentary photography really should be. I don't believe that photography has to be something that deals with social causes necessarily, although it may inadvertently do so. I really enjoyed reading this book, and I'm definitely interested in reading the 2nd book.

Phoenix Vol. 2 + Bakuman Vol. 1

This week I read Phoenix Vol. 2, or "Future", and also read through the first volume (or first seven chapters) of Bakuman.

I was a little wary of going out of order with Phoenix, but since the first volume is out of print and hard to find/expensive, I went with the 2nd volume. Thankfully I found afterward that the stories all are separate but intertwined by the universal theme of the godlike Phoenix which appears throughout the entire series. I have to say I was really entertained by this particular story. The themes of the story that I saw were mostly dealing with the idea of technology, evolution, and how those two can either help or hinder each other. In the main sequence of things the idea of idolizing technology as a holy figure and something infallible is shown to be the demise of the human race. Even going further in a level, the Moopies being idolized as perfection was something that ended up being destroyed as well because it was falsifying reality. Overall I think Tezuka is mostly playing up the idea that an over indulgence in technology will ultimately lead to our own destruction. I have to say I did not expect the complete restart of evolution over the course of billions of years. As far as format it was nice that in this particular edition of the book it still read left to right, but it threw me off because I expect to read manga the opposite way. As far as character development, I felt Tezuka handled the relationship between Masato and Tamami very well, again with some surprise twists near the end.

The other manga I read was titled Bakuman, a story about two junior-high aged boys who wanted to become Mangaka. This story obviously took a more humorous approach, very much playing up the awkwardness of adolescence. Saiko and Takagi are portrayed as two of the smartest people in their 9th grade class in the midst of midterms. Of course, along with their intelligence also comes a severe amount of over-analysis of every single situation they're in, especially with each other. It's almost as if they're trying to constantly outwit the other one but also impress them. Takagi seems to think that since Saiko has manga in his bloodline that he has to really impress him all the time. Their goals are also lofty at best, primarily Saiko's desire to get married to Azuki and make her the voice actor for his anime once their manga takes off. All in all it's pretty hilarious, considering how quickly they go from being completely unsure to actually producing a manuscript and being free of worries about getting into a good high school. The art is fairly standard, although the idea of having all the stages of a manga within the manga itsel is pretty unique; sort of a way of breaking the fourth wall. I think this is actually a good standout from a lot of the high school based manga and anime I've seen or at least heard of. Rather, the main story of following the path of a mangaka is what is keeping this story more interesting. Given enough free time I would consider reading through more of the story to see where it goes since the first volume leaves off at a crucial point in their "career path" of sorts.

Fun Home + American Born Chinese

This week I read Fun Home and American Born Chinese, two stories that deal with a family story but in very different respects. Fun Home takes the path of a semi-autobiography that deals with sexuality and relationships with parents, while American Born Chinese focuses more on how others perceptions of a race. I really enjoyed reading both of these books, but for different reasons.

Fun Home was originally suggested to me by Nellie as something similar to Blankets but with a very different storyline. To say that the way that Bechdel portrays herself is different from the way that Thompson portrayed himself would be a great understatement. While Thompson's work is extremely self-centered, Bechdel shows how her father had affected her childhood, how he molded who she is now, and how their relationship unfolded. At first I felt the book was becoming more focused on her father than it was on herself with the way that she goes on about his obsession with their house and keeping it perfect. What makes her story so compelling is the hardships that she endures throughout her young life, and again, how those shape her. The story switches between her younger years and the time of her father's funeral. The title in itself is a clever play, and is further solidified when Bechdel begins to ask questions such as "who embalms the embalmer when he dies?". It also brings up the question of how much her environment has numbed her to such events, spending much of her childhood staying with family in a funeral home. What took me the most by surprise is how developed her relationship had become with her father once she started to appreciate literature in the way that he always had. For what seemed like a much closer, personal connection near the end, Bechdel took his passing in a surprisingly calm manner. Further, what I found to be a strange but still valid connection was her father's own sexual exploits being outed. Although what he was doing was terrible, it at least gave him something of a grasp on what Bechdel was going through when she came out. In this particular scene, she gains something of an acceptance from the parent who was the image of perfection throughout her time growing up. I really enjoyed reading this story, and Bechdel's very blunt and straightforward storytelling really shines in this book.

American Born Chinese dealt with stereotypes in a very different way. While the layout of the story was slightly confusing at first, the way that everything came together in the end was very well done, albeit completely unrealistic. The opening scene of Jin's first day at school immediately brought to mind reading the Boondocks anthology earlier this semester. Very much like Riley and Huey, Jin was prone to the misconceptions of the heavily white community that he had moved to. The stories of the Monkey King and Danny and Chin-Kee were more outrageous, but served a purpose to really bring home the point of the story. More specifically, reading through Danny and Chin-Kee at first read as borderline offensive. However, I still found these sections humorous based on the fact that it was really just poking fun at an exaggerated stereotype. In the end having Chin-Kee serve solely as the reminder of Danny's true heritage was a brilliant way of helping bring him back to what he should truly be concerned with. I felt that moreover this story really dealt with the idea of being an outsider, but growing to accept and appreciate said fact. What each separate story really concluded to was that there's no reason to hide who you are because it comes back to bite you in the ass regardless. Yang's use of the three converging storylines is beautifully done, and created a very pleasant read.

Maus

This was my first time reading Maus, and I worked my way through both sections of it. Spiegelman switches between present day and flashback throughout the entirety of the story as his father re-tells the story of his life during WWII. This style of storytelling lends well to something that Spiegelman didn't personally experience, while it still further examines the main characters in present day. Vladek's penny-pinching tendencies are well explained as he goes through his stories of when he was rationing bread as currency to keep himself alive. What spoke to me the most was how clever and resourceful Vladek was throughout the entire story. Even when he managed to pull himself into danger (I.E. falling for the scam of being smuggled into Hungary only to be shipped off to Auschwitz), he still keeps himself and Anja alive through his connections, his learned crafts, and ability to properly bribe. What I found even more interesting was the contrast of how this tendency instead caused a rift with his 2nd wife Mala, who saw this more as him being a hoarder and a control freak. Spiegelman manages to paint a picture of his father that is not necessarily idolizing him, but stays respectful of his past and his life stories.

One thing that Spiegelman likes to do in this story is call back on past references within the story. Vladek runs into countless friends and former associates from his time in Poland before he was sent to Auschwitz both during his hiding period and when he ends up in Auschwitz. By using his connections he shows how his unchanging character and integrity have paid off. However, Vladek also tends to keep many of these characters to just a few panels, introducing them then briefly explaining what happened to them afterward (usually ending up dead). Spiegelman uses repeated themes throughout the story, further exemplifying the number of people affected by the Holocaust. One that I noticed in particular was the repeated imagery of smoke stacks to signify a dead friend. Because these people were killed at the camp, most likely in the gas chambers, Spiegelman's choice of imagery gives the impression that although these were Vladek's friends they really became nothing more than numbers, and all saw the same fate. On pages 50 and 54 in Maus II, Spiegelman uses the same image twice with a significant difference in the latter as a transition to explain how monotonous the procession had become. Although his character designs clearly distinguish the different groupings, he gives the impression that they were all mice regardless once they were in the work camp.

Before this class I also read another graphic novel where animals were used to depict a particular nationality. This book was titled "Elmer" by Gerry Alanguilan, where chickens live in a world where they are slowly but surely trying to work their way into normal society. The largest difference I can see between these two is the fact that Maus chooses to represent all of its characters as animals, where in Elmer chickens become a new race at the same intelligence level as humans, although they still have to work towards gaining full acceptance. Although very obvious, the "cat and mouse" game that gets played throughout Maus is very successful, furthering the fact that it's the actions that are important, not necessarily the fact that it's humans doing so. Although Elmer is fictional, it does tell a story where the standout characters are the ones who want to help and push the equality between the two races, even though their direct orders are to kill and cook the chickens. Using animals as another race alongside humans encourages the idea that regardless of differences we all deserve to be equal.