Hello, friends! Today we continue the streak of readings taking straight from my course syllabi with Two Generals.
Based on journals the artist found among his late grandfather's things, Two Generals is about Law Chantler and Jack Chrysler, two officers in the Highland Light Infantry of Canada. In 1943, the two friends sailed the Atlantic to fight with the Allied forces in WWII. Primarily a story of friendship, it tells the untold story of two unknown men, the tragedy and trauma of war, and the brief glimmers of light they managed to find along the way.
I'll be real with you, guys: I almost cried reading this book. It wasn't the book I was most excited for going into my Canadian Comics class, but I'll be damned if it's not one of my favourite titles coming out of it.
While this is a story set in war times, it is not a story about war. (Does that make sense?) There's a lot less emphasis put on the actual fighting, leading the focus more towards the characters just being people, as opposed to fighting in the war. In fact, everything is more or less quiet and uneventful until the final act, leading to one big, huge, and tragic climax. It's very well paced, and gives the reader a better sense of the characters' personalities without being too caught up in the excitement of battle.
Chantler also makes good use of colour throughout, drawing emphasis towards trauma and significant events using a powerful red. The rest of the book uses a more sepia tone, almost reminiscent of an old photograph. The art style itself is super simple, but still effective--he doesn't skimp on the details when needed.
As serious and tragic as the overall situation was, it wasn't all bad. Chantler chooses to emphasize the light hearted, even funny moments throughout his grandfather's experience. Things like the entire infantry adopting a crew of farm animals, or realizing that half their group never learned how to ride a bike. The absurdity in something so real is refreshing and I found myself giggling from start to finish.
Until, y'know, everything went to shit and I almost cried.
I have no major complaints with this book, to be honest. Final rating: 4.5/5.
Until later,
- Justyne
No comments:
Post a Comment