Feels like Star Wars, but it's nothing like it

I'm still reeling over Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples's Saga Volume 1. Really, it's the best graphic novel that I've read. Ever. And I thought that Vaughan topped himself with Y: The Last Man. I was wrong, but in a damn good way.

One of my favorite websites, io9, came up with a list of reasons why everyone should read Saga. They nailed it perfectly. The space operatic story, the nuanced characters, the exotic settings—everything worked beautifully. If you're not into graphic novels, Saga will win you over. It's that perfect example on how some stories can only be told in the graphic novel medium.

Saga is about star-crossed lovers. Alana, a soldier from the family Landfall, falls in love with Marko, a fighter from Landfall's only moon called Wreath. There's just one problem, a big one in fact: Landfall and Wreath have been at war with each other. The war has been going on for so long that they've now "outsourced" their fighting in other planets.

Of course, it doesn't help that the romance between Alana and Marko results in an offspring—a baby girl named Hazel who has Alana's wings and Marko's horns. Somehow, I felt that Vaughan alludes to angels and devils in characterizing the people of Landfall, who all have wings (reptilian and avian), and those of Wreath, who all have horns of different structures (some antler-, bull-, and deer-like). The Landfallen are experts at military weapons, so it seems, and the Wreath have the ability to do magic. So, yes, Saga effectively combines the tropes of science fiction and fantasy.

Then there are the other characters, which are just beautifully weird. Bounty hunters named The Will and The Stalk, both of which were hired by Wreath to kill Alana and Marko. The Stalk is actually half woman and half spider. Needless to say, she's scary as hell. And then there are the automatons, people with TV monitors for heads, who are allied with Landfall. If you think that's weird, wait until you get to the panels showing them having doggy-style sex or taking a dump. Then you've seen it all.

My favorite character would have to be The Will's companion, Lying Cat. It can tell whether a person is saying the truth or not. I wouldn't want it to be within 10 feet of me because, you know, lying . . . it's in my nature.

Don't you just love that face? Adorable.

I wonder what the toilet smells like.

Hazel is born.

The Stalk is so sexy.

Argh! How long will I have to wait for the series to finish? Volume 2 just came out this year, and I've already finished it. I can't get enough of Vaughan's gift of storytelling and Staples's talent for drawing. Saga is an edge-of-your-seat read, and it's my favorite read of the year so far.

Read this book if:

1. You have the patience to wait for the next installment.
2. You have a love-hate affair with Star Wars.
3. You have a thing for star-crossed lovers.

No over-reading for this graphic novel please

Last year, I picked Craig Thompson's most recent graphic novel, Habibi, with apprehension. Why? Well, I didn't really like Blankets, his most famous work. I found it too heavy on the Christian theme. His earlier work, Good-bye, Chunky Rice, I just found so-so. It was compared to The Little Prince for reasons I don't know why, even after a reread. (For the record, I also have no strong feelings toward The Little Prince. I just found the illustrations cute.)

But thank goodness I still decided to buy Habibi. It's one beautifully illustrated graphic novel with a sprawling storyline. If you flip its pages, you'd understand why there's a 7-year gab between Blankets and Habibi. I think these are the most immaculately detailed drawings that I've seen in graphic novels. One can see that these pages do not need color to make the panels come alive. Just look at these sample pages.

 

And the story? It has breadth and texture. Basically, Habibi is a love story between Dodola and Zam set in a fictional Islamic country called Wanatolia. It's a love story that's somewhat painful to read in some parts. At the start, we see the child Dodola forced to marry a much older man. Then Thompson sets up the circumstances wherein the young Dodola assumes the responsibility of taking care of the baby Zam. Years pass and the two spend many of those in an abandoned ship in the dessert, with Dodola offering her body to passing men in exchange for food.

Dodola and Zam get separated when Dodola is abducted by the Sultan's men for his harem. In the harem, Dodola gets a reputation for her skills in satisfying the Sultan. She ultimately gets pregnant but loses her child when it gets murdered by one of the other women from the harem, done out of jealousy apparently. In another parallel narrative, we see how Zam finds himself in the company of eunuchs and eventually become a eunuch himself. It is this condition that lets him work in the Sultan's palace, thus setting the scene for his reunion with Dodola.

But the story is far from over yet. We see how a man named Noah takes care of our main characters, letting them live in his shanty amidst the landscape filled with all kinds of refuse. We read how Zam takes a job in a construction firm, allowing him to have enough money for him and Dodola to start afresh. The ending is a very sweet and redemptive one, especially after reading through all the hardships that Dodola and Zam go through.

A lot has been said that Habibi doesn't do much in terms of presenting the Islamic culture to the world. The male characters especially are rendered into stereotypes. I couldn't care less. I didn't read it for that reason. Thompson does do a good job in showing some of the aspects of Islam, methinks. And that I think is a bonus. I read Habibi for the engaging story. I flipped its pages because of the beautiful artwork. I bought it because it's a beautiful book.

Photo courtesy of R.

So will Thompson be more known because of Habibi? Perhaps. He's still more popularly known for Blankets than any of his works. It did win the Eisner after all. But Habibi, in my opinion, is even more satisfying than Blankets. Habibi had scope, whereas Blankets was very inward looking. Sure, Blankets was autobiographical, which may account for its introspection, but Habibi draws you into its fictional world with its detailed sense of place. It's wonderful to get lost in it.

Read this book if:

1. You'll read anything by Craig Thompson.
2. You like your graphic novels complete in themselves. No volumes and series please.
3. You love exploring other cultures and immersing yourself in far-off places.

Graphic novel roundup

This Saturday, the book club is focusing the discussion on graphic novels, something which I very rarely buy because (1) they're quite expensive and (2) I don't get them sometimes.

It's only recently (i.e., this year) that I decided to collect some 'seminal works' of graphic fiction. Some of them I pictured below. The rest are somewhere in my bookshelves. I don't have a lot of graphic novels in my shelves, although I make sure to buy the really good ones.

I loved David Small's autobiographical Stitches, which was nominated for a National Book Award. Charles Burns's Black Hole was a scary and mysterious read. Craig Thompson's Blankets somewhat put me off with its overly religious themes. I didn't quite understand Nate Powell's Eisner-winning work, Swallow Me Whole. Daniel Clowes's Ghost World is a gas. And I have yet to read Maus and From Hell.

So we're going to discuss Thompson's Habibi this Saturday. I loved it, and I'm very much interested to hear other people's thoughts about it. I couldn't care about his other two works though. Blankets and Good-Bye, Chunky Rice left no lasting impressions after the last page.

But my current favorite would be Tove Jansson's comic strip about the Moomin family. These tales are timeless. I have no doubts that these collected comic strips would still be enjoyed by future generations. It's such a treat to read the adventures of Moomin, Moominmamma, Moominpappa, the Snork Maiden, Sniff, Little My, and the rest of Jansson's wonderful creations.

Read this book aloud

If you're a big fan of the works of Dr. Seuss, then you'll surely appreciate Robert Paul Weston's wonderful children's book, Zorgamazoo. It's a fictional work that is entirely written in verse, which I think is a feat in itself.

Here is a story
that's stanger than strange.
Before we begin you may want to arrange:

a blanket,
a cushion,
a comfortable seat,
and maybe some cocoa and something to eat. [page 3]

Zorgamazoo is about two characters, a human named Katrina and a zorgle named Morty, and how they embark on an adventure that's truly out of this world.

Weston writes about a world underneath our normal one, where strange-looking creatures live. It's a place called Zorgamazoo populated by ogres, mermaids, fairies, and other fantastical creatures. And one day, all these creatures mysteriously disappear. Morty unwillingly embarks on the quest after having his name drawn in a lottery. Katrina, on the other hand, is a girl always on the lookout for adventure. It's a mismatch ripe for many possibilities.


It becomes impossible for the reader to not go through this book in one sitting. For one, the illustrations of Victor Rivas Villa, which appear at the start of every chapter and intermittently in the inside pages, are delightful. His style is very distinct and quite appropriate for children.


I also think that the publisher made it a point to vary the typefaces used for some words, probably to avoid the monotony of having chunks of stanzas on every page. It's a very good technique, if I may say so, for it highlights some of the key words in the story. Katrina's name for example, when it appears in full in the text, is written in large classic serif type.


Of course, the main reason a lot of people would love this book is Weston's witty verse. There's a pleasant rhythm when you read the stanzas aloud. There's never an awkward nor a contrived line. Everything works perfectly. This is a book that you read to your children as you tuck them in bed.

And you better be careful when you take this book somewhere public like in a bus or the library. You won't be able to stop yourself from reading Weston's fabulous verse out loud.

Read this book if:

1. You love reading text that rhymes.
2. You're always on the lookout for wonderful debut fiction.
   
3. You can't get enough of reading books aloud.