Number 26 - Simon Says - Frattino & Lee

 

I hope Blogger.com doesn't have automated algorithms that will object to that picture.

This is apparently based on Simon Wiesenthal, a Nazi hunter after the second World War. Here he's depicted as a "Nazi-hunting 007" to quote the Forbes review on the back cover.

It's a graphic novel drawn almost entirely in black and white.  The only colour used is red. the artwork is very good throughout but not exceptional. The use of colour is the only standout in the art department here.

The story follows Simon as he initially works with the Americans to hunt down assorted officers of the 3rd Reich still at large in Germany.  When the unit is closed down he becomes a vigilante and discovers a group of high ranking officers assuming more power again. It's up to him and his partner Bruno to stop the rise of the 4th Reich.

The story is exciting, filled with tension and action set pieces.  I'm not sure how much of a liberty they've taken with the "inspired by" heading. Some of it seems as unlikely as the action sequences you find in an actual 007 flick. If you're going to say that it's based on reality, maybe it should feel more realistic.

There are no notes from the author at the end to answer any of my questions about the veracity of any of the events or characters in the book, which is slightly annoying.

It finishes on a bit of a cliffhanger and as far as I can see there's not a volume 2 out yet. That's slightly more annoying. 

A good way to kill an hour or so.  If vol 2 pops up anywhere, I will be certain to buy it.

Number 20 - Maus ii - And Here My Troubles Began - Art Spiegelman

 Maus I finished where Vladek Spiegelman, after evading the Nazis for years, was captured and sent to Auschwitz.

This volume completes his story, with a detailed rundown of the atrocities he witnessed and his almost miraculous survival.  The first version of that sentence said miraculous escape. but that's the wrong word.

In my write up on volume 1, I said it was powerful and disturbing. Compared to this, volume 1 is mild. 

If this was pure fiction I would say that it was impossible. Humans aren't that vile to each other.  This is unbelievable.  But this is a true story, even it it has been anthropomorphised into animals. It's an eyewitness testimony of the most disgusting crimes against humanity in living memory.

The meta part of the story, where Art himself interviews his father, is deeply moving and scarily honest. Art shows us all his own and his father's faults as people. How much of his father's personality can be excused by what he went through? Art clearly shows his exasperation at his father, and his guilt for not wanting his father living with him despite the amount of help he clearly needs. 

This being a true story, don't expect pat answers to any questions raised. Do expect to be shaken to the centre of your existence. The descriptions of the atrocities at the Auschwitz and Dachau camps are worse than any horror story. I was thankful that the characters are all drawn as different animals.  It makes the horror of what happened a bit easier to process. Until of course, the moment that it did process and then... 

This is one of the most important books about the holocaust. The artwork makes it so much easier to digest without diluting the power of the story or the horrors humanity is capable of inflicting on each other.

It's a genuinely traumatic read.  But we have to learn the lessons from history. This is one bit of history that cannot ever be allowed to repeat itself. 

 I bought book one when it first came out and struggled to find an affordable copy of book 2 recently. However its easily available as an omnibus version of both books. There's no excuse to not go out and buy it.

Number 13 - Maus - Art Spiegelman

 

Arguably one of the most important graphic novels ever written, this is Art Spiegelman's retelling of his father's experiences in Poland in the run up to and during World War II at the hands of the Nazis.

With the recent controversy when a Tennessee school board decided to ban the book, I decided it was time to dust down my copy and have a reread.

There are two stories running through this book, the tale of Vladek Spiegelman's early life, and how he survived till 1944 without landing in a concentration camp, and the More personal tale of Art's fractious relationship with his father.

The story of Vladek's time in Auschwitz is covered in volume 2 - which I've had to order. I'm not sure why I don't have a copy, but it wasn't the easiest thing to source at a reasonable price.  

The artwork is quite basic, and the mice are purposefully not easy to tell apart. After all, the dehumanisation of the Jews in nazi Germany is a central theme of the book. That, and the comparison with vermin, makes the  portrayal of the Jews as mice both horrific and ironic. The Poles are shown as pigs and Nazis as cats.

The juxta positioning of the two stories both serves to make the book feel more personal, and to accentuate the horror of the holocaust. It becomes easier to read without becoming a misery memoir even though the flashbacks to the 40's become more and more distressing with every loss that Vladek experiences.

I picked this book up when Art Spiegelman was giving a talk and signing copies at a local branch of Waterstones. It remains one of the  most interesting author events I've attended.

This story is a lesson from history that should never be ignored. Any time a group of people is demonised as something less than human, we should ask why, and what is it leading to. 

This book makes it clear that the holocaust didn't start with the gas chambers. They built up to that. They kept that part secret from the populous at large for as long as they could. 

There is only one type of person who would want to ban this book.  This book is a clear warning about that type of person.  It should be required reading for everyone.