Alternative Levels: Exploring Graphic Memoir

David B's "Epileptic"
Alison Bechdel's "Fun Home"
It's safe to say that of all the different forms of graphic novel my graphic narrative course planed on covering this quarter, the graphic memoirs were the ones I was hotly anticipating.
I wasn't disappointed.
The "graphic" aspect of the graphic memoir acts gives the narrative a whole new direction in which to expand; contradicting, enforcing, analyzing, and clarifying the ideas offered by the text. Graphic memoir is one of the fastest growing sub-genres in graphic narrative, and understandably so. Franco-Belgian artist David B. and the USA's own Alison Bechdel are two of the more prominent names in graphic memoir. B's "Epileptic" and Bechdel's "Fun Home" show the diverse and wonderful ways that graphic memoir succeeds in capturing the reader's heart and mind.
David B's "Epileptic" follows the journey of David and his family as they struggle to understand and deal with David’s older brother Jean-Christophe’s epilepsy. B’s clean line style, use of dark space, and intricate detail in his panels allow the reader to function inside B’s memory. One one level, B's text boxes give the reader the adequate information to understand David's situation in life and his feeling on Jean-Cristophe's illness. It is the images, however, that accompany the words that craft an intimate relationship between reader and writer and allow us, as readers, to truly understand B's experience. The best example of how this works is the way in which B's draws his brother. Early in the narrative Jean-Christophe appears as a normal boy, just like David. As his epilepsy begins to manifest itself and cause the family more problems B's begins to draw a dragon/snake like creature writhing around Jean-Christophe. Eventually David doesn't even need to include the image of Jean-Christophe in panels, using the image of this all consuming dragon like creature to represent the overwhelming burden of
Jean-Christophe's epilepsy. He utilizes the black and white format, playing off the high contrast between black and white making the characters pop off the page in their brightness, drawing our eye to the beautifully intricate detail of the work.
Alison Bechdel's "Fun Home" is perhaps one of the most well received graphic narratives since Art Spiegelman's "Maus". "Fun Home" is Bechdel's journey of coming to terms with her father; both his life, their relationship, and his death. "Fun Home" works in some surprisingly different ways than B's "Epileptic". First and foremost, this is a very text-heavy graphic narrative. The few critics of this graphic memoir claim this is a memoir fighting to be graphic, meaning the pictures are secondary to the text. Yes, the textual narrative is very strong in "Fun Home", but the visual narrative lends that essential "other" level, the level that contradicts, creates, enforces, elaborates the textual narrative. Nowhere is this more apparent then in the last panel. The text reads "But in the tricky reverse narration that impels our entwined stories, he was there to catch me when I leapt" then shows here leaping into her father's arms. This image is startling because it is a different view of an image that begins the chapter, allowing the viewer to take both the change in image and the adjoining text and understand the importance of the memory.

I think graphic memoir may be one of the most perfect ways to capture memory. Memory is a tricky, fickle thing. It often includes all the contradictions, lapses, and elaborations that the visual side of graphic memoir so perfectly captures. The visuals also help enforce the textual narrative by offering an air of authenticity, in Bechdel's case, including depictions of real photographs and even copying her handwriting from when she was a child. The hardest thing for an essayist to do is convince his or her readers that what they are writing is honest and true. The combination of visual and textual information, as exemplified in "Fun Home" and " Epileptic", prove how moving and powerful the graphic memoir can be.

Until next time,

GN

A horse of a different color: Shaun Tan's "The Arrival" and Lynda Barry's "What it is"

Lynda Barry's "What it is".

Shaun Tan's "The Arrival"

These two graphic narratives don't seem to have a lot in common. But, in my mind, these are two narratives that could revolutionize not only the way people view the comics medium, but also the way people think. As a "newbie" to all of this, I was pleasantly overwhelmed by both of these works.

In "What it is" the reader is presented with a creative journey. Told with a mixture of identifiable panels and gutters, interactive pages, and rich, detail filled collages, Barry takes us through the journey of finding her voice and own personal style of creativity. The majority of the book is unrecognizable as a graphic narrative. At least, at first. Her collages make up the majority of the text. In one of the first collages she asks us "Q: What is an idea made of? A: Of future, past, and also meanwhile". This graphic narrative, this "idea" of hers, is made up of just that "future, past, and also meanwhile". When we do get the recognizable "panel and gutter" format Barry takes us from her as a grown woman, thinking about her past, to her as a curious, awkward child, to the lost youth and adolescent, and finally to the point of her revelation on creativity. When I stopped seeing the collages as just collages and began associating them with the intermediate panel and gutter sequences, how this graphic narrative was working as a graphic narrative clicked. In my opinion these richly detailed collages let us into the mind or mood of the "Lynda Barry" present in the previous, identifiable panels. In this way, the narrative is working on multiple levels. We get to read about Lynda Barry's life and experiences, experience, graphically, Lynda Barry's thoughts, and, through the activities and workbook provided, interact with Lynda Barry and, ultimately, our own creativity.


Along with being a graphic narrative I think the term "graphic scrapbook" may be an appropriate term. The pages act as a reminder of a life lived and ask us to include our own interpretations and impressions. This is a narrative that not so much asks to be read through linearly, like most graphic narratives, but wandered through. You can spend hours, upon hours on one page deciphering the interplay and intricacy of the words and images, but just as easily you can take in the page as a whole and flow with it. Barry truly has created, as she says, "the formless thing which gives things form".

Shaun Tan's "The Arrival" likes to sneak up on people. The unsuspecting, worn looking cover hides a masterpiece of art and a new interpretation of the graphic narrative. "The Arrival" is a graphic narrative in the truest sense of the term. It is a strictly graphic re-telling of a man's story of immigration.

Strictly graphic, as in no words, at all.

A man's story of immigration, as in every man, woman, and child's story of immigration.

That is the beauty and strangeness of Tan's work. First he creates this surreal world where, as he puts it, there are "bird like birds", "tree like trees", "but photo realistic people". Other than surreal this book has also been termed a piece of "imaginative realism". There is also a look and feel of a distressed, old, photo album. This creates a very intimate experience for the reader; you feel like you are privy to someone's, perhaps even your own families, memories.


The journey of Tan's main character from his homeland to this new world quickly, as stated above, becomes the story of every immigrant. By using the above mentioned drawing techniques he creates a world very similar to ours, but almost tilted in someway. This "tilt" affect combined with the lack of words , and use of foreign symbols lets us experience the confusion, awe, and life of the immigrant arriving in a new world. We go along with the "man" as he tries to figure out where to live, work, what food's to eat, figure out strange social customs, and, most importantly, as he connects with other immigrants and hears their stories. Some of the most breathtaking panels are from these segments. We watch as a man and woman escape from certain death in their home country, a little girl's struggle to break free of slavery, a man's journey to war and journey home to find nothing but death and destruction. And, again, I can't stress how important it is that Tan did this all without words. We feel, understand, and follow the stories contained in "The Arrival" strictly by viewing and interpreting the images. Although not a typical graphic narrative, Tan has effectively opened the door for a new way of interpreting the medium, and what a magnificent interpretation it is.

Until next time,
GN

Homosuperior vs. Homosapien

Just finished reading Alan Moore's "Watchmen" last week.

Without being too crass, this graphic novel was a mind-fuck. Because of some poor planning on my part I had about 24 hours to read to make it in time for discussion in my Graphic Narrative class.

The topic that came up more than any other was how "Watchmen" redefined Comics culture, specifically the image and meaning of the "superhero". As quoted on the back of the text, "[t]his is the book that changed an industry and challenged a medium".

What makes "Watchmen" so important, such a groundbreaking work?

In an essay titled "The Myth of Superman", novelist Umberto Eco writes that the traditional superhero is marked by a timelessness, a deathlessness, a continuance of presence. As humans, this is the antitheses of our nature. We are momentary creatures, with nothing so special separating us from one another but superficial characteristics and attributes. The superhero, being virtually immortal, perfect, and a true individual, is something we, as humans, long for. We also imagine the superhero as a bully for good, you could say, taking care of the "bad guy", being purely reactive to the good in the world.

(I warn you, if you haven't read "Watchmen" this next bit will ruin it for you)

"Watchmen" turns all of this on its head.

Laurie doesn't want to be superhero in the first place.

Rorschach hates the majority of people.

Hollis Mason suffers from a serious case of nostalgia, effectively rendering him impotent.

The Comedian sees all of life as a joke, and treats it as such.

Dr. Manhattan has lost most of his humanity and is fashioning his own home on Mars to escape earth.

Ozymandias, although seemingly the only "superhero" who exhibits traditional superhero beliefs (truth, justice, and American way) ends up killing millions of people in NYC in the name of greater good.

The Watchmen takes Eco's take on the traditional hero and smash it to smithereens. These are superheros fully capable of dying. This ingredient of reality combined with their very "un"-superhero persona change our perspective of them. These are recognizable humans (for the most part) in a recognizable city, dressing up in costume, with no special powers (again, Dr. Manhattan being the exception), and a very serious sense of protecting America and Americans at all cost. They also take matters into their hands, some going out looking for people to protect or bad guys to thwart even after America pass laws against "masked adventurers". Others involve themselves deeply in American politics or capitalism, effectively selling-out to keep their titles and powers of influence.

"Watchmen" questions the superhero, American politics, American history, and the history of comics. I've gotten this from just the first reading. This comic is working on so many planes, levels, strata, etc. that I don't think I've even cracked the surface of this convoluted masterpiece.

For the newbie, like me, I was terrified to pick this one up. It's reputation and loyal follwing precede it. I think, however, it is essential to read this graphic novel asap. The more you meet the superhero in one form or another and become more familiar with the medium, I can only imagine what Alan Moore has created in the "Watchmen" will only become more amazing, complex, and perhaps clearer.

Until next time,
GN