It's a Bird

One of my friends got back from a vacation some days back and, knowing of my interest in graphic novels, told me of a book that one of her friends back home had gifted her. "It's called It's a Bird", she said. I hadn't heard of it, but I asked to see it. She brought it to me the following day.

 

When I looked at the cover, I hesitated. There was an illustration of people with red 's' emblems on them. I was slightly taken aback. The title fell into context - this was a Superman comic.

 

Like just about everybody I know, I've read several Superman comics over the years. Yet, if I were asked what Superman meant to me, I'd be hard put to come up with a satisfactory answer - especially to myself. In the early years, he was just busy beating up the baddies. Then he started seeing (and eventually marrying) Lois Lane and the comics drifted into exploring what a personal relationship to him might be like. I especially hated this particular phase since, to me, it was no different from the various soaps on TV. I guess my thoughts on the character were something along the lines of "I'm growing up; why doesn't he?".

 

And I stopped reading Superman comics altogether. Nothing the man did interested me; there was simply no connect. If it were a romance, I guess I'd say we were stagnant and decided to part ways. That should give you a clue about the mindset with which I set about reading It's a bird.

 

It's a Bird is not like any Superman comic I've ever read. It's not concerned with what Lex Luthor is up to, or how many baddies Superman is beating up, or what Lois Lane is doing. It's written from My point of view as a person who has read Superman, and stopped.

 

Written by Steven T. Seagle and illustrated by Teddy Kristiansen, the story is a biography of Steve (not the writer). Steve is a comic book writer who's been asked to write the next Superman comic. And does he jump at the chance? No. He wants nothing to do with it. He hates Superman - and I don't just mean the comic. Steve dislikes the very concept of a Superman. As you can imagine, Steve's editor is very surprised by his refusal to write Superman, and tells him that he won't accept "Because I don't like him" as an answer, giving Steve a few days to think it over.

 

Everywhere Steve goes, he encounters people who love Superman and is surprised by Steve's dislike. The story progresses in 3 parallel flows. One consists of intermittent flashbacks to Steve's childhood which holds a dark and shameful family secret and is the story of one day he spent at a hospital when his grandma passed away. A second one follows the present, where Steve meets various people, goes home to meet his mother, fights with his girlfriend, looks up college classmates, speaks to a mechanic, colleagues in the industry and other events in his daily life.

 

The third flow, peppered across the story, are Steve's thoughts on Superman. His introspection on the man and his analysis from a purely characterization point of view. While Seagle has expertly weaved the three threads together, this third is my favorite. The analysis done is largely common sense. It's what you and I already know, but have possibly never consciously pulled together. Steve's politics also come out very clearly, especially when he breaks down the concepts of power, justice and alienation, and how the world continues to work on a "might is right" philosophy. Even more interesting is his breakdown of how the Superman creators were Jews themselves and why possibly they thought of a Superman character as important in the world, and reflects on the choice of costume colors.

 

If you still need another reason to read this book, then consider that Kristiansen won an Eisner for his art in the book. Although done in dull colors, the artwork reflects the mood of the story perfectly. Everywhere Steve goes, he finds some sort of support for Superman, usually in the form of someone wearing an 'S' t-shirt to a point where even the reader starts to empathize with Steve's irritation with the subject. Yet its completely called for and adds and extra star to the already strong storyline.

 

Do let me know if any of you have read this one and what you thought of it. 

Exit Wounds - Dignified Excellence

2007 was a good year for the Graphic Novel. First, the success of movies based on them spurred a whole new set of readers to read the original works. Popular movies even used the medium for promotion by launching novels of their own. Then, having established itself as a treasure chest for screenplays (with the benefit of already being storyboarded), the industry saw an influx of capital with rights to various 'scripts' being bought. While all this catered to the masses, the year also produced some phenomenal work that was critically acclaimed. Rutu Modan's Exit Wounds was one of those. Despite winning the coveted 'Best Book of the Year' at the Eisner Awards earlier this year, very few readers in India have actually heard of it or read it. 

While Modan has been in the international spotlight for several years now, a lot of comic aficionados had not heard of her prior to the release of Exit Wounds. Not surprising though since almost all her work has been done in Israel, having worked on comic strips for leading newspapers and won several awards including the Andersen Award for Illustration(2001). Additionally, she's been nominated for the Eisner Awards for Best Comics Anthology of the Year as well as the Promising New Talent Award at the Ignatz Awards. 

With credentials like that, it's no surprise that Exit Wounds is a must-read for any serious graphic novel fan. And if you already are a comic buff, then this is the book that you should hold up to those who say that it's all kid's stuff. 

If you're wondering whether it’s the story or the illustration… well, it's neither by itself, but the balance of both.  Exit Wounds is the story of Koby Franco, a Tel Aviv cab driver in his twenties. The story begins when a woman soldier, tells him that she believes his estranged father was recently killed by a suicide bomber. Koby's initial reaction is one of nonchalance, but she convinces him to help her find out if he did die in the blast. And why is she so concerned about an old man whose own son couldn't care less? Because she was romantically involved with him. And so begins the cross-country hunt.

Modan tells the story expertly; weaving theories for the reader only to shatter them and pull them deeper into the mystery. The chemistry between the two central characters is built up as they constantly fight and allows the reader comic relief, while building up sympathies with their confusion. The backdrop of Tel Aviv adds greatly to this, with the artwork peppered with real-life trauma of those who live there. Yet, not once, do Modan or any of her characters place blame on anyone. This lack of hatred builds up compassion in the reader. 

The artwork is characteristically modest. Modan's bold colours are used with a lot of discretion and contrast well in order to highlight what the author wants the reader to see. It is simple, yet engaging - just right for such a strong story. 

Do make an effort to read this one, if you haven't already. 

P.S - Before I sign off, here's a bit of trivia on Rutu Modan. While most people think of her only as an author of serious contemporary novels, she's also the co-editor of the Hebrew edition of MAD Magazine! 

DevaShard: At First Light - An epic is born

Some months back, a friend referred me to a blog about a new company in Hong Kong called Fluid Friction. They had apparently put together an international team of writers and artists to come out with Hong Kong's first international graphic novel. Intrigued, I checked it out. 

The blog was a record of artwork development for a story called DevaShard which was loosely based on the Mahabharata. Not only did the blog capture each stage of the creation of a graphic novel and its characters, but there were even images of the brilliant artwork that was being developed for it. I loved it.

That's why I was excited when I finally got the first book in the series: At First Light. To say the least, it's a feast for the eyes. 

Before the comic begins, there's a short note from the Fluid Friction team. It declares that their intent is to create an alternate fantasy world for readers - where one can be immersed in a fantastic story and art. 

Do they live up to it? Let's see. 

First, the art. 

The book portrays quite a variety of settings as the story jumps through time and place. In Rhimn, where it’s a rainy night in a garden lit with green-flamed torches. At Lasan, where everything is made of ice. In Ethaar, where there's a rainforest with a river. Each presents a surrounding that has been carefully thought out by the creators. Pains have been taken to ensure that even the flora and fauna are different.  

The ensemble of characters is for the most part humanoid - some have a couple of extra limbs. More interesting, though, are the variations of style and features within these characters. The 5-tailed daemon king has a very east-European face with high cheekbones and long straight hair (and has one blue and one red eye). The voluptuous queen and the charioteer have very distinct Indian features and wouldn't be out of place in some of the current Indian comics. The young prince and the princess have a very 'manga' look to them. Despite these differences, there's a distinct style that blends the characters together. Kudos to the art team for that. 

The inking and coloring for each of the panels had been done with painstaking care - with the colors always just supporting, complimenting, and never overshadowing, the finely inked lines. I would love to get my hands on the original artwork of some of the panels. 

The 'art' aspect of their goal has definitely been achieved. While the book itself is an easy read, it's the art which keeps the eyes roving over the panels repeatedly, which are at times incredibly detailed.

Now, for the story.

Like the first chapter of any story, At First Light sets the tone and background for a story that is yet to come, introducing characters and giving snippets of events that are as yet not connected. I don't expect to see the main story begin to unfold till the 3rd chapter. But that doesn't mean it's not racy - it is, in fact, quite fast paced.

To help readers get an idea of the story to come, the book has two story overviews. The first is the back cover which tells us that DevaShard is about a boy "who's robbed of his birthright and plunged into a land gripped by darkness" where he must "fight to become a fearsome warrior if he is to survive". 

The second is the longer prologue inside. It introduces Bhumi as a magical world and tells us that a war is about to come where mankind's sole hope will be a daemon army. It also introduces "Moonstones", which are portals spread across Bhumi. More importantly, though, it tells us what to expect in terms of a story - which is about two forsaken sons whose lives are destined to be interlinked in a struggle, be tested by adversity and loss, and learn that "some fights, no matter how unjust cannot be walked away from". 

My verdict on the story: very promising. The world of Bhumi has a lot of potential and can become a base for several stories like DevaShard. 

The last few pages of the comic has brief bios of a few characters and a map of Bhumi. While the map is good for reference, it would have been helpful, especially since this is the first installment, if they had put short bios of some of the characters in this chapter before the story began. Also, it does take some amount of turning back pages to get your bearings - more because the reader needs to get familiar with an entire cast of new characters. 

All in all, it's not often that one gets  the chance to see the birth of an epic - and a stunner like this one is not to be missed. 

You can see the DevaShard blog here and visit the official site here.