Heroines and Monsters
I loved this graphic novel in a deeply personal way. I'm experimenting a lot with form in my own writing, so I fully appreciate that this novel so successfully started in media res and did not bother to orient the reader within this world. I thought this novel demonstrated beautifully how effective this method can be when the novel's narrator is unclear about certain key aspects of her life: using this technique, we as readers were forced to discover pieces of information about this world alongside the narrator.
The illustrations were undeniably beautiful. Even though I found myself confused and at times frustrated by the lack of exposition, the gorgeous drawings grounded me and inspired me to keep trying. They rounded out some of the rough edges of the storyline and were beautiful enough in their own right that I would have 'read' a novel composed entirely of the images.
One thing I do wish is that the narrator would have been more clearly drawn. I did get a sense of her biting humor, compassion, and ability to befriend a variety of creatures [or at least to develop uneasy relationships with them], but I felt that these are character traits expected of female superheroes. I wanted to know more about her particular vulnerabilities, and for that I did need some backstory. At the very least, I needed to be able to focus on at least one potentially dead relative at a time--either mother or child. At present, I'm not certain which relationship was a more guiding force in our narrator's life and that made it difficult to figure out how she felt about each individual person. I'm fine with my narrator being confused about how she feels and who's alive, but I need one primary mystery and then some offshoots. I felt that this book went too deep into setting up this universe and the setting and mythology, all of which I found fascinating, but I still wanted more character-building.
All of that said, I definitely looked up Volume 2 on Amazon and fully plan to read more of the series. Though I have critiques, I was completely fascinated by the world and found the imagery compelling enough to continue. I also thought the extended metaphor of militarized nations attacking one another within a context where both are being exploited by a more powerful colonialist force to be very clear and very effective. Meanwhile the narrator herself is a 'monster,' but she is also what the world has made of her--filled with a physical being who, I believe, symbolizes the rage that is a result of community and ancestral trauma. That rage makes her powerful, but also scares her. This I can relate to.
The flow and pacing of the story really worked for me. The images helped with the flow, of course, but the story moved smoothly from scene to scene without dropping energetically or losing my attention. The pacing remained fairly consistent throughout, but seemed to drop whenever a character was either dying or recovering from a potentially fatal injury. That effect was very cleverly done.
This isn't my favorite actual narrative, possibly because I've read so many fantasy stories that run a similar timeline and involve heroines with similar emotional lives. I think it would have been more effective for me reading the novel to have the story grounded more in some existing mythology and historical tradition. I understand that the world was an amalgamation of different traditions and I appreciated that multiculturalism, but I did want to feel as though the conflict had a little more grounding in the modern-day world. I saw that connection, but I wanted it tighter and more clear. That's just my preference in terms of the stories I read.
I did think there was something incredibly expansive about this story. The images of the dying children were of course evocative, not just of literal dying animal babies but also of human babies we rarely spare a daily thought for. I was speaking with Duane earlier today, and he said [I'm paraphrasing; Duane, correct me] that whiteness characterizes anyone who's different [from an imaginary norm] as ugly. That's what reading this brought to my mind most clearly: the existence of a false norm, a bizarre and made-up standard of beauty, and the complete dehumanization of anyone who looks or behaves differently from that norm. This novel worked on many different levels for me. In the end, I was so glad I stuck with it.
The illustrations were undeniably beautiful. Even though I found myself confused and at times frustrated by the lack of exposition, the gorgeous drawings grounded me and inspired me to keep trying. They rounded out some of the rough edges of the storyline and were beautiful enough in their own right that I would have 'read' a novel composed entirely of the images.
One thing I do wish is that the narrator would have been more clearly drawn. I did get a sense of her biting humor, compassion, and ability to befriend a variety of creatures [or at least to develop uneasy relationships with them], but I felt that these are character traits expected of female superheroes. I wanted to know more about her particular vulnerabilities, and for that I did need some backstory. At the very least, I needed to be able to focus on at least one potentially dead relative at a time--either mother or child. At present, I'm not certain which relationship was a more guiding force in our narrator's life and that made it difficult to figure out how she felt about each individual person. I'm fine with my narrator being confused about how she feels and who's alive, but I need one primary mystery and then some offshoots. I felt that this book went too deep into setting up this universe and the setting and mythology, all of which I found fascinating, but I still wanted more character-building.
All of that said, I definitely looked up Volume 2 on Amazon and fully plan to read more of the series. Though I have critiques, I was completely fascinated by the world and found the imagery compelling enough to continue. I also thought the extended metaphor of militarized nations attacking one another within a context where both are being exploited by a more powerful colonialist force to be very clear and very effective. Meanwhile the narrator herself is a 'monster,' but she is also what the world has made of her--filled with a physical being who, I believe, symbolizes the rage that is a result of community and ancestral trauma. That rage makes her powerful, but also scares her. This I can relate to.
The flow and pacing of the story really worked for me. The images helped with the flow, of course, but the story moved smoothly from scene to scene without dropping energetically or losing my attention. The pacing remained fairly consistent throughout, but seemed to drop whenever a character was either dying or recovering from a potentially fatal injury. That effect was very cleverly done.
This isn't my favorite actual narrative, possibly because I've read so many fantasy stories that run a similar timeline and involve heroines with similar emotional lives. I think it would have been more effective for me reading the novel to have the story grounded more in some existing mythology and historical tradition. I understand that the world was an amalgamation of different traditions and I appreciated that multiculturalism, but I did want to feel as though the conflict had a little more grounding in the modern-day world. I saw that connection, but I wanted it tighter and more clear. That's just my preference in terms of the stories I read.
I did think there was something incredibly expansive about this story. The images of the dying children were of course evocative, not just of literal dying animal babies but also of human babies we rarely spare a daily thought for. I was speaking with Duane earlier today, and he said [I'm paraphrasing; Duane, correct me] that whiteness characterizes anyone who's different [from an imaginary norm] as ugly. That's what reading this brought to my mind most clearly: the existence of a false norm, a bizarre and made-up standard of beauty, and the complete dehumanization of anyone who looks or behaves differently from that norm. This novel worked on many different levels for me. In the end, I was so glad I stuck with it.
I liked your thoughts when it came to the monster inside of her being representative of past physical and emotional trauma! I also think the monster was a representation of past trauma as a way to represent the horrors of the World that came before the one we are seeing our main character in today; in a way saying that this monster represents unfinished business. Great details in your response!
ReplyDeleteI can understand your frustration that Maika was not more clearly developed. At times, it did seem like she was just a general "badass" "strong female character" with a (as you say) biting sense of humor and general aloofness. However, I think that part of the reason why we know so little about her and her backstory is because the narrative reflects her own experience, how she is unable to remember her traumatic past and her mother until she is in the sarcophagus and she is only awake in those deep recesses of her brain. I think the authors were attempting to convey how we don't understand much about Maika because she is so guarded and untrusting, and even she barely understands her own history.
ReplyDeleteyou found a lot of important parallels in this post and despite your lack of groundedness in the modern world, i appreciate so many of the strong observations : the extended metaphor of militarized nations attacking one another within a context where both are being exploited by a more powerful colonialist force to be very clear and very effective.
ReplyDeletePart of her using women and characters of color pretty exclusively might refer to how ingrained these power struggles are. i was geeking out on articles to elevate my understanding and found this: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/monstress-inside-fantasy-comic-race-836391
Hollywood reporter! okay. sorry. Anyway, great post.
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