Review: Red: A Haida Manga by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (BEDS 413)

Of all the comics I read for my Canadian Comics class last year, this one was the most unique--and also the most confusing, and the hardest to follow.

I remember very little about the actual story. Red's sister gets kidnapped, and he becomes obsessed with getting revenge. The details are blurry, but that's the basic gist of it. If you want a better understanding, this book needs to be read twice. At least.

I can appreciate what the cartoonist was trying to do. He was pulling from traditional Haida art styles to create the comic, using thick borders that, when you pull the pages apart and rearrange them together, form a larger piece of traditional art. But not only did the swirling borders make it harder to follow the linear narrative, but the art style within the borders made the events confusing to understand. Half the time, I had no idea what was going on. I was mostly making sense of what was happened based on the dialogue and other texts in the book.

Tone: lol what just happened

Enjoyment rating: 2.7

Shelf life: The only reason I haven't sold it yet is because I keep forgetting to bring it back to the uni bookstore for buyback.

TL;DR: Hard to follow, wouldn't recommend.

Until later,

- Justyne

Review: Two Generals by Scott Chantler

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

Review: An Age of License

You know what I don't review enough? Graphic novels. You know what I don't read enough? GRAPHIC NOVELS. Seriously. Graphic novels are fab, super easy and quick to read. It's a wonder I don't read more of them.

Lucy Knisley's travelogue An Age of License is one I've wanted to read for a really really long time, but it never seemed like anyone ever had it in stock. I actually found it by accident, while going on my annual Post Christmas Book Binge (aka the day that I go and use up all the gift cards that the lovely people in my life have given me). A pleasant surprise! I read the majority of it on the bus the next day. (Like I said--graphic novels provide some very fast reads!)

I'm unfamiliar with Knisley's work, but her ilustration style is what drew me to the book in the first place. It's very simplistic, cute, and welcoming to the reader. It wasn't super exaggerated, and I really appreciated some of the full-page illustrations of the things she saw while abroad. (That girl knows her watercolours!)

Some people may find this book a bit slow, to which I say....well, it's a journal. It recounts most of what she did day by day while in Europe in a visual way, including some unique sights she saw and conversations she had with others. It's not meant to be thrilling or an exciting adventure--it's more retrospective, with thoughtful consideration about her accomplishments, her future, etc etc. It's a memoir; a travelogue, as she calls it. The key is relating to the illustrator--if you can't find a similarity or two, if you can't relate to her in some shape or form, you probably won't take much away from this. (But if you do relate to her, she talks about some really interesting stuff in a very thoughtful way!)

This book really gave me the travel bug--I've always enjoyed travelling, but seeing the places she travelled to and following her along this journey really made me want to hit the road (or plane?) again! Which is bad, because I'm a poor student, as are most of my friends. Oh, well. It'll happen eventually. 

I'd give this book a solid 4 stars--and I definitely recommend it to any artists or travellers out there!

Until later,

- Justyne