By Andrew A. Smith
Tribune Content Agency
The strength of some graphic novels, like the prose kind, is the power to make you think. Such is the case with Just So Happens by writer/artist Fumio Obata (Abrams ComicArts, $24.95).
The narrative is fairly straightforward. The book follows Yumiko, a twentysomething Japanese girl who has made a living for herself in the art world of London, and is engaged to marry an Englishman. Then comes the news her father has died, and Yumiko is forced to re-engage the culture she has abandoned in a forceful way, with the rituals and social structures of a funeral.
Yumiko must once again deal with the expectations of her parents, one dead and one alive -- the very expectations she avoided once by leaving the country. Given that her father was a traditionalist and her mother a hard-charging feminist, those expectations cover the widest possible range. Her Dad wanted her to return to Japan, her mother wants her to have a career. But what does Yumiko want?
"Will she stay or will she go?" is the narrative structure of the book, explicating the events and emotions leading to a decision on that score, which serves as the story's climax. Rendered in subdued watercolors, Just So Happens works beautifully on the surface as a coming-of-age story.
But that's just one level. Obata uses the rituals of Japan, especially the Noh theater, to provide subtextual information throughout. Noh is an ancient theatrical form that uses highly stylized gestures to convey emotion, employs masks to indicate identity and requires enormous discipline to perform -- a perfect metaphor for the clamp of culture Yumiko feels.
The use of metaphor throughout provides a number of minor climaxes and flashes of insight to the alert reader, who might otherwise be lulled by the art's dreamlike quality and the characters' repressed emotions. This is the sort of graphic novel that successfully aspires to be literature, and is likely to find its way onto college reading lists.
Another book that constantly surprises is Zombillenium, by French writer/artist Arthur de Pins, whose third volume arrives this month.
The first volume seemed little more than a monster spoof, about vampires, werewolves and other creatures that go bump in the night running a theme park. The second volume took a different path, focusing on the fractured relationships between the creatures of the theme park and their obnoxious human (and oh-so-delicious) neighbors. Zombillenium 3: Control Freaks (NBM, $14.99) goes yet a third way, expanding on the concept in a world-building way that sets up conflicts and questions for more volumes to come.
Here we see what the theme park actually does, which is to provide souls for a Satanic creature known only as Behemoth. Visitors sign a contract that they think is a liability release, but instead gives this devil jurisdiction over their souls while they're in the park. Solo arrivals and others who might not be missed tend to have quiet, fatal accidents, with their souls going to Hell and their newly monstrous bodies remaining as new park employees.
But this is generally a breezy, upbeat book, and that aspect is quite a downer. So the park's purpose is mitigated by the stance of the park manager (and vampire), Francis von Bloodt, who tries to minimize the park's evil -- if for no other reason than he prefers that humans not be aware of their true nature. Being immortal, he still remembers the days of torches and pitchforks, and has no wish to return to them.
That has been the case, albeit unexamined, for the the first two books. For the third, von Bloodt's quiet humanitarianism is challenged when Behemoth sends a "consultant" to oversee the park. This guy is gung ho to provide lots of fresh souls for his boss, plus he's a smarmy corporate type.
So everyone hates him.
That provides the motivation for a number of formerly minor players to take center stage. Aton Noudjemet, a 3,368-year-old mummy and former pharaoh, leads a rebellion. Gretchen the witch and Aurelius the demon form a pact (and a romantic liaison), with an undisclosed agenda. Sirius the skeleton (and union leader) learns the limits of his courage.
So it looks like Zombillenium is here to stay as an ongoing series of graphic novels, instead of a couple of one-offs. There's even an animated music video by the band Skip the Use and a feature-length movie in the works.
The art on Zombillenium 3 is clear and clever, as always. De Pins draws entirely in Adobe Illustrator, but never goes overboard on the coloring, as so many artists do. While pretty and nuanced, at heart the illustrations are cartoons, and make you smile as you breeze through.
That's two books that have more going on than the surface would indicate. Add to that a third, Michael Midas Champion (InkLit, $19.95), by writer Jordan B. Gorfinkel (Batman: No Man's Land) and artist Scott Benefiel (Transformers).
At first blush, Michael Midas Champion is a superhero love story. The titular character is bullied as a lad, has the usual strange accident that gives him super-powers, and grows up to be both a superhero and husband. The story is told by a grandmother to her grandson, and there is little doubt -- although it is never expressly stated -- that the grandmother is the girl Champion marries, and the courtship is thoroughly covered.
That's enough for a superhero tale, and the art does it fine service. Benefiel is a bit on the cartoony side, and Champion's musculature is a bit over the top, but he's excellent at conveying emotion through facial expressions. His pacing -- fast for action, slow for characterization -- is superb.
However, the publisher's description says the book is about weighing career (as a superhero) vs. family time. There's a bit of that, but at the end of this volume (there will be two), Mrs. Midas has only just become pregnant. Evidently we're going to see a lot more of "Incredibles"-style domestic tension when the second volume arrives with the little Midas.
And there's no doubt there's a lesson in there about family time. Because the "Champion" Facebook page and website indicate that "Champion" strives to be educational as well as entertaining.
In addition to establishing the importance of family, "Champion" also emphasizes healthy eating and exercise. As it happens, Champion's powers are regulated by how healthy he is -- the better he eats, and the more he works out, the stronger and more durable he becomes. So we see Champion championing vegetable smoothies, working out a lot, mentioning that he's a vegan and turning down food and drink that isn't healthy (like caffeinated sodas).
Normally I'm against a superhero story having any sort of message. When writers jump up on soapboxes, they generally go too far -- and nobody enjoys a screed.
Fortunately, though, I didn't even notice the "very special episode" lessons on my first read, so it's subtle enough that I don't mind. And, hey, we could all do with a reminder to eat healthy and exercise, right?
Reach Captain Comics by email (capncomics@aol.com), the Internet (comicsroundtable.com), Facebook (Captain Comics Round Table) or Twitter (@CaptainComics)
Replies
I think I may have already suggested Just So Happens for library purchase. But if not I definitely will. And plan to read it myself.
Let me know what you think when you do!