Alice Guy: First Lady of Film by Jose-Louis Bocquet with art by Catel Muller (2021) 400 pages
I have read several graphic biographies. They are often fairly slim and only highlight a few moments from the person's life. This one has over 300 pages to graphically tell the story of Alice Guy's life. Her childhood was fascinating and international. The episodes showing her early positions as stenographer/secretary does not ignore the sexism of the male workforce. Her work relationship with Gaumont who takes a photography shop in Paris into the emerging, innovative motion picture industry was stern, but supportive. Rather than documenting events or making magic trick films, Alice had ideas for fictional films and directed many, many herself, though only a few still survive. In the early days of film people were already experimenting with synchronized sound. Alice directed several early "music videos" too. She meets and works with Herbert Blaché who would become her husband. They go to America. They have two kids. He is unfaithful. They found their own film studio. She continues directing, but then fortunes turn. It is brief, but still fairly detailed in tracing her later life. The writer then provides 75 pages of a timeline and biographical notes. Overall an excellent book.
Guardian of Fukushima by Fabien Grolleau with art by Ewen Blain (2021) 144 pages
I also read the free comic book day preview a couple years ago and it stuck in my mind. I enjoyed reading the full graphic novel. The mythological elements mixed with the true story works well. The writing and the art complement each other so well. As the bonus material at the end sums up, it was a triple tragedy of earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster at Fukushima in 2011. Naoto Matsumura caring for all the pets and farm animals left behind in the irradiated zone is so heartwarming. Based on the preview, I expected more of the story to be about the day to day life of caring for these living creatures that share our home. The final chapter actually involves Naoto being a spokesperson campaigning for less reliance on dangerous nuclear power.
The Library Mule of Cordoba by Wilfred Lupano with art by Leonard Chemineau (2021) 263 pages
Since I work in a library, you might expect this is right up my alley. You'd be right. I loved this comic adventure. I mean comic as in funny haha. Historical fiction with well-drawn characters. The twists and turns that the three heroes and the mule encounter on their journey/escape kept surprising me. Zealots in Cordoba in the late 900s begin burning books that do not fit their interpretation of religious texts. A librarian and two assistant copyists escape with about 100 books overloaded on a stubborn mule, the worst mule in the world. Cunning misadventures boosted by knowledge from these books helps the escapees survive and narrowly avoid capture or death. The storytelling is complex with multiple flashbacks and details about the time period. I think this was planned as a complete work, not separate issues/chapters that were later bound together. The art is incredibly emotive and humorous. The writer and artist obviously love books, and knowledge, and libraries. There is a fantastic afterword with a bit more history too.
The Outside Circle: A Graphic Novel by Patti Laboucane-Benson with art by Kelly Mellings (2015) 128 pages
The art work took awhile to grow on me. The Outside Circle is about indigenous/aboriginal men from broken homes in Canada. Once the main character Pete is in the prison infirmary and the In Search of Your Warrior program is offered as rehabilitation the story really takes off. The writer is a researcher of native counselling services in Alberta, so this is a real service she wants to share with the world. The men, many with gang affiliation, learn about their roots and learn to break generational trauma from residential schools and families being torn apart. There is a symbolic use of masks throughout. Pete imagines a mask covering his face when he uses violence. Later, the Warrior program has the men make plaster masks of their faces to contemplate their true inner person as they near graduation. Pete finds the strength to stop his gang involvement and reconnects with his younger brother, an uncle he never knew, and a daughter he had rejected. It is uplifting and inspirational.
