April 29, 2022

A Review of Derf Backderf's Kent State: Four Dead In Ohio

April 29, 2022/ Ross Webster

Written by Ross Webster

By Derf Backderf

Published by: Abrams Books

$24.99

Derf Backderf knows more than most that it is one thing to read about historical events, or to watch them unfold on TV news (and increasingly social media), and another thing to be present for history as it happens. He first made this point clear in his breakthrough graphic novel, My Friend Dahmer, where he reflects on what it was like to go to high school with the troubled teen who would grow up to be one of America’s most notorious serial killers.

In Kent State: Four Dead In Ohio, Backderf returns to his native Buckeye State - but further back in time for this trip to May, 1970 and four catastrophic days at Kent State University that ended in bloodshed. This event, due to contemporary circumstances, feels disturbingly resonant again amid social unrest driven largely by paranoia, conspiracy theories, and a governments with few qualms about subverting democracy. With his latest graphic novel Backderf seeks to set the record straight on the events of the four days in May we think we know so well and to give life back to the four slain students through painstaking research and a historically informed imagination. The result is a far more dynamic, frightening, tragic and infuriating tale than the official record or historical memory has ever given us.

Those across the country that can remember the Kent State Massacre - but were not direct participants - by and large do so vaguely. They mainly remember the infamous photo of a girl screaming over the body of a slain student and all the of the civil disfunction of Nixon’s America that it came to symbolize. Whether younger generations remember Kent State beyond the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young song, is perhaps an even thornier question. In an interview with The Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics (an excerpt of which was posted on Kent State University’s website to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the massacre), Backderf commented on the inadequacy of photographs (even the most iconic) to convey truth, history and meaning over time. And aside from the most iconic image most fail to capture anything meaningful about the events that transpired.[1] This is in part because the most critical events at Kent State occurred at night which of course was difficult at best to cover with 1970s camera technology. This is where a medium like comics can often fill in the blanks of our collective historical memory and, through a combination of well-informed research and a touch of creative license, can free historical events from the obscurity and aphorism created by both the passage of time and the desire for socio-political actors to dilute and divest historical narratives of their power.[2]

To first drive the atmosphere of the times Backderf begins not at Kent State but in his hometown of Richfield, Ohio where, as a ten-year-old boy, he observed Ohio National Guard soldiers who were called in to quell striking truck workers. It is a grim reminder that much of the true fear, danger and violence of the late Sixties and early Seventies has been diluted both by time and nostalgia. There would be no bloodshed at the picket lines on April 30, 1970 as that evening, President Nixon announced the invasion of Cambodia. The guardsmen were sent to a new domestic battleground.

When readers get to Kent State University for the first time, they are introduced to two narrative threads; the lives of the four slain students, and the historical record counting down to May 4, 1970 like an ominous ticking time bomb. If one of the purposes of “Kent State:…” is to restore life to the four slain students and free them from the obscurity of history, then it is appropriate to get a glimpse at who they were;

Sandy Scheuer - a 20-year-old speech therapy student who, although opposed to the Vietnam War, is reluctant to get involved in the demonstrations stirring up across campus and beyond.

Jeff Miller - also 20, dating Sandy and far more committed to making a stand at his increasingly besieged university.

Alison Krause - a 19-year-old student looking to transfer to the University of Buffalo and away from the engulfing chaos.

Bill Schroeder - a 19-year-old ROTC cadet who, while not partaking in the protests, has increasing doubts about the direction his country is going in.

Backderf pieced their lives together from a combination of interviews from Kent State’s May 4 Collection (many of which are part of the Kent State Truth Tribunal; a project spearheaded by Allison Krause’s sister, Laurel), Interviews he conducted -including friends of Jeff Miller and Sandy Scheuer- and some creative license. When following the goings on of the four students, the reader is granted some brief reprieve from the growing sense of tension and chaos in and around their university. Their stories are a reminder that they were living, breathing people and not mere footnotes of history. You learn that Alison Krause liked to care for stray animals; that Sandy Scheuer and Jeff Miller were in love; and that Bill Shroeder was a fan of The Rolling Stones. You are also reminded that they were all known and loved by others. That they had parents who desperately wished for their safety. We all know that this would be cruelly denied.

The other portions of “Kent State…” could not be more different. Here Backderf maintains a careful balance between stating historical fact and circumstances without compromising the emotional gravity of his artwork (a task I don’t think Backderf always succeeds at in this work). The stark drawings in crisp black-and-white capture horrifying acts of violence (primarily state-sponsored) and abuses of power up the chains of command from the Ohio National Guard all the way to the U.S. intelligence agencies. Any one of the players opposite the students - be they lowly privates or the highest echelons of the U.S. government - are presented as living case studies for the banality of evil (Ironically many of those enlisted did so to avoid being sent to Vietnam).[3] However, Backderf reserves his strongest condemnations for the chief administrators of the Ohio National Guard, namely Brigadier General Robert Canterbury; General Sylvester del Corso; the Mayor of Kent, Leroy Satrom; and Governor of Ohio Jim Rhodes.

All these men are a dangerous cocktail of careerism, authoritarian impulses, and Cold War-fueled paranoia. In practice, this trickles down the chain of command and informs every crucial decision made at Kent State with bloody arrogance, staggering ineptitude, and stupid, horrifying cruelty. There was disregard for the lives and safety of all in their way be they demonstrators or innocent bystanders.[4]

While Backderf pins most of the blame on the forces of law and order (rightfully so) he does not let certain student actors off the hook. Namely the mob of students who on the night of May 1, set fire to the campus ROTC building - which in turn escalated the authoritarian instincts of their antagonists and justified their paranoid delusions in their minds. Backderf goes to great lengths to put their fears into context. It is easy in hindsight to forget that antiwar and civil rights movements in the 1960s and 1970s were in many ways a de facto civil war - with both J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI and CIA (illegally) infiltrating college campuses to root out activist organizations such as Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the Youth International Movement (Yippies) and the infamous Weather Underground. The real-life rhetoric and antics of the Far-Left domestic terrorist organization served mostly to fuel the fears, delusions and willing ignorance of the authorities who equated all protesters with them.

Backderf notes that a major exception to the conduct of the protests was The Black United Students, who’s tactics exhibited far more restraint than their other left-wing cohorts and declined to participate in the major rallies. The reasoning for this was their leadership sensing the increasing disjunction of the protests and the grim knowledge that the National Guard would be far more willing to shoot black protesters than white ones (given previous experience when the Guard was called on to enforce martial law in black neighborhoods in Cleveland and Akron in the late Sixties).

It’s also from here readers get a glimpse into the career of Terry Norman, an undercover campus cop who serves somewhat as a source of comic relief throughout this tragedy. Tasked with keeping the Kent Campus police informed (and in effect the FBI), Norman didn’t seem to grasp the basic tenets of undercover field work. He was constantly bragging about his work off campus; failing to keep a low profile (let alone a believable cover as a yearbook photographer); and trigger happy with a side pistol whenever under pressure. Again, while these aspects can be seen as comedic they also add to the bewildering incompetence of the higher-ups who sent Norman into the field.

Another tool Backderf uses to convey the weight of historic events are detailed maps of the Kent State University campus. Beginning with the campus in its peacetime default mode, subsequent maps depict the movements of protesters and soldiers throughout the four days and resemble something more akin to war maps. While the purpose of the maps is practical, the historical point is driven hard; this was an assault on civilian life. Every battle movement and every arrow are a stain on the normalcy that the students once enjoyed and should have been able to take for granted.

The final portion of Backderf’s chronicle is obviously the shooting, and no reader is spared from all that entails. From the paths of the bullets through the bodies of the four slain to the horrific injuries to nine other students; the terror felt by the evacuating faculty and student body to the rage inducing unwillingness of all authorities to accept responsibility; and the failure to adequately punish or disgrace them (with the exceptions of Generals del Canto and Canterbury - who effectively saw the end of their military careers). Finally, numbness and sadness as the loved ones of the slain reel from grief and the stains on their memories from the miscarriages of justice and the marginalization of their tragedy by the powers that be. However now, in part thanks to “Kent State…,” their humanity can finally break past the veil of time and obscurity and make us feel.

I first became aware of Derf Backderf in the pages of Chuck Klosterman’s landmark book of cultural essays, Sex, Drugs, and Coco-Puffs. In one essay about serial killers, he mentioned Backderf as one of his co-workers when he worked at the Akron Beacon Journal who just happened to be writing a comic book memoir about going to high school with Jeffrey Dahmer. It was some years later I picked up the completed hardcover edition and was blown away at Backderf’s mastery of balancing moments of hilarity and sadness along with the disturbing details of Dahmer’s childhood. I also admired his ability to portray Dahmer sympathetically without fetishizing his murders, a feat rarely achieved by most true crime novels (this is largely due to the graphic novel being set before Dahmer slayed his first victim).[5]

I also loved Derf’s sense of place and how alive Akron, Ohio in the 1970s felt in his art style. He would repeat this again in Trashed, a hilarious semi-autobiographical tale of the antics of a college dropout and his garbage collector coworkers in small-town Ohio. Trashed also served as a serious study into America’s relationship to waste management and our collective failure to create a more ecologically sustainable method of reducing and disposing our garbage.[6] I have always been drawn to artists and authors (be it comics or prose) whose works are deeply tied to a place - and in that Backderf proves as adept a chronicler of the Rust Belt as his late also Cleveland-based compatriot, Harvey Pekar.[7]

Backderf’s striking irreverent style which is often reminiscent of Robert Crumb makes him an excellent political cartoonist.[8] His copious research backs his art up with substance. However, if there is one area where Kent State… falls short of Backderf’s previous work, it is that the art and text are often overly dependent on the other. There are very few “quiet” moments where characters and scenes are allowed to just be and let the art do the talking. Given the necessity to account for and explain the historical events - as well as the ticking time bomb nature of the pacing of the events between April 30 and May 4, 1970 - it was probably more difficult to include such quiet moments compared to “My Friend Dahmer,” which had the luxury of being paced over several years.

Kent State: Four Dead In Ohio is available from Abram’s Books as a single hardcover graphic novel, as well as in a digital edition. The book was initially slated to be released in 2020, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Kent State Massacre. However, the onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic delayed publishing for a year. However due to the worst of circumstances, events have unfurled to make the tragedy feel once again resonant. After the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN on May 2020, and the subsequent anti-police brutality protests across the nation as well as the heavy handed response of law enforcement in cities like Minneapolis, Louisville, New York, Denver and Portland Oregon, as well as the then-Presidential administration’s attempts to exploit the crisis for political gain, it is impossible not to see parallels between May 1979 and May 2020 (One major difference though was the Nixon administration’s exploitation was largely successful while the Trump administration’s was incompetent and an utter failure).[9] As a result, Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio both meets and transcends its initial purpose of making an account of the events and honoring the victims of the terrible four days in May fifty years ago. In addition, it is now a warning that freedom and civil liberties should not be taken for granted and that it is the duty of citizens to take power to task for its abuses. For this we all should owe Derf Backderf our thanks for reminding us of the potential powers of comics.

[1] A similar example of the inadequacy of uncontextualized photographic record occurred two years prior with the Pulitzer Prize winning photograph “The Summary Execution of Nguyen Van Lem.” Taken during the Tet Offensive by Associated Press photographer Eddie Adams, the infamous photo depicts the summary execution of Viet Cong operative Nguyen Van Lem by South Vietnamese General Nguyen Ngoc Loan for the alleged murder of a South Vietnamese Lt. Colonel and his family. In the public sphere, the photo came to symbolize the worst aspects of America’s dysfunctional conduct of the Vietnam War and galvanized the Anti-War movement back home. Despite the Pulitzer Prize, Adams has long felt regret for taking the photo both for exploiting the victim’s death and for generating the disgrace of General Loan even as a refugee in the United States.

[2] This seems to have been the case ever since Art Spiegelman’s Maus debuted back in 1986. Other prime examples include Joe Sacco’s Footnotes From Gaza & Paying The Land, Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis, Igort’s The Russian & Ukrainian Notebooks, Allison Bechdel’s Fun Home, Frank Smith & Jared Rainmuth’s Big Black: Stand At Attica, Sarah Glidden’s Rolling Blackouts, Thi Bui’s The Best We Could Do, and Keum Suk Gendry Kim’s Grass & The Waiting.

[3] Coined by German-Jewish American political philosopher Hannah Arendt, the “banality of evil” refers to the notion that normal human beings - free of mental illness or ideological motivation - can be conditioned by social advancement or pressures of conformity to normalize and carry out inhuman acts; be they in Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union or even the democratic United States. Arendt arrived at these conclusions while observing the trial of Adolf Eichmann, one of the primary planners of The Holocaust, in Jerusalem in 1961. While her conclusions have substance, Arendt is frequently criticized for taking Eichmann’s “only following orders” defense too much at face value. Given that he was a high ranking implementor of Nazi policy and an avowed antisemite, Eichmann by all available evidence was far from just a cog in the machine.

[4] While many of those in command of the Ohio National Guard served in World War II, almost none of them saw actual combat. While I don’t think Backderf intended to disparage anyone who served primarily as desk jockeys during the war, it seems to drive the point that few in command at Kent State truly understood or appreciated the violence that they were tasked to dispense with.

[5] A film adaptation of My Friend Dahmer was made in 2017 directed by Marc Myers starring Ross Lynch as Dahmer and Alex Wolff as a young Backderf, which received much critical acclaim.

[6] His other graphic novel, “Punk Rock & Trailer Parks” is set amid Akron’s vibrant punk scene in the late 70s and early 80s which included musicians like Devo, Chrissie Hynde, The Pretenders and The Cramps. Unfortunately, I have yet to read it. The same goes for his compilations of political cartoons he did for the Akron Beacon Journal.

[7] Along with Pekar, other graphic novelists and places that I find that meet this criteria include Julia Wurtz’s New York City, Paul Madonna’s San Francisco, Andi Watson’s English Midlands, Alison Bechdel’s rural Pennsylvania, Jack Edward Jackson’s Texas, Jeff Lemire’s Essex County Ontario, Posy Simmonds’ London & South English countryside, Craig Thompson’s rural Wisconsin, Kan Takahama’s Kyushu islands, Dylon Horrocks’ North Island New Zealand, Emi Lennox and Natalie Nourigat’s Oregon and my own city of Denver’s Karl Christian Krumpholz.

[8] Among Crumb’s artistic descendants I’d also include Dan Clowes, Peter Bagge, Evan Dorkin, Lynda Barry (whom Backderf cites as a direct influence), Joe Sacco, Chris Ware, Adian Tomine and Ellen Forney.

[9] Backderf also noted that 11 days after the Kent State Massacre, a similar protest broke out at the historically black Jackson State University in Mississippi which resulted in police fatally shooting two students and injuring twelve others. Unlike Kent State though, the outrage failed to make national headlines.

June 08, 2021

A Review of Giant Days by Allison, Treiman, & Sarin

June 08, 2021/ Ross Webster

Written by Ross Webster

Giant Days Vol. 5, p.107 — ***Giant Days*** *Vol. 5, p.107*

By: John Allison (writer), Lissa Treiman & Max Sarin (artists)

Published by: BOOM! Studios

$9.99-$12.99 per volume

Giant Days Vol. 1, p.6 — ***Giant Days*** *Vol. 1, p.6*

The premise of Giant Days is a deceptively simple one. Three girls - Susan Ptolemy, Daisy Wooton and Esther de Groot - meet at the University of Sheffield in the U.K. simply due to their adjoining dorm rooms. Together, they traverse the challenges of college life and impending adulthood through their wits, will and most importantly, their friendship. Easily a plot that one will find in hundreds of movies, TV sitcoms, and yes, even comics. However, Giant Days stands out from the rest thanks to combination of the stellar writing of John Allison and the dynamically fluid and eye-catching artwork of Lisa Treiman and Max Sarin.

Giant Days: Early Registration, p.18 — ***Giant Days: Early Registration****, p.18*

Giant Days’ origins are humble. In 2009 John Allison had completed his longest webcomic (Scary Go Round) and was thinking of where to go next. An obvious direction Allison went with was two spin-offs; the first, Bad Machinery - which went on to great acclaim, even making the Young Adult Library Services Association’s annual “Great Graphic Novels For Teens” list in 2016.[1] The other project, Giant Days which followed supporting cast member Esther de Groot making her way through her freshman year at college with little more intended than a character study - which was sidelined by disinterest and a crisis of confidence on Allison’s part. Despite these setbacks, churning ideas and a growing attachment to his characters sent Allison back to the drawing board. Finally, he pitched his revised version to Shannon Watters (editor at BOOM! Studios and co-creator of the hit YA comic series, Lumberjanes) who saw its potential. Much to Allison’s surprise and relief, Giant Days was an overnight hit and his first work to breach a wider audience beyond the realm of webcomics.

Giant Days: Early Registration, p. 79 — ***Giant Days: Early Registration****, p. 79*

John Allison was one of the earliest creators of webcomics beginning with Bobbins which ran from 1998 to 2002 and during his seven-year run on Scary Go Round (2002-2009). Like many early webcomics creators, his style gradually evolved from stiff vector art to one that felt more natural and freer flowing. However, while Allison’s own art is excellent, it is difficult to imagine Giant Days making the impact it did if he remained the soul creator. It would have been too easy for readers unfamiliar with Allison’s previous work (or perhaps more accurately, the publishers second guessing the tastes and tolerance of their readership) to dismiss his rough unpolished style and fail to notice his brilliant writing and unforgettable characters. In order to reach the mainstream, Giant Days needed to pop.

Giant Days Vol. 2, p. 47 — ***Giant Days*** *Vol. 2, p. 47*

Fortunately for him and all, BOOM! managed to team Allison up with two phenomenal artists; Southern California-based Lissa Treiman (on issues 1-6) - who was and still is an accomplished storyboard artist with Disney; and Max Sarin (Issues 7–37, 40–47, 49–54 ), a Finnish cartoonist only beginning to dabble in comics at Glyndwr University in Wales and later at Kanneljärven Opisto in her home country.[2] Treiman put her talents as a storyboard artist to great effect for the first six issues.[3] Giant Days now had a rhythm ebb and flow that it previously didn’t in Allison’s original miniseries. As cliché as it might sound, the reading experience does feel more like watching an animated show than reading a comic (especially given similarities to the current Disney style). It is no surprise that Treiman’s best sequences are dance scenes, brawls, and team huddles. Also, it’s when Treiman started working that the cast of Giant Days, especially its primary trio of Esther, Susan and Daisy, became a true ensemble.

Although the three girls were first introduced in the original miniseries, everything heavily revolved around Esther de Groot, which is not surprising given that she had just spun off from Allison’s webcomics (note* One does not need to have read the original webcomics to enjoy Giant Days). When BOOM! Studios picked up Giant Days and handed the artwork over to Treiman, John Allison had plenty of time to flesh out the rest of the cast. At this point it seems appropriate to get to know the cast a little better starting with the trio.

Giant Days Vol. 1, p.23 — ***Giant Days*** *Vol. 1, p.23*

Esther de Groot, a goth girl, metalhead and English major from the Yorkshire town of Tackleford with a penchant for creating drama for herself and anyone within a one-mile radius.

Giant Days Vol. 1, p.41 — ***Giant Days*** *Vol. 1, p.41*

Susan Ptolemy, a medical student from Northampton who’s cynical, grounded, and tough demeanor belies a more sensitive side and a deep fear of commitment - save for her smoking habit.

Giant Days Vol. 1, p. 74 — ***Giant Days*** *Vol. 1, p. 74*

Daisy Wooten, a sweet-natured naïve biracial home-schooled orphan raised by her grandmother, discovering the outside world and her nascent homosexuality - all while studying archeology.

Also, under Treiman Giant Days’ two most prominent male characters became more fleshed out.

Giant Days Vol. 1, p.24 — ***Giant Days*** *Vol. 1, p.24*

Ed Gemmell, a shy nerdy kid trying to discover himself while harboring an unrequited crush on Esther.

Giant Days Vol. 1, p.87 — ***Giant Days*** *Vol. 1, p.87*

Graham McGraw, the stoic mustachioed mature former childhood friend, sometimes rival of Susan’s from Northampton who still harbors romantic feelings for her.

Giant Days Vol. 5, p. 104 — ***Giant Days*** *Vol. 5, p. 104*

After issue six, Treiman ceased to do the primary art for Giant Days (though she would do the issue cover art until issue 24), while Max Sarin took over. As previously mentioned, she had no previous professional cartooning experience, but with Allison’s encouragement hit the ground running and brought a fresh new dynamic to the series.

Giant Days Vol. 8, p. 13 — **Giant Days** Vol. 8, p. 13

Giant Days Vol. 6, p. 34 — **Giant Days** Vol. 6, p. 34

While Treiman’s style focused on the external, Sarin’s emphasized the internal beginning at the surface level with some of the greatest facial expressions ever produced in the medium. But even beyond facial expressions Sarin’s art gave the series a boost in emotional gravity.

Giant Days Vol. 3, p.15 — ***Giant Days*** *Vol. 3, p.15*

Giant Days Vol. 9, p.57 — ***Giant Days*** *Vol. 9, p.57*

It goes without saying that the threshold between one’s teens and full-fledged adulthood are a cocktail of new experiences and sensations; earning your college marks, determining your future career, falling in and out of love, making life-long friends, finding the first place to live on your own, and having whatever assumptions you had about yourself and the world shattered by reality for good or for ill. Giant Days covers all this ground and then some. As mentioned before this is hardly untrodden ground, but Max Sarin’s fantastical, surreal, and absurd manifestations of college life’s pageantry - be it a young man’s first sexual encounter gone unexpectedly wrong, the hideous physical manifestation of a wicked hangover after a night of drunken revelry or the stages of grief after a breakup. All are very much in synch with Allison’s tone and sensibilities[4]

Giant Days Vol. 4, p. 37 — ***Giant Days*** *Vol. 4, p. 37*

Giant Days Vol. 6, p. 60 — ***Giant Days*** *Vol. 6, p. 60*

Of course, there is enough hilarity in Giant Days to balance out the drama, from the triumph of gaining your first shared home, only to find yourself scurrying away from it within seconds like rats after a rent misunderstanding. Blowing up at a smug berating assistant professor with the righteous fury of a thousand suns, to trying to keep it all together at your ex’s dinner party (and clearly failing). As the reader is mesmerized by either Treiman or Sarin’s art they then discover the final gold nugget, John Allison’s writing.

Giant Days Vol. 3, p. 90 — ***Giant Days*** *Vol. 3, p. 90*

Giant Days Vol. 3, p. 91 — ***Giant Days*** *Vol. 3, p. 91*

Allison possesses above all else a fantastic wit and is a master of wordplay. Even more impressive is his ability to carry that wit and wordplay into the more drama-laden scenes of Giant Days without once breaking tone; a feat rarely achieved in any medium of art including comics. To say that Allison’s characters therefore “feel more real” is a disservice. Even in the most surreal and absurd seeming scenarios, Giant Days’ characters are as real as anyone you have ever known or will know, from our three heroines right down to one-scene eccentrics serving no purpose other than comic relief. Everyone switches evenly from wonderful to awful and insufferable to inseparable. Anyone who decides to invest their time and money into the wonderful synthesis of Allison’s writing and Treiman and Sarin’s artwork will not only discover a great comic series, but will make new friends. And much like Esther, Daisy, and Susan’s cultivated sisterhood and the friendships made with Ed, Graham, (and too many others for one review to cover) it will carry you through both good times and bad. And even after college, no matter how much post-graduate life pans out for you (or not) you will be richer and stronger for those bonds.

I first became aware of John Allison in the spring of 2006 in the pages of Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Saddness. After having consumed the third volume of the troubled indie rock, martial arts and video game infused love-life of everyone’s favorite Canadian slacker, I skimmed the bonus content of the book. There I stumbled upon a guest comic whom Scott Pilgrim’s creator, Bryan Lee O’Malley, introduced as the creator of the “delightfully English webcomic, Scary Go Round.” Being then and now an avid consumer of British pop culture, namely Edgar Wright’s Spaced at the time, I decided to go searching online. Scary Go Round had me hooked from the start with its forays into magical realism, horror and sci-fi yet still retaining a comedic and slice-of-life tonality. since then, I’ve avidly followed his subsequent works.[5] In time that single guest comic became a “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”-esque gateway to many other webcomics and creators whom I’ve also come to cherish.[6]

When Giant Days broke out right after its debut at BOOM! studios, I was surprised and elated that finally John Allison was being recognized outside of webcomics, a medium while growing in scope and sophistication is only just coming out of its often marginal and sometimes maligned status. As mentioned throughout this review it was equally thrilling to see Allison work with a team of new artists and see how each could complement each other’s work. Although Giant Days has run its course, concluding in 2019, Allison has since gone on to create new published titles, and it looks like his name has enough clout that mainstream publishers are confident to publish him as solo creator and artist. However, given Max Sarin’s covers for both new titles, I doubt we have seen the last of further collaborations.[7]

Giant Days Vol. 9, p. 101 — ***Giant Days*** *Vol. 9, p. 101*

Available from BOOM! Studios, Giant Days is available in 59 single issues counting three specials or 14 trade paper-back volumes - and all are available digitally or in print. There are also three hardcover “Not on the Test” editions (though it seems these have ceased continuation).[8] The only drawback I can possibly think of for Giant Days is the inevitable transatlantic hurtle between British and American dialect and comedic sensibilities, but for most readers this barrier is easily overcome. Of all of John Allison’s stellar creations, Giant Days is his most accessible and therefore the best starting off point. And whether one chooses to explore further into his worlds, or if they are content to remain with and cherish Esther, Daisy, and Susan’s Giant Days, they will be with you forever and you won’t regret a moment.

[1] Printed volumes of Bad Machinery are published by Oni Press.

[2] During her time working with Giant Days, was mentored by Allison, Sr. Oni Press editor Jasmine Amiri, and cartoonist, Dan Berry [also host of the podcast “Make It and tell Everybody”).

[3] Prior to working on Giant Days, Treiman had previously worked on storyboards for major Disney projects including Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph and Big Hero 6.

[4] Unlike Allison’s other works, which often veer into the supernatural, magical realism, horror and science fiction, Giant Days is mostly grounded in reality.

[5] Bad Machinery, Bobbins, Giant Days, Destroy History, Steeple, and most recently Wicked Things

[6] Included in this pantheon are Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques, Anders Loves Maria by Rene Engstrom, Octopus Pie by Meredith Gran, Chloe Noonan: Monster Hunter by Marc Ellerby, EmiTown by Emily Lenox, Wasted Talent by Angela Melick, The Fox Sister by Cristina Strain & Jayd Aït-Kaci, Stand Still Stay Silent by Minna Sundberg and Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu.

[7] Steeple from Dark Horse Comics, and Wicked Things from BOOM! Studios (Max Sarin does all artwork for Wicked Things)..

[8] There is also a YA novel adaptation of Giant Days by author Non Prat published by Amulet Books.

October 31, 2020

A Review of From Hell: Master Edition from Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell

October 31, 2020/ Ross Webster

Written by Ross Webster

From Hell: Master Edition Cover. — **From Hell: Master Edition** Cover.

By: Alan Moore (writer) & Eddie Campbell (artist)

Published by: Top Shelf

$49.99

A panel from From Hell (B&W) Chapter 09 Page 56. — A panel from **From Hell** (B&W) Chapter 09 Page 56.

Upon release of From Hell, their gory decade-long saga of the Whitechapel Murders that plagued London in the late 19th century, Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell could be forgiven for bringing an incomplete masterpiece into the world. In any case critics and readers barely noticed, they were too busy being lured in and mesmerized by its morbid tale of Victorian London at the peak of empire; of the prostitute victims and their hard scrabble lives in the Whitechapel slums; of Frederick Abberline, the troubled Scotland Yard detective’s hopeless pursuit of justice; and of course the murderer at the heart of it all, Jack the Ripper.

A panel from From Hell (B&W) Chapter 09 Page 33. — A panel from **From Hell** (B&W) Chapter 09 Page 33.

Although the mystery of the Ripper’s identity remains unsolved 130 years to this day, Moore uniquely gives the killer an identity; Sir William Gull, royal surgeon to Queen Victoria and high-ranking Freemason who is tasked to cover up an illegitimate child of a shopgirl, Annie Crook (fictional) and Prince Albert Victor, next in line to the crown. When the baby is forcibly given away, and the mother is locked up in an asylum and made invalid by Dr. Gull’s intentionally botched thyroid operation, it seems his task is done. However, her prostitute friends, Mary Anne Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly (tragically known to history as the canonical five) discover the plot and threaten to reveal it to the public. To counter this new threat, Gull takes on the persona of the infamous Ripper and hunts them down one by one - and with each ungodly deed, Gull succumbs to his own dark desires and eventually madness.[1]

A panel from From Hell (B&W) Chapter 09 Page 58. — A panel from **From Hell** (B&W) Chapter 09 Page 58.

Readers would’ve undoubtedly noticed the series was presented in rough black and white, from lightly sketched pieces almost resembling illustrated magazines of the Victorian era, to oppressive all-consuming nightfall or shadows whose presence in the book is rivaled by one element; blood - which glistens like midnight. Despite how it might seem, the decision to tell this story in black and white was purely one of economics. Printing anything in color was difficult, laborious and expensive, especially in cash-strapped 1980s Britain. The black and white was so intrinsic to the book that Campbell refused initial offers to color it, believing it impossible due to the difficulty of putting color inks on top of originally black and white artwork. However, 30 years later, Campbell finally accepted the challenge and chose to do all his coloring digitally with all of its palates and options previously unimaginable. The big question is this: does the Master Edition improve on Moore and Campbell’s original work? For me, the answer is a resounding yes.

A panel from From Hell: Master Edition Chapter 03 Page 08 — A panel from **From Hell: Master Edition** Chapter 03 Page 08

I confess that when I first obtained the complete original From Hell, I only read through it partially. While the artwork was impressive, too often it felt muddled and messy combined with the excruciating levels of gore and Moore’s legendarily dense layers of text. For what is otherwise one of the greatest triumphs of the medium, it was one I could only stomach in small doses. However, the first thing one notices if they haven’t read the graphic novel in some time, is just now how everything pops. From the first dead seabird in the prologue to the gas lamp lit streets to the advertisements adorning carriages, hotel lobbies and drugstores. What these new details do is force the reader to examine every detail, every color contrast, and every available line of dialogue all in single go and watch them weave the story. One example where this seems especially true is during Gull’s Psychogeographic tour of London.[2]

A panel from From Hell (B&W) Chapter 04 Page 16. — A panel from **From Hell** (B&W) Chapter 04 Page 16.

Before the murders, Dr. Gull instructs his driver John Netley, to tour several London landmarks, Cleopatra’s Needle and the churches of 18th century architect Nicholas Hawksmoor. Their significance according to Gull, are that they are long forgotten places of pagan ritual and mystical power. In the case of St. George’s Bloomsbury Church in the original graphic novel, while it is an impressive structure it does not seem especially out of place in its West End neighborhood.

A panel from From Hell: Master Edition Chapter 04 Page 16. — A panel from **From Hell: Master Edition** Chapter 04 Page 16.

However, in the Master Edition Campbell introduces blue skies, fog and smog to the landscape and gives color to the surrounding buildings. The Church in turn is a pristine marble island, almost otherworldly and ethereal in a sea of urban human muck. Not only are the readers learning about Gull’s personal beliefs and world view, it is much clearer to see what is going on inside his mind. There is a similar effect with the other most prominent landmarks; Cleopatra’s Needle, and Christchurch Spitalsfield. As he describes their supposed forgotten origins and power, the color contrast transforms them into something more phallic, or blade-like. [3]

A panel from From Hell (B&W) Chapter 10 Page 12. — A panel from **From Hell** (B&W) Chapter 10 Page 12.

There is absolutely no way to talk about From Hell without about the blood and gore. It is either the main deal maker or breaker for anyone who dares to read the graphic novel. One of the most stunning and horrific scenes of the whole book is the sequence when Gull proceeds to eviscerate the recently murdered Catherine Eddowes’ corpse and takes on the Ripper persona. The original version was a frightening and relentless journey into the guts of poor violated Eddowes and into Gull’s early days as a surgeon and even a vision of a London corporate office 100 years into the future. As striking as the imagery was, I’m inclined to agree with Eddie Campbell in an interview with Previews Magazine who said that after reading the Master Edition the original will feel like viewing it through a woolly sweater.[4]

A panel from From Hell: Master Edition Chapter 10 Page 19. — A panel from **From Hell: Master Edition** Chapter 10 Page 19.

In the original sequence it was easy for more squeamish readers to briskly glance and skim through the unpleasantness and dismiss it almost like a fever-dream. Now fully colorized, the reader has no choice but go along with clear eyes and follow Dr. Gull’s macabre ritual cut by bloody cut. It is here that Gull claims to give birth to the twentieth century and its paradoxical proclivities to iniquity and dehumanization amid unimaginable technology wealth and progress. However true this might be, Gull might as well be talking about the times that birthed him.

A panel from From Hell: Master Edition Chapter 11 Page 37. — A panel from **From Hell: Master Edition** Chapter 11 Page 37.

When reading From Hell it is easy to over-fixate on Dr. Gull and his obsessions with dead flesh and to overlook everyone concerned with keeping flesh alive. This seems truer in the original black and white where given all the additional text and focus on characters both historic and otherwise, less patient readers might feel tempted to skip those insights until the next Ripper murder. As with the fully colorized Gull arch it is much harder now to ignore the story of Inspector Abberline or his pale perpetually tired sunken face conveying frustration, rage and despair at his inability to escape the Whitechapel or solve the murders which his own Scotland Yard conspires to keep under wraps.

A panel from From Hell: Master Edition Chapter 03 Page 07. — A panel from **From Hell: Master Edition** Chapter 03 Page 07.

It’s also harder to gloss over the Ripper’s victims namely Mary Kelly and their outfits conveying bright pretty yet faded colors and the slight rose tint of their bodies which is also their trade and often means of survival (though at times, their skin appears faded and drained when worn down by the hardness of their lives. The colors also seem to symbolize their friendship and their struggle to get by amid the daily challenges and cruelty dealt out to them and of course the horror that stalks them which we in the 21st century tragically know they won’t. This to me is perhaps the ultimate justification for coloring up the original graphic novel. Whether it’s Watchmen, or V for Vendetta or From Hell, it’s easy to define Alan Moore’s work purely on the darkest tropes; compromised antiheroes, the ultra-violence, gratuitous sex, the oppressive politics, his obsession with the occult, and crushing forces of power and order. What often goes overlooked in Moore’s work are tiny slivers of humanity bravely shining despite them. In From Hell: Master Edition, they can now shine a little brighter against the darkness.

A panel from From Hell: Master Edition Appendix 02 Page 22. — A panel from **From Hell: Master Edition** Appendix 02 Page 22.

My first experience with From Hell was the 2001 Hollywood adaptation by the Hughes Brothers and starring Johnny Depp as Abberline, Sir Ian Holm as Dr. Gull and Heather Graham as Mary Kelly. It was only years later when I first glanced into the graphic novel, I realized what a tremendous disservice the movie was to its source material. Although Moore notoriously despises all adaptations of his work, his wrath is especially justified against the feature film.[5] Despite initial difficulties reading I had already come to regard it as Moore’s finest work and while Watchmen will always be his most popular story (and possibly the greatest superhero series of all time), From Hell is really more of what Moore’s all about.[6]

Perhaps even more importantly for me, From Hell was my introduction to Eddie Campbell. Though I really wouldn’t come to fully appreciate him until I read ALEC: The Years Have Pants, his massive series of autobiographical comics spanning from his days as young Scottish cartoonist eking to make a living in 1980s London to middle age raising a family in Australia.[7] His art style is distinguished by the near photo-realism of his human subjects which is often undercut with absurdist humor.[8] Before returning to From Hell, Campbell had already started experimenting in color including The Lovely Horrible Stuff, The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains(a multimedia collaboration with Neil Gaiman) and Bizarre Romance (written by Audrey Niffenegger) so when I first heard about the Master Edition I was ecstatic.

A panel from From Hell: Master Edition Chapter 10 Page 20. — A panel from **From Hell: Master Edition** Chapter 10 Page 20.

To say From Hell is a challenging read is a gross understatement regardless of edition. Aside from all the aforementioned gore sex and violence it is nearly 600 pages of dense history, Psychogeography, folklore, and super-dense layered text characteristic of all of Moore’s work (Moore himself did not add much new material to the Master Edition save for more of his copious notes). Veteran fans may object to the notion of coloring what to them is a perfect masterpiece. That is a matter of preference, and I won’t challenge it. All I can offer is my own experience - which was that for me From Hell: Master Edition is a welcome enhancement and was far more horrifying, illuminating and transcendent than I ever imagined it could be again.

[1] this theory of the Ripper’s identity was first proposed in journalist Stephen Knight’s 1976 book, Jack The Ripper: The Final Solution. Most Ripper scholars dismiss the theory as Gull was 72 and had recently suffered a stroke at the time of the murders. Neither Moore and Campbell put any stock in the theory and even lampoon it in their addendum comic “Dance of the Gull Chasers,” which examines all of the proposed Ripper identity theories and the continuing cultural obsession with the murders a century onward.

[2] From Wikipedia: Psychogeography is an exploration of urban environments that emphasizes playfulness and "drifting". It has links to the Lettrist and Situationist Internationals, revolutionary groups influenced by Marxist and anarchist theory, and the attitudes and methods of Dadaists and Surrealists. Psychogeography was defined in 1955 by French Philosopher Guy Debord as "the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals." As a practice and theory, psychogeography has influenced a broad set of cultural actors, including artists, activists and academics (Perhaps to most famous psychogeographer today is London-based Iain Sinclair, who is also personal friend of Moore’s).

[3] In a 2018 interview with Previews World, Campbell noted that when returning to colorize these tour segments he found that about a dozen panels were no longer historically accurate hand have been completely replaced in the Master Edition.

[4] Ibid. 2018 Interview.

[5] The primary crime of the feature film being that what was essentially deep and complex character study of the murderer, the victims and the detective is compacted into run-of-the-mill whodunnit.

[6] Especially given that following Moore’s ongoing legal battles with DC Comics for the IP rights, he has effectively disowned Watchmen.

[7] Currently Campbell lives between Chicago with his new partner novelist, Audrey Niffenegger and London where his adult daughter from his previous marriage, Hayley Campbell also lives and works as a journalist.

[8] While living in Australia, Campbell was often employed as a courtroom sketcher.

September 15, 2020

A Review of Natalie Nourigat's I Moved To Los Angeles To Work In Animation

September 15, 2020/ Ross Webster

Written by Ross Webster

I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation

By: Natalie Nourigat

Published by: Boom! Studios

$9.99

A scene from pg.2 of I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation by Natalie Nourigat. — A scene from pg.2 of ***I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation*** by **Natalie Nourigat**.

In 2014 Natalie Nourigat (a native of Portland Oregon) found herself at a life crossroad. Since graduating college in 2010, she had become a successful comics artist back when Portland was one of the cheapest places for young creatives to live and work on the West Coast - helping to keep the city weird and vibrant.[1] However the city soon became a victim of its own success. Rents spiked, rich incoming hipsters pushed locals out of the city, and freelancing could barely pay the bills for Natalie. At that same time, many of her cartoonist friends began trekking south to Los Angeles - lured by a slew of lucrative animation jobs which emphasized storyboarding, character design, background painting and other skills shared by comics artists. One of her artist friends invited her down to sample the good life in SoCal. Motivated by the allure of such a life and the diminishing returns of Portland, Natalie decided to attempt the seemingly insurmountable task of getting a job in animation.

A scene from pg.18 of I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation by Natalie Nourigat. — A scene from pg.18 of ***I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation*** by **Natalie Nourigat**.

I Moved to Los Angeles to work in Animation is part travelogue, part insiders look at the animation industry, and little bits of tutorial on animation, finance and industry procedure. Nourigat’s minimalist yet delightfully detailed and expressive style, which is reminiscent of Japanese Manga and contemporary Disney features, lends itself well to all three objectives. Most important is her ability to - in as little as one or two panels - break down seemingly complex histories, worlds, and procedures into easily communicable images which makes her an excellent communicator and storyteller.

A scene from pg.10 of I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation by Natalie Nourigat. — A scene from pg.10 of ***I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation*** by **Natalie Nourigat**.

Nourigat’s path begins with her cranking out new art, job hunting and learning new techniques like storyboarding and story tests at a furious pace - usually resulting in rejections. However, nine grueling months later, she was finally excepted into a paid trainee program at a major studio.[2]

A scene from pg.22 of I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation by Natalie Nourigat. — A scene from pg.22 of ***I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation*** by **Natalie Nourigat**.

After four weeks of packing, making couch surfing arrangements, buying her first car, and bidding her Portland friends and family farewell, Nourigat headed south to all of the wonders, hardships and idiosyncrasies of life in America’s second largest metropolis and capitol of its entertainment industry. Once there, after going through the trials of securing a decent place to live in the San Fernando Valley, Nourigat explains the history and benefits of being in The Animation Guild, which is a large union for animation artists.[3] Becoming a member was something that Nourigat welcomed after years of freelance, which often comes with odd hours and the potential to get screwed over with little chance of recourse. She was able to finally secure long-term income, insurance plans, and additional perks including life drawing classes, mentorship programs and free promotional swag. Readers also get a glimpse of an average day in a major animation studio.

A scene from pg.56 of I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation by Natalie Nourigat. — A scene from pg.56 of ***I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation*** by **Natalie Nourigat**.

For Nourigat, the adjustment to life in SoCal definitely had its upsides. The constant sunny weather and lack of humidity were a welcome change from the frequent dreariness of the Pacific Northwest, as were the multitude of entertainment and cultural activities available to her and friends visiting from out of town. It did not take long for the downsides of LA life to set in, though: the high cost of living; the obvious wealth gap; the oppressive heat; and of course (that most tyrannical of LA cliches) the almost total necessity of owning a car - and everything for good or ill that comes with it.

A scene from pg.34 of I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation by Natalie Nourigat. — A scene from pg.34 of ***I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation*** by **Natalie Nourigat**.

However, the worst and most unanticipated downside for Nourigat was loneliness and isolation. Despite being in a field attracting so many fellow artists, Nourigat found that living in such a sprawling and decentralized city (plus a work culture where last minute flake-outs for social gatherings are the norm), meant that she spent a great deal of her first year in LA alone.

A scene from pg.36 of I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation by Natalie Nourigat. — A scene from pg.36 of ***I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation*** by **Natalie Nourigat**.

The most important section of I Moved... for any aspiring animators will obviously be “How To Break In.” Admittedly, Nourigat states that she feels unqualified to answer the question as she has only her own experience to draw upon - but the most important advice she offers is apply, apply, apply. Even to the same studios.[4] Second is to constantly build your portfolio. Both are simple, but easy to forget as both ultimately boil down to a combination of luck and persistence in the heavily competitive market which can wear applicants down and erode self-confidence. Persistence paid off for Nourigat in combination with lucky breaks due to making friends in the industry, in-person networking groups, social media and even chance networking encounters at venues like SDCC. Useful also are her tips about etiquette for meeting people from studios, and how to build a portfolio even during one’s free time.

A scene from pg.51 of I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation by Natalie Nourigat. — A scene from pg.51 of ***I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation*** by **Natalie Nourigat**.

While much of the breaking in and fitting in an animation studio sounds daunting, Nourigat also offers much reassurance about flexible work environments, flexibility of job movement either in studio or the industry as a whole, and the growing presence and voices of women, people of color, and LGBTQ people in the industry.

A scene from pg.66 of I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation by Natalie Nourigat. — A scene from pg.66 of ***I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation*** by **Natalie Nourigat**.

Despite the initial hardships of moving, Nourigat managed to embrace all the facets of her new SoCal home - the most enriching being the spectacular hidden natural treasures on the outskirts of Los Angeles (especially Vasquez Rocks which proves to be an apt metaphor for her transition to life in her second home).

A scene from pg.68 of I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation by Natalie Nourigat. — A scene from pg.68 of ***I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation*** by **Natalie Nourigat**.

A scene from pg.72 of I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation by Natalie Nourigat. — A scene from pg.72 of ***I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation*** by **Natalie Nourigat**.

A scene from pg.78 of I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation by Natalie Nourigat. — A scene from pg.78 of ***I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation*** by **Natalie Nourigat**.

A scene from pg.75 of I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation by Natalie Nourigat. — A scene from pg.75 of ***I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation*** by **Natalie Nourigat**.

A scene from pg.80 of I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation by Natalie Nourigat. — A scene from pg.80 of ***I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation*** by **Natalie Nourigat**.

A scene from pg.83 of I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation by Natalie Nourigat. — A scene from pg.83 of ***I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation*** by **Natalie Nourigat**.

A scene from pg.70 of I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation by Natalie Nourigat. — A scene from pg.70 of ***I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation*** by **Natalie Nourigat**.

A scene from pg.85 of I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation by Natalie Nourigat. — A scene from pg.85 of ***I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation*** by **Natalie Nourigat**.

Since “I Moved…,” Nourigat has done quite well in the LA animation scene.[5] However rather than conclude with her story alone, Nourigat shares the POVs of several animation colleagues. People whose career paths were quite similar to hers, but came to have differing experiences in the industry and different takes on living in Los Angeles - including their career highs and lows, likes and dislikes about life in Los Angeles, and whatever advice they have to offer anyone willing to follow in their footsteps.

A scene from pg.62 of I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation by Natalie Nourigat. — A scene from pg.62 of ***I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation*** by **Natalie Nourigat**.

I first discovered Natalie Nourigat on a chance discovery of her first graphic memoir, Switching Gears, about her college years in Oregon. I was then delighted to see that she was a friend of another Portland comics artist, Emi Lenox, who is the creator of one of favorite webcomics - EmiTown.[6] Since then she has entered my own personal pantheon of graphic travel memoirists.[7] I also identify with Nourigat as someone who never expected that Southern California would become their second home but came to embrace it fully as such.

A scene from pg.59 of I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation by Natalie Nourigat. — A scene from pg.59 of ***I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation*** by **Natalie Nourigat**.

If there is one drawback to “I Moved...” it is that it’s short: a brisk 96 pages long. Although we get some great snippets of animation work and studio life, it is hardly an immersive experience into the industry. Likely though, a deep dive would have been unfeasible due to Nourgat’s relatively new position as well as studio restrictions on what its employees can reveal to the public at large. That and as Nourigat herself stated before, she can only speak from her own experience. Indeed, the purpose of I moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation is not a tell-all but an invitation for anyone seeking a career in animation to get past any doubts and anxieties they may have and to make their own story, creations and lend their own voice into the field. And despite her own doubts, I can hardly think of a better guide than Natalie Nourigat.

[1] Famously celebrated and lampooned in the IFC comedy series Portlandia.

[2] The studio in question is Disney but not referred to due to copyright reasons.

[3] Where many major animation studios are located.

[4] Apparent pun accidental.

[5] Nourigat has since gone on to become a director at Disney. Her first animated short, “Exhange Student” debuted as part of the “Short Circuit” series available on Disney+. She has also been a storyboard artist on major projects like “Ralph Breaks The Internet,” and “Bee And Puppycat.”

[6] Lenox is also the artist for Jeff Lemire’s superhero-noir miniseries, Plutona.

[7] Which includes artists such as Guy Delisle, Craig Thompson, Lucy Knisley and Sarah Glidden.

June 30, 2020

A Review of Kabi Nagata's My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness

June 30, 2020/ Ross Webster

Written by Ross Webster

My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness

By: Kabi Nagata

Published by: Seven Seas Entertainment

$13.99

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness pg.5

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness begins en medias res with its artist Kabi Nagata naked facing a female escort in a Japanese love hotel. She lets us readers know that this is her first sexual experience. She makes it very clear that anyone looking for easy hentai titillation or sweet yuri fluff will be sorely disappointed.[1]It is awkward, and Nagata brings up a prominent bald spot on her head and scars from self-inflicted cuts on her arms.

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness pg.97

At this point it goes without saying that Kabi Nagata is an atypical manga artist. While her style is marked with all of the telltale minimalism that characterizes manga, Nagata takes it to the nth degree with extremely simplified characters and backgrounds, sometimes juxtaposed right after a panel drawn in a more traditional bushojo style.[2] This largely works to mock expectation of a romantic or dramatic experience and then to contrast it with its messy and often absurd realities. The simplified style also meshes well with the chaotic state of Nagata’s mind. Nagata’s also part of the small but growing clique of manga artists to begin in webcomics rather than print.[3]

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness pg.15

Nagata flashes back ten years to her completion of high school, when she tried and failed to make it in a normal workaday world. Her inability to conform to even basic work habits, led to deep depression, self-inflicted cuts and two eating disorders in both directions. In the case of the over-eating spell she even eats instant ramen straight from the uncooked package. Despite reaching the point of suicidal ideation, Nagata managed to regain the will to get things together to move onto the next challenge.

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness pg.40

That next challenge was pleasing her parents for whom nothing but becoming a salary-worker would suffice.[4] However, she could not convince her prospective employers that she had any sincere desires outside of drawing manga which one kind interviewer suggested she pursue.

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness pg.55

After luckily entering a manga contest and winning there was no going back for Nagata, especially as her artistic pursuits led her to confront her own mental health which leads into an exploration into her own sexuality. Ultimately, she reached the conclusion that she did not allow self-love and understanding which leads her at 28 years old to call a lesbian escort service and where Nagata begins her story.

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness pg.104

Yuka, the female escort, is the only other named character in this memoir and is just who Nagata needs for her first sexual experience; sweet, affectionate and willing to give her the love that she had long neglected to give herself be it physical and emotional. Once this deeply intimate yet brief and primarily transactional relationship concludes upon leaving the love hotel, Nagata wants more.

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness pg.117

Although Nagata originally wanted to start an erotic manga based on her experience, she found herself unable to fictionalize and realized that her memories were becoming fantasized and less sincere so she decided that it would be autobiographical. This is the best decision she could have made. Not only is it more powerful in terms of storytelling but Nagata manages to break with the tropes of yuri and yaoi, which while exceeding popular in Japan are often criticized for fetishizing same-sex relationships for an overwhelmingly heterosexual audience.[5] Also by the end it is clear that while she has had many breakthroughs, Nagata still has a long way to go in terms of emotional growth, relationships and self-acceptance. Fortunately for readers who have stuck around this is the jumping off point for her ongoing Manga series My Solo Exchange Diary which continues course with her journey which is likely to be a bumpy ride. Though not without a few laughs and moments of poignancy.

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness pg.120

Although I’ve loved manga and anime since 7th grade, I admit to often feeling unsatisfied with familiar tropes of giant robot battles, magical schoolgirls, hyper-energy 50+ volume shonen epics or erotic tentacles monsters.[6] I often scour for unusual genres that seldom make it to American distribution markets and among those are autobiographical manga.[7] My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness was overall a very satisfying read and many of Nagata’s endeavors will be very relatable especially for any creative who’s struggled to balance their creative pursuits with finding a line of work to maintain financial support. She also manages to balance the more serious themes with wry self-deprecating humor. One of the only drawbacks of this memoir is that readers will not learn a lot about the long and complex history of LGBTQ culture in Japan, but on the other hand it is hard to imagine inserting a bunch of hard facts without sullying a story so deeply personal.[8]In any regard, My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness is a short but emotionally deep edition to a small but growing niche of LGBTQ manga serving as a welcome counterbalance to the superficial Yuri and Yaoi genres. At times funny, other times disturbing, or somber but ultimately hopeful - Kabi Nagata is one of the most painfully sincere comics artists you will ever encounter, and you will be grateful for it.

[1] Hentai refers to pornographic manga or anime. Yuri (female)and Yaoi (mail) are genres of manga that focuses on romantic same-sex relationships.

[2] Bushojo is a broad genre of manga which is geared primarily towards adolescent girls or young women.

[3] Of whom the most famous are ONE and Yasuke Murata, whose global hit manga and anime series, One-Punch Man started originally as a simple crudely drawn webcomic. Another prominent webcomic to gain similar success is Akihito Tsukushi’s Made in Abyss.

[4] From Wikipedia: A salaryman (サラリーマン, sararīman) is a salaried worker and, more specifically, a Japanese white-collar worker who shows overriding loyalty and commitment to the corporation where he works. In conservative Japanese culture, becoming a salaryman is the expected career choice for young men and those who do not take this career path are regarded as living with a stigma and less prestige. On the other hand, the word salaryman is sometimes used with derogatory connotation for his total dependence on his employer and lack of individuality.

[5] Also the majority of creators of yuri and yaoi manga are heterosexual men and women.

[6] Shonen is a broad genre of manga geared towards adolescent boys.

[7] Indeed, the only other ones that immediately comes to my mind are Henry Kiyama’s The Four Immigrants Manga, Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s A Drifting Life and Shigeru Mizuki’s three volume epic, Shōwa: A History Of Japan.

[8] Also there are already other manga that better examine those theme such as My Brother’s Husband and Our Colors, both by Gengoroh Tagame.

June 06, 2020

A Review of Jason Lutes' Berlin

June 06, 2020/ Ross Webster

Written by Ross Webster

Berlin by Jason Lutes
Published by Drawn & Quarterly.
$49.95

Berlin by Jason Lutes is at first glance, intimidating; a three volume 542-page deep dive into the final chaotic three years of Germany’s Weimar Republic, ending with the ascension of Hitler and the Third Reich. Not only are readers asked to navigate a complex and fluctuating web of history, ideology, politics, economics art and culture, but to do so through the eyes of over a dozen characters. However, for anyone willing to take the plunge and even more after that, it will be limitlessly rewarding.

A scene from Berlin (1996) #13, page 02 - by Jason Lutes. — A scene from **Berlin (1996) #13**, page 02 - by **Jason Lutes**.

Jason Lutes began his odyssey into the lives of early twentieth century Berliners in the late 1990s in part inspired by the unrest brewing in Seattle during the 1999 WTO Summit. Completed in 2018, Berlin once again feels timely now with economic uncertainty, grievances between the 1% and the 99%, populist demagogues subverting democracies from Brazil to India, and renewed clashes between radical leftists and neo-Fascists in European and North American cities[1]

A scene from Berlin (1996) #01, pages 14 & 15 - by Jason Lutes. — A scene from **Berlin (1996) #01**, pages 14 & 15 - by **Jason Lutes**.

Lutes draws in a Ligne Claire (clear line) style which was pioneered be Franco-Belgian creators in the 1930s, used most notably in Herge’s “The Adventures of Tintin.” It uses clear strong lines all the same width. Cast shadows are often illuminated, while also featuring strong colors and a combination of cartoonish characters against a realistic background. Lutes breaks with this trend though by choosing crisp black and white over color - and although his characters are simply drawn, they are anything but cartoonish.

A scene from Berlin (1996) #07, page 01 - by Jason Lutes. — A scene from **Berlin (1996) #07**, page 01 - by **Jason Lutes**.

The faces and bodies of many of Lutes’ Berliners are worn, aged and bruised (one minor drawback of the style is that there are certain minor characters who look quite similar to the primary cast and may require some re-reads to differentiate them) More so, this Ligne Claire style is the best at bringing Weimar Berlin itself to life. From grand monuments, city squares and parks showered in sunlight, to cheeky burlesque shows and jazz clubs to dark claustrophobic slums and alleys rife with impending danger.

A scene from Berlin (1996) #05, page 02 - by Jason Lutes. — A scene from **Berlin (1996) #05**, page 02 - by **Jason Lutes**.

The first book opens with our two protagonists on a train to Berlin: Marthe Muller, a young art student from Cologne, and Kurt Severing, a middle-aged journalist. For Marthe, her primary experience of Weimar Berlin is one of wonder and endless possibilities; the Berlin of Christopher Isherwood. Berlin with budding avant-garde artist friends, risqué cabaret acts, jazz records and a flourishing underground LGBT culture.[2] All of this is compounded by her desire to escape the narrow confines of her bourgeois family life in Cologne and to relieve her sorrow over the death of her close cousin in the trenches of the First World War.

A scene from Berlin (1996) #03, page 24 - by Jason Lutes. — A scene from **Berlin (1996) #03**, page 24 - by **Jason Lutes**.

Kurt’s daily Berlin is much different. He has written about and borne witness to the political and economic chaos that have rocked his city and country since Germany’s defeat in World War I. Despite his typing, he feels increasingly impotent in the face of his collapsing government and the feuding communists and national socialists who battle to fill its void; a struggle that manifests in his personal life as his former lover Margarethe, an influential socialite who increasingly backs the Nazi cause.[3] While Kurt is sympathetic to the mission statement of the Communists he is increasingly wary of the same commitment to violence as their Nazi counterparts.

A scene from Berlin (1996) #07, page 18 - by Jason Lutes. — A scene from **Berlin (1996) #07**, page 18 - by **Jason Lutes**.

Despite differences between age and experience, Kurt and Marthe strike up a friendship and eventually a romance. However, it does not go untested. Marthe’s apoliticism and Bohemian pursuits irk and infuriate Kurt who sees them as distractions from the dire realities affecting his city. When the couple has a brief falling out, Marthe forms a new relationship with her classmate and female cross-dresser, Anna Lencke, who introduces her to Berlin’s underground lesbian culture[4]

A scene from Berlin (1996) #21, page 04 - by Jason Lutes. — A scene from **Berlin (1996) #21**, page 04 - by **Jason Lutes**.

The most important characters after Kurt and Marthe are the Braun Family, who unlike the former have little choice in facing or ignoring the grim realities of Weimar Berlin. They are an impoverished politically divided family, especially after the mother, Gudrun, loses her factory job and embraces communism. While Gudrun remains with her two daughters, her husband Otto gravitates towards National Socialism and grooms his young son to follow suit.

A scene from Berlin (1996) #18, page 13 - by Jason Lutes. — A scene from **Berlin (1996) #18**, page 13 - by **Jason Lutes**.

When Gudrun is killed during a riot between workers and police on May Day, her oldest daughter (Sylvia) is left to fend and fight for herself on the streets of Berlin. Over the course of the series, Sylvia becomes a hardened street fighter much to the surprise of any Nazi thugs unfortunate enough to bully her.

A scene from Berlin (1996) #20, page 14 - by Jason Lutes. — A scene from **Berlin (1996) #20**, page 14 - by **Jason Lutes**.

Her leftist ideology also calcifies, often boiling into righteous fury against any real or perceived class enemies. However, her humanity is retained through the kindness and protection of Pavel (a homeless Jewish vagrant who takes her in after being orphaned) and David Schwartz (a middle class Jewish boy who shelters her for a time, much to the disapproval of his father).

A scene from Berlin (1996) #21, page 02 - by Jason Lutes. — A scene from **Berlin (1996) #21**, page 02 - by **Jason Lutes**.

Despite being drawn in stark black and white, all the story’s main characters are various shades of grey and no one exists in a vacuum. David’s father is a stubborn junk dealer attempting to maintain authority in the family while in deep denial of the worsening conditions for Jews in Germany which is obvious to David and his mother and grandfather. Sylvia’s father Otto harbors disgusting antisemitic views but is a loving father to his younger children and even attempts to avenge his late wife by confronting the factory boss who fired her.

A scene from Berlin (1996) #10, page 12 - by Jason Lutes. — A scene from **Berlin (1996) #10**, page 12 - by **Jason Lutes**.

Pola Mosse, a no-nonsense fine art model and cabaret performer offers some of the light-hearted playful moments of a story dominated by an atmosphere of impending dread. This is especially true in the second book when Pola befriends a touring Black American jazz band and embarks on a series of escapades to get back at their European manager stiffing them out of their pay.

A scene from Berlin (1996) #17, page 03 - by Jason Lutes. — A scene from **Berlin (1996) #17**, page 03 - by **Jason Lutes**.

Berlin is mostly a story of everyday people confronted with the tides of history and that is its greatest narrative strength. However, there are a few historic figures scattered throughout the books. Some, like the American-French expat superstar Josephine Baker, get minor cameos while others are more integral - like Kurt’s magazine editor (Karl von Ossietsky). He becomes one of the first German political prisoners sent to a concentration camp.[5] Josef Goebbels - the Infamous head of Nazi propaganda; Horst Wessel - a young murdered thug whom Goebbels makes into National Socialism’s first martyr; and finally Adolf Hitler himself all make appearances. Although he has few scenes in the final book, Hitler is doubtlessly the story’s most consequential presence. His rather ordinary and unceremonious entry signals the narrowing of time and choices for all of Berlin’s citizens.

A scene from Berlin (1996) #21, page 20 - by Jason Lutes. — A scene from **Berlin (1996) #21**, page 20 - by **Jason Lutes**.

Whether to flee or stay and fight, collaborate or stand to the side, and - more importantly - how much humanity can we retain; these are struggles that remain difficult and vital whether it is 1933 or 2020.

As a lifelong history buff, and especially one of the 20th century anywhere in the world, I was automatically drawn to Berlin when I first picked up a couple issues of it’s original comic book form in 2005. When I finally traveled to the German capital in 2013, I absolutely made sure I took the comics with me. Any lover of history will be impressed with how meticulously researched this project was when they reach Lutes’ bibliography of fiction and nonfiction resources including architecture and photography.[6] In depicting the journey from Weimar to the Third Reich, Lutes made sure not to suggest that any event was inevitable or to reduce any of its characters to historical aphorisms seen in countless depictions of the era.

However Berlin is not breezy reading. Given its scope, depth and dozens of characters - many who often have similar facial features - it may take several reading sessions to fully comprehend the threads of this historical spiderweb. While Weimar Berlin is hardly untrod ground for historical fiction either in Germany or elsewhere, I can’t think of any other depiction as compelling, or with as much heart and soul as Jason Lutes’ creation. And although it is a timely read given the current socio-political circumstances, Berlin in any time is one of the greatest visual and storytelling achievements in the medium and given enough time and commitment, it will never leave you.

[1]However, despite tragedies like the one in Charlottesville VA, these conflicts remain relatively tame compared to the pitch street battles of their ideological forefathers a century earlier.

[2] Christopher Isherwood was a British novelist whose novel “Goodbye to Berlin,” based on his own personal experience in the pre-1930s city. Bob Fosse’s hit Broadway musical “Cabaret “and subsequent Hollywood film starring Lizzie Minnelli and Michael York (which is probably the most well-known pop culture depiction of Weimar Berlin) is an adaptation of Isherwood’s novel.

[3] Throughout the book they are referred to by their early acronym NSDAP (National Socialist German Worker’s Party).

[4] By contemporary standards Anna would probably be transgender.

[5] The type of concentration camp Ossietsky spent time at was mainly for political dissidents. The concentration camps and death facilities such as Dachau, Treblinka, and Auschwitz that were part of The Final Solution were not implemented until after 1941.

[6] Berlin is available in its large hardcover, three paperback graphic novels, “City of Stone,” “City of Smoke” and “City of Light,”or its original 22 issues.

Nerd News

A Review of Derf Backderf's Kent State: Four Dead In Ohio

A Review of Giant Days by Allison, Treiman, & Sarin

A Review of From Hell: Master Edition from Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell

A Review of Natalie Nourigat's I Moved To Los Angeles To Work In Animation

A Review of Kabi Nagata's My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness

A Review of Jason Lutes' Berlin

Nerd Team 30

Nerd News

Nerd Team 30

Powered by Squarespace