Looking Up to The Sky Over the Louvre

Starting this week and running until the end of January, I will be reviewing books in the Louvre editions series, published in English by NBM Publishing’s Comics Lit.

Not in any particular order, I start with The Sky Over the Louvre, by Bernar Yslaire and Jean-Claude Carrière.

A historical docudrama, The Sky Over the Louvre recounts the early days of the Louvre as it transitioned from a palace to a museum. It takes place during the Reign of Terror, so be warned, there are some rather disturbing aspects of the story.

French Revolutionary artist Jacques-Louis David is commissioned to paint one image, but instead obsesses over creating another that, ironically, does not hang in the Louvre.

With an emphasis on the beauty of the male form, elongated figures — that some may find elegant, while others may find grotesque — grace the pages. Facial expressions have a melancholy that reflects the tumultuous times of the setting.

But what I found most striking about the illustrations was the use of white line, a technique I have not yet seen in American sequential art.

The Sky Over the Louvre is the sort of book that will evoke a visceral response. While the story deals with the pursuit of perfection, it is the illustrations that have the greater impact.

An “A” for Aya

This series completes this year’s Reading Around the World Challenge, with the Aya series by Ivorian Marguerite Abouet, illustrated by Clément Oubrerie compiled into two volumes, Life in Yop City and Love in Yop City, published in English by Drawn and Quarterly.

This coming of age story takes place in a working-class neighborhood of Abidjan, affectionately known as “Yop City” to locals. The year is 1978, when the Ivory Coast was at its economic peak. Aya is a high school student with dreams of becoming a doctor. Her two friends prefer to go dancing and hang out with boys.

Starting as a first-person narrative that becomes omniscient as the story expands to encompass those of her friends, the series covers themes of friendship & family, and the empowerment of women in a traditional society, as Aya and her mother have to fix the problems the men in their lives create.

Clément recreates the heart of Abidjan through illustrations drawn in a style that reflects the sense of hope for a bright future this period instilled.

Life in Yop City and Love in Yop City show that the dreams and loves of young women are the same the world over.

Heralding The Arrival

The Arrival by Shaun Tan is one of those books on most graphic novel “must read” lists, and for good reason.

A first-generation Australian, Shaun Tan was inspired by his own father’s emigration from Malaysia. He tells a tribute tale without words in this nuanced book.

Based on stories and anecdotes from immigrants, it weaves a multitude of tales into one, capturing the essence of immigration: why people leave their homeland, the problems they have to deal with in a foreign land, and finally making a new home.

The pace varies from intimate second-to-second imagery to a 2-page spread of 60 different cloud images to show time passing at sea.

Even though the story is without narration or dialogue, words do appear in the illustrations. These, however, have been cleverly written in a non-roman script to give an English-speaking audience an idea of what many new arrivals face.

Shaun uses photographs and paintings from Australian archives, as well as those from Ellis Island, New York, to create illustrations in gray and sepia tones. While much of the art is realistic, there are also touches of whimsy to delight audiences of all ages.

One thing to note: although considered a children’s book, it does contain dream-like scenes depicting the horrors from which many have escaped.

The Arrival is a tender treatment that gives many in places like Australia and the United States an idea of what their ancestors went through so that they can enjoy the life they have.

Persia Blues: Love and War Strikes the Right Chord

Today (December 1, 2015) Persia Blues: Love and War, comes out. It is the second of a three volume series, by Dora Naraghi and Brent Bowman.

The Persia Blues series is the story of a strong-willed young Iranian woman, Minoo Shirazi. Well, actually, it is two stories.

In one, Minoo is a modern, post-Revolution woman whose father has arranged for her to attend graduate school in the US. In the other, she is an adventurer in ancient Persia on a quest to save Persepolis from the Zoroastrian destructive spirit, Ahriman.

Brent Bowman uses a stark black ink line drawing to depict the modern world. He brings his ancient world to life through what looks to be at first glance, detailed pencil shading.

The two worlds also differ in their story telling techniques. The ancient world moves forward chronologically; Minoo has just found her long-lost mother, while the modern world uses flashbacks to reveal her struggle with losing her mother to cancer.

In either world, she is caught between her dreams and the expectations of her family and society as one Minoo copes with feelings of helplessness; the other, with deja vu.