King: A Comic Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Ho Che Anderson

Anderson, Ho Che.
King: A Comics Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Seattle, WA:
Fantagraphics Books, 2005.


In Stanley Crouch’s introduction to this biography, he puts Anderson’s work into perspective. In this book, we are given “a mix of fact and fiction, an interpretation for the purposes of entertainment, and a jumbling of imagined conversations and relationships that puts it as much in the realm of fiction as biography.” It is important to remember this statement throughout reading this provocative graphic novel. Following King from meeting Coretta Scott during his graduate studies through the bus boycotts, the freedom rides, the march on Washington and many other events in between, Anderson’s biography is a startling work of artistry, history, and creative license in non-fiction. Piecing together possible moments of the man’s personal life and public moments of the “humble” reverend in marches and speeches, Anderson brings a certain humanity to a historical figure that has gone beyond legendary status. Like suddenly discovering the Gnostic Gospels when all there’s ever been is Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Anderson’s King is a man few would readily recognize, for the figure we often see today is stripped of his personality flaws and character blemishes.

The biography was created in a style reminiscent of film noir. With deep shadows and figures only half-seen, the entire work resonates with the harsh realities of segregation and the unevenly distributed rights of American citizens based on their race. Most of the biography is limited to black and white drawings, but Anderson applies color in the most dramatic moments and to represent the more significant symbols of the Civil Rights Movement. However, as stunning as the images may be, Anderson’s sometimes abstract style requires careful reading, for the flow of the story can be lost as the author jumps between settings and time periods. When presented as an alternative view to history textbooks, this work is ideal for the younger reader, bringing the reality of history closer and telling a whole story, as opposed to just the glorified moments of fame and melodrama. However, it is important to inform readers that much of this work is not based on identifiable facts, but one author’s interpretation of historical events. Neither complete fact nor wholly fiction, Anderson’s work brings new light and darkness to a man of great strength that moved many into a nonviolent revolution.

9-11: Emergency Relief

9-11: Emergency Relief.
Gainesville, Florida:
Alternative Comics, 2002.


In a compilation of works by over 60 artists, 9-11: Emergency Relief is part memoir, biography, and tribute. With all proceeds being donated to the American Red Cross, it is an astonishing work of both philanthropy and comics. There are some well-known contributors such as Jessica Abel, Will Eisner, Peter Kuper, Harvey Pekar, and Ted Rall. Others are just making their way into the comics arena and their stories are no less moving. Most of the contributions tell the story of what happened to each particular artist on September 11, 2001. More than a few were completed within less than a week of the terrorists’ attacks, provoking a raw telling of the events in each author’s personal view. Rarely engaging humor in their work, many stories invoke the same emotions so many citizens experienced in the days after that terrifying tragedy.

In the creation of comics instead of essays, the book displays an array of emotions in visual detail, as opposed to a cognitive representation of written language. If one can set aside their feelings (a difficult task in such a moving collection) and simply take in the different pieces, the book as a whole is a stunning anthology of the many different styles used throughout the graphic form. Ranging from the harshly abstract to the cartoonish, the reader gets a sense of the limitless possibilities offered to comics’ artists. For the many young adults unfamiliar with graphic novels, this work, though heavy with emotion, is an excellent introduction to the many artists currently working in the field. Giving the reader a chance to learn more about the artists they most enjoy, at the end of the book is a bio of each contributor, often detailing the other works and projects of their careers.

The New Adventures of Abraham Lincoln by Scott McCloud

McCloud, Scott.
The New Adventures of Abraham Lincoln.
La Jolla, California:
Homage Comics, 1998.

What would happen if an assassinated President returned from the dead? What if he tried to reclaim the presidency? What if he wasn’t really the President at all? Scott McCloud ponders such questions in the New Adventures of Abraham Lincoln. While reading about in detention (which he has been sent to for having original thoughts about the Civil War), Byron’s world is thrown a little off when Honest Abe shows up and proceeds to expel his own version of history, one in which fiction is a little more prevalent than fact. After thoroughly confusing the members of detention, Lincoln whisks off to retake Washington in a storm of power and manipulation. It doesn’t sound right to Byron and his friends either, and they quickly set out to discover what’s amiss, and stop America from being overtaken by what is surely an impostor.

Less history lesson or biography and more commentary on modern American complacency and gullibility, McCloud’s adventures are an exercise in how Americans see their past and a new technique (for McCloud) in how to draw graphic comics. The entire novel is done on the computer, giving a different look and feel than McCloud’s previous works. Because it’s a mix of comic characters set against more realistic backgrounds, the reader’s ability to become a part of the comic is fragmented. Because the characters and the setting no longer seem cohesive, the reader is less likely to feel a part of the work, having lost a sense of a possible reality. Though ultimately not very educational or entertaining, the book is still fun and a quick read. A little insight is gained about who Lincoln might have really been and that history is not always the picturesque past we learn about in our grade school classrooms.

Pedro and Me by Judd Winick

Winick, Judd.
Pedro & Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned.
New York:
Henry Holt and Company,
New York, 2000.

Moving from the melodrama of MTV’s heavily edited reality show The Real World to a nostalgic and moving graphic memoir is no easy transformation. While millions of television viewers saw Pedro Zamora’s activism about AIDS awareness and later saw him become a victim of the disease, there was an even more personal and real experience going on for Zamora and Winick behind the screen. Though he educated many Americans about the truths of HIV and AIDS, he perhaps taught no one more than Judd Winick. Winick’s memoir about Pedro and their relationship tells the reader what happened before, during, and after the show, going far beyond what most of us saw on screen.

Winick is an excellent storyteller and makes a lasting impression with this artistic graphic work. Not only is the story emotionally moving, but the art is created in such a way that it is a compelling read. Knowing the outcome of Pedro’s life doesn’t make the story any less engaging. Winick manages to draw the reader in with a unique use of panel movement, taking a detour from the standard boxes and creating a dynamic between the characters and their environment that pushes the story onward. Though Pedro’s life story is poignant on its own, Winick’s presentation gives more power and presence in its graphic form than could be achieved otherwise.

Barefoot Jen: Volume One by Keiji Nakazawa

Nakazawa, Keiji.
Barefoot Jen: Volume One: A Cartoon Story of Hiroshima.
San Francisco:
Last Gasp of San Francisco, 2004.


This first volume of the Barefoot Gen series introduces the Nakaoka family, chronicling their lives in Hiroshima during the ongoing war against the Allied forces. Gen is a six year-old whose father believes Japan’s initial and continued participation in the war is both a mistake and a dishonorable move by Japanese leadership. Year of war having already passed, the Gen’s parents struggle to feed a family of five children. Though it eases the burden on mouths to fill, it is no less of a struggle emotionally when one son is sent into the countryside for safekeeping and the oldest son disobeys his father’s wishes and joins the military, only to later realize that his father’s disgust with the Japanese government is well-placed. All of these events occur around the misadventures of Gen and his little brother Shinji, a rambunctious pair that get into no end of trouble, but usually with the best of intentions. Becoming so familiar with such an emotional family makes the inevitable conclusion all the more horrific as the Enola Gay drops the first atomic bomb on the town and its inhabitants, destroying everything in its path and sending thousands to a painful, torturous death. The volume ends with this destruction, leaving the reader to discover what happens to the family in Volume Two: The Day After.

More fictional memoir than autobiography, Barefoot Gen is loosely based on Nakazawa’s experiences, the boy being referred to as his “alter-ego.” Where other graphic works often use narration to describe emotions and events, Nakazawa uses the manga style to place everything in plain view of the reader through action. Without a narrator, the reader gains a sense they are witnessing the story as it actually happens. Though the manga style can often be presented as more fantasy than reality, Nakazawa uses it as a device to make the situation more real, enhancing events to bring them closer to the reader. Ultimately, Nakazawa presents a case for peace and relates a story that leaves readers hoping such tragedies never happen again.

The Amazing "True" Story of a Teenage Single Mom by Katherine Arnoldi

Arnoldi, Katherine.
The Amazing "True" Story of a Teenage Single Mom.
New York:
HyperionBooks, 1998.


Katherine Arnoldi, a victim of sexual abuse, had a child at age 17. Without support from her family, she struggles to make ends meet, working in a factory and various restaurants. Seeking the chance at a new beginning, she moves out West with her baby and her boyfriend. After arriving in Arizona, her boyfriend turns on her and she becomes entrenched in a physically abusive relationship. Throughout all this, Kathy dreams of going to college and becoming a chemist, a dancer, a teacher, an artist, or all of the above. Fearing for herself and her child, she runs away from her new home, knowing almost no one in an area with which she is unfamiliar. She and her daughter wind up in Denver, living with an old roommate, and she finally gains the support she needs through friends she meets. Slowly, with determination, she is able to overcome the obstacles before her and turn her life around, earn an education, and support herself and her child on her own.

A short autobiographical work, Arnoldi’s story is swift but poignant. Though the difficulties in her life are made clear, the emphasis is placed on being able to overcome them. She makes it understood, however, that a woman doesn’t have to do this on her own. Arnoldi realizes that it takes a certain amount of courage to take the first step in leaving an unhealthy relationship or a troubled life, but she shows that there are so many to get help after that first step is made. Giving examples of who those others might be, Arnoldi lists a few resources in the back of the book that might help a young woman in her same situation.

The illustrations Arnoldi uses vividly show both the frightening and joyful moments throughout her story. Though they have their likeness to a cartoon strip style, she develops each page with small details related to the story but unnecessary to its plot. The result is layers of meaning that go beyond the surface, taking the reader into a closer relationship with the character and her plight. The brevity of the story makes it accessible to many, but most importantly to the young, single mothers that need to read it for its message of determination and personal strength.

Marx for Beginners by Ruis

Ruis.
Marx for Beginners.
Trans. Richard Appiagnanesi.
New York:
Pantheon Books, 1976.

Functioning as both biography and history book, Marx for Beginners is an introduction to Communism and its most well known philosopher, Karl Marx. Understanding the daunting task before him, Ruis makes an attempt at summarizing, condensing, and explaining the beginnings of Communist philosophy. Beginning with an introduction to Marx, Ruis continues with the background behind its development. As Ruis further explains how Marx came to his revolutionary ideas, there is more explanation of the revolutionary thinker as well. Though certainly not comprehensive in any aspect, Ruis does break down a substantial number of ideas, thoughts, actions, attempting to make them more accessible to the reader.

Though much of the material in Marx for Beginners is helpful and easy to understand, it gets lost somewhere between the words and the graphics Ruis creates. The book is not a history in graphics, but a history with graphics. Much of what the reader learns is presented in a typical text format, though it is in a more comic script. The characters and pictures have little sequential meaning and are typically meant to be humorous sidebars on whatever historical or informational statement the book has made. They often appear more as a distraction to the flow of the work than an addition. While the graphics certainly make the substance lighter, it does not adequately contribute to its accessibility or ultimate understanding. The book remains informative, but little is gained by its presentation in the graphic medium. Had this not been the case, it might have survived as a work worthy of presentation indefinitely as a tool to understand Communism by reluctant readers of history, but since the ending of the Cold War, it is destined to become a relic of “fun” historical works.

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Satrapi, Marjane.
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood.
Pantheon Books:
New York, 2003.

Persepolis is the autobiography of Marjane Satrapi, writing and illustrating in graphic form her life as a girl growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Satrapi’s memoir begins at age ten in 1980 as the Ayatollah overtakes the Shah of Iran and begins such practices as forcing women to wear veils in public. The reader learns about a girl struggling with the ideas of what her family considers an extremist religion and the imprisonment of her relatives due to their rebellion against the theocracy’s ways. Though not even old enough to have an interest in boys, Marji has enough vigor to want to join her parents at protests. As Satrapi ages in the story and becomes a teenager, her interest in boys increases while her understanding of the revolution and the ensuing war decreases.

Satrapi's work is both humorous and horrifying. Through unadorned black and white comics, she is able to portray the strongest emotions to the reader, allowing them to sympathize with her past. It is perhaps this simplicity that brings the reader to so easily identify with her character, understanding her joy, sadness, and confusion. As an autobiography, it brings to life recent events so often misunderstood by teenagers and adults alike. Though it is definitely slated to her side of the story, it is a side of history most Americans have never heard. This book is a gateway to the realization that these conflicts are not so far away from our own American existence and that they affect people globally. In mixing her daily life with the trials of war, Satrapi brings the events right to our doorstep, never once allowing the reader to think this is happening outside the realm of possibility for anyone, though one may wish that were true. Four years of Satrapi’s life leaves the reader wondering how so much can happen to one person and how so many of us could remain unaware and unconcerned of its occurrence.

Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud

McCloud, Scott.
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art.
HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.:
New York City, 1993.

Creating a work that will be loved by those who already hold comics in high esteem and understood and enjoyed by readers that have never seen anything but the Sunday strips, Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art is an introduction to a medium that is seldom given its due credit. By using a graphic presentation to familiarize the reader with the intricacies of comics, McCloud takes his readers on an in-depth trip through his “comprehensive theory of the creative process.” Using examples from across history and from a wide spectrum of artists that came before him, McCloud discusses the use of line and color, words and vocabulary, the relationship of time and space, symbols and shapes, and the endless possibilities that arise from pen and paper.

At first glance, Understanding Comics is deceptively simple. However, its content covers a wide range of topics in terminology most will easily comprehend and enjoy. McCloud’s talent as both storyteller and artist are evident in this non-fiction work. The theories explained are picked apart in the most adept way, helping the reading along with examples and recurring themes for an overall grasp of topics as part of the whole. While sometimes getting a little wordy for the casual comics reader, an enthusiast will appreciate the explanations of the more subtle nuances that make comics an art form all its own. Though some younger children (5th grade and below) may not be able to grasp all the concepts discussed, the book will be appreciated by anyone of any age that has an interest in this varied art form.

This review was originally written as coursework for a class on Young Adult literature.