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I really hate it when a newspaper does an article on a comic book or a particular local retailer, and the headline immediately, predictably, makes use of the same old onomatopoeia (yes, I had to look up the word in order to spell it correctly). “Biff! Pow! Bang! Second Chance Comics has a sale on Friday!” or “Boom! Slam! Crash! Marvel stock plummets.” My goodness. I wasn’t even alive when the Batman television show aired, and we’re still defaulting to that stereotype? Fortunately, I’m seeing it less now than I did a few years ago.

There are some graphic novels where use of onomatopoeia would sound even more out of place. For instance, ”Pow! Smash! Boof! Will Eisner’s The Plot confronts with the twisted history of anti-Semitism” or ”Bang! Crash! Smack! Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran” or even ”Boom! Pop! Boom! First Second Books publishes Stassen’s tale of Rwanda.”

I love these graphic novels. They are entirely inconvenient to the larger pop media that wants comic books to be nothing more than pulp escapism.

Ugh. Escapism. I really hate that word. Good art does not take us away from the world—it reconnects us to it in a more meaningful way. I’ll debate that point all day long. Even a goofy comedy like Old School touches on the absurdity of life in a way that is entertaining and substantive. It’s not escapism. A good horror film might deal with fantastic elements, but the basic psychology is rooting in things we all relate to: feeling helpless, lost, abandoned, or confused. Yes, the superhero power fantasies may touch upon issues of wish fulfillment. But have you ever noticed how the good stories also deal with super heroes feeling incredibly impotent to changing the world around them or even improving their own life? Doesn’t sound like escapism to me. The beautiful girl-next-door in the comic book breaks your heart, because she already broke your heart in high school a few years back. Remember?

These are the kind of books that will change your life, if you allow them to. Here’s my list of the seven most inconvenient:

1. FAX FROM SARAJEVO - As a dad, it’s impossible to read this story without it breaking your heart. There’s such an intense need to protect your family, and in this story by Joe Kubert, the father is left without many options to ease his family’s suffering.

“This book is not fiction. It is based on the daily messages I received from my friend and agent, Ervin Rustemagic. Trapped with his family in the Bosnian war zone, his only communication to the outside world was through his faxes. His messages described the horrors and frustrations visited on the defenseless people of Sarajevo. Not since World War II has such ‘ethnic cleansing’ been visited upon a people.” - Joe Kubert

Over and over again, the story points the finger back at a negligent world community. Why isn’t anyone helping us? Why isn’t anyone doing anything to stop this?

2. MAUS - Art Spiegelman’s two volume story about his own father’s experience during the Holocaust is an astounding read. Art reduces the players to cats (the Nazis), mice (the Jews), pigs (the Poles) and other national stereotypes not to oversimplify the roles each group played in World War II. Instead, it acts as a harsh commentary on our own efforts to simplify tragedy into convenient labels. The cartoon tradition of anthropomorphism has the opposite effect than what you might expect. It literally shows how dehumanizing war is, offering a much more grim and cruel world than Hollywood could ever invent.

3. PERSEPOLIS - Marjane Satrapi tells her story of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. With all the current political posturing going on between the United States and Iran, this book should be required reading to help us better understand and put a face to that “other” country. Unlike Maus and Fax from Sarajevo, there’s a bit of humor and defiant innocence that makes the reader fall in love with Marjane, much like Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird.

4. OUR CANCER YEAR - This book surprised me. It’s not only about Harvey Pekar’s cancer, and how he and his wife dealt with this family crisis; a large portion of it is also about the Gulf War. Running these two stories parallel creates a more complex story, putting Pekar’s own suffering against a larger backdrop of national and international suffering. The story doesn’t diminish Pekar’s suffering, but it refuses cheap pity or to reduce him to “poor guy with cancer.” Not to mention, Frank Stack’s artwork is amazing.

5. THE PLOT - A conspiracy on a conspiracy, Will Eisner’s book covers the history of a fraudulent document known as the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” which lays out a supposed worldwide plot of behalf of the Jews to take over the world. The graphic novel strikes at the root of anti-Semitism and irrational fears. Eisner’s later work dealt almost exclusively with Jewish culture and family. This final work is a sad mournful commentary on how difficult it is to stomp out racial prejudice.

6. PEDRO AND ME - Judd Winick’s story about his friendship with Pedro Zamora, it moves the reader through all the pain of losing a friend. And in the process, takes an honest look at the AIDS epidemic on a personal level.

7. DEOGRATIS - A fictitious story set within the actual history of the Rwanda genocides, Belgium cartoonist J.P. Stassen’s graphic novel is grim. I’ll be honest. It’s wonderfully composed, but difficult to get through. At the same time, books like Deogratis must be read, because it’s the very thing that forces us to turn away that necessitates we don’t ignore it. The world stood by and watched Hutu militants slaughter Tutsi innocents—in less than a hundred days, eight hundred thousand human beings were hacked to death.

So comic books are all about escapism? A fun little adventure story here and there?

G4 recently did a live report from the floor of the Comic Con in San Diego. My wife recorded it for me, and I watched it when I got home. Yet again, the focus was on people dressed in spandex. Pow. It’s a shame.

THE CHESS MATCH CONTINUES -->

Hopkins - McCloud (French Defense, Winawer Variation)
1. e4 e6
2. d4 d5
3. Nc3 Bb4
4. e5 c5
5. a3

Check out Scott McCloud’s photos from the trip BEFORE the trip (i.e. Comic Con International). CLICK HERE

This concludes my fifth week of “Beneath the Underdog” for Pop Syndicate. Feedback appreciated. Discussion encouraged.

Come back next Thursday when we talk about the nice people in comics.

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