I read this comic backwards for an alarmingly long time. I
thought it was some surreal, severed story that would straighten itself out.
This confusion helped me focus on the images more, and I found myself
transfixed on the exquisite use of color – images made solely of black, grey,
white, and a subtle orange.
After finally finding my footing I whizzed through the
comic. This was something new – different types of transitions, use of space,
pace, and image. My favorite fragments of the comic are pages 7-9. As the
father passes away, the panel shrinks on the page, symbolizing a sense of
desperation and emptiness. On page 8, the page’s negative space dominates the
eye. This is heavily contrasted with page 9: a single panel made of a large,
imposing door titled “surgery room.” I literally enter into the surgery room as
I flip the page. This is an ingenious transition and beautifully juxtaposes the
panels around it. Fittingly, the comic ends with us exiting another door,
stepping away from a fading Mimio.
Mimio’s death surprised me. I was so accustomed to Superman
ceaselessly saving the day and restoring peace. Or Tintin perfectly fending off
the endless swarm of thugs, solving whatever he needed to solve. The comics we’ve
read so far this year have established a model of storylines that end in
perfect harmony. Although this is a nice way to end an adventure, it gets old
and uninteresting. This is the first narrative that ended in tears, and the
first comic we read that I genuinely wasn’t sure what was going to happen next.
I had questions at the end, which for the first time, I really wanted answers
to.
Jasper, I made the same mistake! (Thankfully I was corrected before I could move past one page.)
ReplyDeleteI really love how even the comic book is, starting the comic's main action by walking through a close door, and then exiting the comic through a second door. In my opinion, the doors evoked a feeling similar to that of watching theater. I turned the page to open the door, just as a curtain rises to reveal the show. The door closes, just as a curtain comes back down. This sense of opening and conclusion left me satisfied, and made the story feel timeless. I feel like I could read it multiple times and always find something new.