The Randomness of Me

This is perhaps one of the coolest graphic novels I’ve run across since Matt Johnson’s Incognegro came out a few years ago. I am a recent convert to graphic novelia even though I grew up with a brother who devoured comics like I did books - there are still dozens of long white boxes stuffed with plastic sleeves, filled with Superman, Batman, the Avengers and a host of other super heroes in our parents basement. Comics were a staple in my family and neighborhood - all the boys bought read, traded, and debated over them. They were kind of like 1978 teen versions of Sheldon, Raj, Walowitz, and Leonard on The Big Bang Theory who know the owner of the comic book store by name and have hold bags where he deposits their graphic fix every couple of weeks. One of my cousins turned that passion into a career and is one of the foremost comic book scholars in the country and who, like my brother, will tell you that the graphic novel, while similar too, is vastly different from it’s serialized story telling older cousin. 

Even with all of this comic book frenzy around me, I preferred un-illustrated prose pages for my word nerd habit - that is until I read Persepolis and Fun Home which showed me that those little panels could do amazing things to further a reader’s engagement with and understanding of the text. I learned form them that they can tackle hard issues in a way that allows us access them without being overwhelmed by the sensitive, true-to-life, sometimes uncomfortable truths their characters and stories share.

When Johnson’s Incognegro came out, I heard him speak at at my grad school (Mills Collage - MFA Program) and he talked about the process of writing a book like this - it was not his first work in the realm, he’d already written for a couple of comics. I picked up a copy of the book not only because I’d grown to appreciate the genre but because he was uncovering a seldom talked about part of the civil rights movement that intrigued me. It is a beautifully illustrated and concisely told and brings you right into the south of the time - the fact that is is done in black and white adds to it’s flavor. 

Well this book, The Silence of Our Friends, which came out last month, is another GN that addresses issues related the the civil rights movement and is as well told and gripping as any of those I’ve mentioned. Just in time to share with the comic book/GN maven - kid or adult - in your life for Black History Month, the book will change your mind about GNs if you, like I used to, think of them as just long comics…

For more on the book, CLICK out you can learn about the authors and see a few panels.  The authors will be speaking at the Anza branch of the San Francisco Public Library this Saturday afternoon - for details CLICK - 

I wonder what my cousin thinks of this one — BTW you can catch him (Jonathan W. Gray who teaches at John Jay in NYC and has a cool blog), speaking on a panel - Comic New York and the Academy - on March 25, 2012 at Comic New York: A Symposium.