All these lists that I have been reading have recommendations for non-superhero comic books, many of them autobiographical. I have just read a few of them so far:
- Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
- Mom's Cancer by Brian Fies
- Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
I resisted reading Persepolis for quite awhile. It is one of those books that seemed to end up on the recommended reading list/shelves where ever I looked. Perhaps I thought I might not like it because it was a comic book or because it looked like it was written for kids. Well, until recently, the first arguement held some water. The second one, just utter silliness. I love kid's books, the ones that are well written. What was the problem then? Maybe it just felt over-hyped. Since this time of year is the lull in the work cycle for my job, I headed over to the school library to see if they had a copy available. Indeed they did & once I started I couldn't put the book down. In fact, I closed the door to my office and spent my day reading. The story of the author's life growing up in Iran was just stunning. She must be about my age (based on the dates in the book), yet her childhood was so drastically different from mine. And I cried. Not because I am a sap, but because the story was told with such warth and humor that I couldn't help but care about these characters. Not that long ago I wouldn't have guessed that little stark, black and white drawings would be able to tell me story that is so emotionally rich. Well, they can.
But Persepolis wasn't the only thing that made me cry. There was also Mom's Cancer, recommended by E. This was one I thought might bring about some tears as my mom is a cancer surviver. Even more so because I am not sure I have fully processed my mom's struggle with cancer. Several years ago some abnormalities where found during routine testing and with in a few days she was in the hospital having part of her colon removed. My mom never had cancer symptoms, but she did have surgery, followed by chemotherapy to make sure that any pesky cancer cells that remained didn't gert any ideas to make a home in her body. I know my mom's journey wasn't as fast as it seemed to me. The chemo drained her and the time it look to complete all the chemo sessions streched out longer than origianlly planned because they where such a strain on her body. I guess I was really lucky that I got to live in a bit of denial since her cancer was detected so early and it hadn't spread. But all of that meant that "Mom' Cancer" hit close to home. Originally publised as web comic, I read the story in a small sized hardback book. This is another fabulous story told with warmth despite it's difficult subject matter.
In case any one was worried that I cry at any autobiographical graphic novel, not to worry. I did not cry reading Fun House, but it was still a compelling story of a woman examining her childhood and coming to terms with her relationship with her father and his death. Death is part of the story, she grew up in a family that ran a morturary. Through out the book I wasn't sure if I hate the father or was drawn to him because of hie quirks. I guess the author was working out that part too. Does unconditional love really exist? Can our families cross a line to a place where we can't love them any more? Can you really hate the sinner and still love the sinner?
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