There has been an evolution to comics, from their point of entry to now. From newspaper strips to graphic novels, this medium of story telling has been ever-changing and continues to expand and grow. There is a quality in graphic novels that breaks the barrier between 'comic strips' and 'literature'. What used to be humorous entertainment for kids, or light reading for adults, has developed and has become sometimes very serious, influential, and sophisticated reading for mature audiences. One piece of contemporary literature that I read and believe was extremely successful, in this regard, was Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. I also bought the book Habibi, by Craig Thompson, which I had a more negative response toward.
Illustrated so simply, using only black and white high contrast inking, with flat two dimensional shapes, Marjane Satrapi tells an extremely complex story about her own childhood in Iran. Persepolis was a fantastic read. It was so visually sophisticated and astounding to me, and as far as the quality of the storytelling goes, It is an illustrated autobiography about a woman's life in the Middle East, making it feel very personal and important to read all throughout. I felt that the writer was coming from a real place, that the story and the details came from a real woman, with a real story coming from the country of Iran.
Habibi on the other hand, wasn't awful. I guess it was so beautifully packaged and printed I could not resist buying it solely for its good shiny looks. I had no expectations for this book, didn't know what it was about, actually didn't even look at the name of the writer/artist, opened and started reading it. I guess I wasn't totally disappointed with the story or the writing, but something simply felt 'off' all throughout my reading it. I simply couldn't break through a wall of detachment. I felt a total disconnect from this particular story and though it revolved around a woman and her struggles on a long painful journey (Which i can usually relate to and follow intently), I just couldn't bring myself to enjoy this book. It was evocative and made me feel emotions. I was enraged in the rape scenes that Dodola had to experience, and was heart warmed by her love connection with Zam.
I think I was most disappointed because I come from that world, and even though there were a lot of real issues addressed in this book, it felt like a total dramatization/exaggeration of whatever the writer/artist was attempting to convey. Like... I was annoyed with the amount of rape scenes scattered around throughout the book. I know the 'therapist response' to that would be, "Maybe they just upset you because they struck a nerve", which in a lot of cases could be true, and I will commend him on his attempt to emulate and communicate the felling of being raped from a woman's point of view,
... But i just really just didn't think that that many rape scenes were necessary. TRUE, rape happens in the Middle East. It also happens a lot in New York city. I think it's okay to be forward about such a strong subject, and if it is a reoccurring repetitive thing Dodola had to endure, FINE. But maybe the book would have benefitted from reminding the reader of that theme in more subtle ways. I kept reading bits and pieces of it, giving it chance here and there. I finally did a little bit of research and saw that the writer's name was 'Craig - Thompson'... I ignored the totally American looking name because that would be ignorant of me to decide, and also dismissed the fact that it was a man because that would also be stupid and ignorant for me to focus my negative attention on. But when I researched a little bit more about the production of this book and the background of Craig Thompson, I learned that it was written by someone who had little to no credibility in terms of culture and experience. He grew up in a Christian family, in Michigan. -__- ... I didn't see anything about his connection to Islamic culture or the Middle East. For me, that was easy to see in the book, even before researching this. I kept reading on Thompson's idea for this book, "While it is located in an Islamic country and features such elements as Arabic writing, Thompson is reluctant to say that it takes place in the Middle East, preferring to emphasize that it is a mythical landscape, and that the characters are vaguely Muslim as a result of the context in which they grew up. Thompson explains that he borrowed elements from different geographies, and infused them with the elements that he wanted". How pretentious. Ew.
... I just didn't like the basis and 'support' on which this story was told.
The artwork was beautiful, the compositions were nice, I like the fact that it was black and white and that there was so much beauty in the exterior covers, and I appreciate a person's attempt to explore and depict a foreign culture and journey to readers, but this book was NOT at all for me.
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