Rubicon (by Mark Long, Christopher McQuarrie, Dan Capel, Rebecca Taylor, Mario Stilla) - A review

Rubicon

Location: Afghanistan
Creators: Mark Long, Christopher, McQuarrie, Dan Capel, Rebecca Taylor, Mario Stilla
Publisher/Year: Archaia/2013
Genre: Adventure (War)
Theme: A retelling of Seven Samurai in the form of a tale about a Navy SEAL team defending an Afghan village from Taliban insurgents

Seven Samurai, Akira Kurosawa's classic film about a ragtag group of warriors who come together to defend a village from a group of bandits, has been adapted in numerous countries and in many forms, most notably in the form of western The Magnificent Seven. This graphic novel attempts to take the tried and tested story and adapt it to the tale of a Navy SEAL team in Afghanistan, defending a small village from Taliban insurgents attempting to take the village's opium produce.

The story itself is pretty standard, and chances are you've all watched one version of it or another at some point. What matters is how well it's adapted. The parallels are pretty obvious, making it a fairly smooth adaptation for the Afghan setting with straight swaps. The Navy SEALs largely embody the Samurai character archetypes seen in the original, while remaining fairly accurate about how SEAL teams accurate (or so I assume, given that one of the people involved, Dan Capel, was a SEAL Team Six founder). The villagers remain similar, worried about the threat facing them while also apprehensive about the danger these new 'defenders' would attract. The bandits are replaced by the Taliban (who for some reason seem to be cosplaying as Mongols).

It's an effective swap that works well, but therein lies the main problem with this book - it tries too much to adapt the storyline to a new setting without truly giving it any originality. Even subplots that don't add anything to this particular story get adapted, leading to a general sense that it's point for point substitution without any true substance. This is a downright shame, as the elements are clearly there. It's just that they have not extended the bare minimum in an original direction to make the most of the tale. The characterisation is decent, but it never strives to go beyond bare archetypes common in such stories, where most such adaptations use minor modifications to add some specific depth.

The setting is well captured in Mario Stilla's art, as are the local people (with the aforementioned exception of the oddly dressed Taliban fighters). The writing features inputs from enough people with military experience that this comes through in a realistic manner, while McQuarrie's screenwriting experience (he won an Oscar for The Usual Suspects) helps plot the tale in a manner that suggests it would work well on the screen (indeed, a TV prequel was commissioned).

On the whole, it's a solid piece of work that is well put together and is a natural adaptation. My main complaint is that it comes off slightly bland and unoriginal, which is a bit disappointing considering it has all the elements to be a good tale and a strong team working on it.

Arrugas/Wrinkles (by Paco Roca) - A review

Arrugas (Wrinkles)

Location: Spain
Creator: Paco Roca
Format: Graphic Novel
Publisher/Year: Delcourt (French); Astiberri (Spanish)/2007
Genre: Realistic fiction
Theme: A look at the lives of patients with Alzheimer's in an old age home, both current as well as the lives built on their memories of yesteryear

This book is a charming look at the lives of Alzheimer's patients, centred on a venerable old protagonist sent to an old age home for patients by his son, no longer able to bear the strain of dealing with a father whose mental faculties are no longer serving him as well as they should after the onset of Alzheimer's. The emphasis here is on 'charming,' as this could so easily have been a dark and wistful examination of the suffering of Alzheimer's patients. Instead, Paco Roca, in part inspired by a friend's ailing father, chose to look at the lives of a group of patients at the home who compensate for their condition by living life with an almost childlike zest.

The plot is not much more than the theme I outlined, with the protagonist and his new friends at the home making it through day to day life while facing challenges, and occasionally embarking on an adventure of sorts, be it in the real world or in the memories and imagination in their heads. The setting of this story is not truly Spain, to be honest, but in two 'places.' One, the all too real old age home. The other, inside the minds of these patients, who have little left in their heads but old memories. As they live the final years of their lives, real and imaginary, to the fullest, there is a quaint sense of adventure for the readers that does not really take away from a look at the problems faced by the protagonists.

This is a book that would make many of us sad, but in many ways is a celebration of the lives of our parents and grandparents (and elders in general), some of whom do face problems thanks to Alzheimer's. Roca skillfully weaves a narrative and style where the reader engages with characters and feels their joys (as well as their sorrows), and on the whole the work is delightful.

There is not much I can truly say about this book, as it is something worth feeling rather than describing. Read it if you can (it's available in Spanish, and in French as Rides), but if not there's also an animated movie based on it. I haven't watched it, but it seems to be quite faithful to the book based on what little I have seen.

On a different note, this is my 20th book review for this challenge, which puts me at a quarter of the final target. Thanks to my rather hectic January and March I am running a couple of weeks behind, but I am catching up quickly! I'm fairly pleased to note that I have managed 20 books in 20 different countries without any repeats, but I'm fairly certain it's just going to get harder to maintain that level of variety as I go along. Still, fingers crossed for the rest of the challenge!

Zahra's Paradise (by Amir & Khalil) - A Review

Zahra's Paradise

Location: Iran
Creators: Amir & Khalil
Format: Graphic Novel
Publisher/Year: First Second Books/2011
Genre: Drama (Political)
Theme: The tale of a family's attempts to find a young protester who vanished without a trace following the 2009 Presidential Elections in Iran.

In the aftermath of the 2009 Presidential Elections, young activist Mehdi disappears under mysterious circumstances, almost certainly abducted and detained by the government's secret police. This is not an uncommon tale in Iran, but one that's rarely told. But thanks to the efforts of his brave mother Zahra, his brother Hassan (a blogger) and other friends, Mehdi's tale gradually unfolds, and along the way the tenacious group hears from many others of their own tragedies. As the tale draws to a close (but not an end, by any means) they find themselves at the cemetery Behesht-e-Zahra (literally 'Zahra's Paradise,' for some sense of irony), a burial place for many opponents as well as supporters of the regime.

Like Cuba: My Revolution, this is a graphic novel set in a tumultuous period and the protagonist is a female character confronting some harsh truths about an autocratic regime. That's where the similarities end, however. Zahra, the main protagonist of this tale, is not a naïve young girl whose enthusiasm about the regime is shattered. No, she is a strong woman who does not truly know her strength until it's tested by the unthinkable, the disappearance of her son Mehdi.

This is the tale of one brave family, using modern means in the hunt for a missing son/brother. But it is by no means solely the tale of Mehdi's family. This is a narrative that highlights numerous tales of tragedy and instigates readers and subjects to keep fighting for a better nation. It is simple in its premise, but powerful and oh-so-current.

The protagonists are well etched out, and the locale is well established. This is a rare look at life in Teheran under the current regime, set against a modern backdrop with technology a dominant force. The writing is good, and the art is clean. At the end, though, this is not a work that's about the plot/narrative or the stylistic aspects - it's about the message. It's about revealing the way things really are in modern Iran, and it does that very well.

Is it a truly groundbreaking work? Not really. Is it a great novel? Again, probably not. But it is a good look at Iran as it is, something that most of us only hear speculation about. If you'd like a look at it, it's also serialised online (as I found out after reading it), so go check it out.

Cuba: My Revolution (by Inverna Lockpez & Dean Haspiel) - A Review

Cuba: My Revolution

Location: Cuba
Author: Inverna Lockpez
Art & Lettering: Dean Haspiel (pencils), Jose Villarrubia (colours), Pat Brosseau (letters)
Format: Graphic Novel
Publisher/Year: Vertigo Comics/2010
Genre: Historical fiction; Politics
Theme: A semi-autobiographical look back at the tumultuous period of the Cuban revolution, as told from the perspective of a young girl (or woman, given the story starts when she is 17)

A disclaimer to start with: while this is still a fictional work in terms of the central characters, this is very much based on the youth of the writer Inverna Lockpez, an artist who was supposedly coaxed by artist Dean Haspiel into telling her story in the form of this slightly more fictional graphic novel narrative. As such, it is clearly a very personal work, and this shines through quite clearly as one reads the novel.

The narrative starts with Castro's rise to power in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when seventeen year old Sonya is swept up in the initial wave of optimism and freedom accompanying the new regime. In a rush of patriotic fervour, she even drops her dreams of becoming an artist to better serve the country as a doctor. As with the nascent independent nation of Cuba, though, her passion is soon dealt a harsh blow as the United States of America invaded in a battle now widely referred to as the 'Bay of Pigs,' where Sonya serves as a medic and finds herself face-to-face with her boyfriend Flavio, now on the other side! He comes to a sticky end, but things go from bad to worse for Sonya as she somehow ends up accused of being a CIA spy and is tortured for days before getting released. Through it all, Sonya somehow continues to believe in Castro's Cuba. She returns to her art, finds a new life, and continues to believe in the Cuban dream despite the increasing concerns of many around her. It's her new life in art school, however, that leads to Sonya learning once and for all that her dream of a free Cuba under Castro is a sham, that rampant censorship and unspeakable horrors persist, and that the revolution was not all it was made out to be. Eventually she makes a big decision of her own, and manages to flee the country.

How she escaped is not the focus of this tale. The story is of a young girl, full of newfound idealism and pride in a new regime, gradually having her trust eroded and replaced with fear and utter disappointment, to the point that escape becomes the only option. This is very much the tale of Inverna Lockpez as well, and as such comes through clearly. The setting feels all too real, with Lockpez and Haspiel providing a front row seat to many key events in 'modern' Cuban history. The characters are reasonably strong, particularly Sonya of course, but few feel like characters that are explored in great detail. Understandable, given that this is a work focused on one character in the midst of a changing geopolitical landscape. It is the setting that is truly important, and Sonya's changing life in the midst of it. In this aspect it succeeds marvellously.

The art is stellar, which is expected from an artist of Haspiel's calibre and reputation. It manages a personal feel without getting overly 'real,' conveying the situation and feelings in an effective manner. The colours are also effective, while the lettering does the job it is meant to do.

All in all, it's a well-written and well-executed graphic novel with a very personal tale to tale, and is very much a recommended read for a look at Cuba during that tumultuous period. It's a period that has often been written about, but rarely does one get as personal a look at the historic events as one does with this novel.

Aya de Yopougon (by Marguerite Abouet & Clément Oubrerie) - A review

Aya de Yopougon

Location: Côte d'Ivoire/Ivory Coast
Format: Graphic Novel
Author: Marguerite Abouet
Artist: Clément Oubrerie
Publisher/Year: Gallimard Jeunesse/2005
Genre: Realistic fiction
Theme: The lives of a group of young women and their friends and family in city of Abidjan, and portraits of ordinary

people living everyday lives in a developing African country

What comes to your mind when I mention the word 'Africa?' If you're like most people, at some point you would have pictured crushing poverty, disease, starvation, war, and untold miseries (also the forests and animals, perhaps, but that's not the point here). This is how we as outsiders have been conditioned to think about Africa. While it's true that Africans have to deal with more than their fair share of problems, there is far more to them than this. Day to day lives are a mixture of highs and lows, just as in any other part of the world. Indeed, many Africans display an enviable joie de vivre, something that is very much on display in 'Aya de Yopougon.' Marguerite Abouet set out to create a work that shows the everyday life of Africans (well, Ivorians, to be precise) and not focus specifically on the more miserable aspects as many 'western' narratives are wont to do, something she achieves in this look at the lives of a few young women and those around them.

One would think the central character in this story would be Aya, the eponymous heroine, a resident of Yopougan (termed 'Yop City' by the locals), a popular area of Abidjan. And yes, she is reasonably central in some ways. But overall, the story seems to revolve more around the actions of her friends Adjoua and Bintou than Aya. If anything, the oh-so-well-behaved-and-ambitious Aya stands as a counterpoint to her more carefree and wild friends, who are keen on partying, marrying rich guys, and getting settled with a standard salon or clothing shop. Where this could have been a narrative about Aya and her dreams of becoming a doctor, overcoming the pressures of society and a deeply regressive attitude on the part of her parents (who do in fact think she should just marry a rich guy and not search for a meaningful job), but is instead a narrative about young women dealing with the highs and lows (some more challenging than others) of everyday life. But this is not a criticism of the story, per se. Indeed, this is a story that could have been a standard tale of a women from an impoverished background rising to achieve her goals despite obstacles in the form of family and society. Or a tale about her friends, one seemingly impregnated by the other's boyfriend. Or a series of other life-altering dramas.

But no. At the end of the day, this is a tale that takes these events as parts of the everyday lives of these characters. They may become truly major (the pregnancy is a major event in this book, admittedly). But the focus is on different people enjoying life in their own ways. It's about young women and young men interacting in a country that was experiencing a period of relative success and joy under President Félix Houphouët-Boigny. It's a tale about people going to the popular clubs, to the local makeout spot, to the market, to friend's places; it's about the social interactions and the simple joys and problems of everyday life. This is a portrait of everyday life in a reasonably liveable African city in the 1980s, far removed from the myriad tales of war and poverty that define Africa. In this sense, Abouet succeeds marvellously. The art is interesting and has its own character. Is it beautiful art? That's a matter of perspective. But it captures the characters and the intended feel quite well, and that is what it was meant to do. And it captures the setting even better, giving the readers a sense of what life is like in Yop City for Aya and her friends.

This is not a spectacular work. Indeed, it is not even a complete tale in many ways. The plot is largely irrelevant. But it set out to do something different, and does it well. It's not a book for everyone (the phrase 'your mileage may vary' is seldom going to be more relevant in the books reviewed on this blog), but it's a book worth a look-see at the least. Admittedly, only 3 of the 6 books in the series have been translated into English, but that should be enough. And for those like me who read French, definitely try it in the original language. The added slang and other aspects give the book a special Yopougon feel that may be lost to some extent in translated versions, and this is invaluable when looking at a slice of life in this region and for the section of society the book is about.

Whiteout (by Greg Rucka & Steve Lieber) - A review

Whiteout

Location/Setting: Antarctica
Format: Graphic Novel
Writer: Greg Rucka
Artist: Steve Lieber
Publisher/Year: Oni Press/1998 (collected in 2007)
Genre: Crime/Thriller
Theme: The first murder in Antarctica and the hunt to find the killer. Enough said.

Not sure if including graphic novels in this counts as a cheat, but if I recall correctly there were no restrictions in the challenge rules regarding the validity of graphic novels. Whiteout is admittedly made a little more complicated by the fact that it was originally a miniseries that got collected nearly a decade after publication, but it speaks volumes about Rucka's smooth writing and transitions that I was convinced at first that this was an Original Graphic Novel (aka OGN, which is a graphic novel intended to be published exactly as that, in the form of one complete story/novel rather than a collected edition). Some of you might have watched the movie based on this and come away a little less than satisfied. To give credit to the movie, it strived to represent the story, and performances were good. But it never stood a chance of replicating the intensely personal feel embedded in the novel, and without that it comes off like a relatively bland TV movie that ended up on the big screen instead. But the focus of this review is the book, not the movie. So let's get down to it!

First up, might as well understand a little bit about Rucka as a writer. Before Whiteout came out, Rucka was essentially a novellist, but it must be stated truthfully that for all his merits he was at most middle rung in that arena. But those merits I mentioned? Some of those translated beautifully to comics as a medium, and Whiteout became the first clear example of that. Strong plotting and realistic characters abound in Greg Rucka's work, and intense attention to detail (particularly when it comes to the setting) is a hallmark of his work. Elaborating further on the 'realistic' characters part, Rucka has a noted skill when it comes to writing female characters. He does not write them as 'strong female characters' according to a trope - he merely writes them as people worthy of respect. He might occasionally focus on the specific traits that make them strong female characters, but in a way that does not take away from how real they are. There is a reason that he is arguably the most acclaimed modern Wonder Woman writer, a character that has remained an enigma to almost every writer who has had to deal with her. These traits, while important for his career as a novellist, worked so well for comics that he got elevated to a modern comics pantheon of sorts, making him one of the most respected comics creators around.

That aspect regarding writing female characters well? That shines through perfectly when it comes to US Marshall Carrie Stetko, the protagonist of Whiteout. A tough as nails character, she's not the most cheerful of folks (then again, how many Marshalls would be cheerful about being stationed in Antarctica?). It's a challenging place, and the relative isolation makes it worse. She is civil with others, but rarely friendly. Carrie's there to do a job, and beyond that everything else is secondary. And that job? It gets pretty complicated when the first ever murder in Antarctica happens on her watch. All while remaining on high alert about a potential snowstorm that could jeopardise the safety of everyone at the station and also give the killer a great chance to get away. Teaming up with British agent Lily Sharpe, it's a race against time to catch the killer and end his killing spree before the storm hits.

I won't tell you much more, because a murder mystery/thriller is best left unspoiled. I will at most tell you that she does eventually come out on top. But considering a sequel titled 'Whiteout: Melt' turned up a few years later with Carrie back in the fray, it seems safe to say she makes it out of this one okay.

This is not the most spectacular murder mystery. The actual perpetrator is pretty obvious from the moment we as readers first encounter them (not specifying the gender!). But it's still pretty well crafted as a novel, particularly for Rucka's first real attempt in this format. And where it stands out is the characterisation. Readers don't come away from this with a feeling that they have read hollow pastiches of standard characters, but real people approaching this problem in a very real way. Carrie Stetko as a protagonist the readers engage with because one sees her dealing with challenges like any real person in this situation, and coming out on top not because of some superheroic ability to defy the odds but because she battles through whatever shit she has to deal with while clearly not being okay with it. Another strength of Whiteout lies in the attention to detail when it comes to the setting. Rucka's research clearly worked, but at least as much credit must be given to the art of industry veteran Steve Lieber, who replicated many parts of the Antarctic research base(s) and the surrounding areas & conditions with stunning detail that allows the readers a chance to feel what it's like for the characters to be in that spatial setting. There is a deliberate starkness to the art that works because it's Antarctica - there is no need for stylistic flourishes here - and this creates the sense of isolation felt by the characters perfectly.

Is it the most spectacular work? Not really. Arguably not even among thrillers about the first murder in Antarctica (you'd be amazed how many of those are around). But it's still worth a read, particularly for those who are interested in strong characterisation and realistic settings when it comes to such works. For a challenge like Around the World in 80 Books, this book sets up an Antarctic setting perfectly.