Jordan Wellington Lint -- Graphic Novel

MAN, CHRIS WARE. What-is-up.

Chris Ware has a way of making you feel a person's entire life with so few words. I felt this way with "Jimmy Corrigan the Smartest Kid on Earth", but that was a thick read, this one can't be more than 100 pages and yet I still feel emotionally exhausted from that. (In a wonderful way).

In this story, Jordan Wellington Lint follows one man's life from birth to death with all of its twists, turns and predictable melancholy along the way. Nothing crazy really happens, Jordan/Jason goes to college, is in a frat, graduates, gets married, has children, has an affair, leaves his family, starts a new family, goes to work, etc, etc. Pretty similar life to a large percentage of the population. Pretty boring. So why would I read a story about a privileged white male who is probably a huge dick. Because of Chris Ware's approach to illustration and the way he handles narration, or I guess, doesn't.

He's telling you a story, but instead of doing it with dialogue or chronological events, he uses the character's memories and emotions to portray feelings of certain things or feelings about certain things, and while many events aren't spelled out for you visually, you understand the characters mood and truth because you've gotten the story directly from them, not through a narrator. His approach is deeply exhausting, out of context and at times very unclear, but you feel a strong connection with these characters because you're in their head thinking with them.

Breaking down events to their very core, showing us their most simple form, Ware has a ware of speaking in a code of symbols but hitting the readers with some sort of unspeakable truth. It is really remarkable and GOSH DARN IT HE DOES IT SO WELL.

The Shadow Hero - Graphic Novel

"The Shadow Hero", written by Gene Luen Yang ("American Born Chinese") is a story about living in Chinatown in the 1930s, and with the persistence and insistence of one mother wanting more for her son, a young boy becomes the first Asian American superhero. Calling himself, the Green Turtle, Hank tells the story of how his life as a superhero first began.

The story is exciting, the artwork is beautiful and Gene Luen Yang's humor charm shows each character, especially Hank's strict but loving mother. The mystery and folklore weaved throughout the origin story of  The Shadow Hero was captivating and the account of Chu Hing's Green Turtle in the back of the volume was really appreciated. I love learning more about the history of comics, especially when it, although rarely, involves a character, writer or artist that is not a straight-white-male.

Really great story that speaks larger than just what or who a super hero can be.

Fun Home

Written by Alison Bechdel, Fun Home is the story of Alison's dysfunctional relationship with her father.

It is a very deep and intricate look at both of their lives, together and apart in order to learn more about the relationship they had with one another and the effect of that on the other person.

It starts out very loose but further into the story, you get sucked in because it is so beautifully written that its almost like you forget you are reading a coming-of-age graphic novel, and you are reading a very poignant, serious piece of writing about humans and their connections with each other.

Not a light read whatsoever. The story itself is really dense with very heavy themes of death, suicide and secrets, but it also is lengthy too and full of really great images so be prepared to spend some time with this book, while you are reading it as well as after. It will linger.