Fires Above Hyperion Burn Brightly

Described as “Imagine if Sex in the City were written by a gay Charlie Brown…” Fires Above Hyperion by Patrick Atangan is a droll, first-person narrative comprised of a series of short tales based on the author’s past relationships.

The title refers to an L.A. brush fire north of Hyperion Boulevard, a sort of retrospective on 20 years of dating: one disaster after another.

It all starts in high school (when he is still closeted) escorting a female friend to the junior prom, with all the drama and expense. Over the years he: falls for the perfect guy, only to have said guy’s boyfriend walk in on them; wants to remain friends with an ex; tries to impress a guy who turns out to be straight; gets dumped and cheated on, all the while he contemplates why none of these relationships ever work out.

The stylized artwork and tertiary colors have a mid-century feel, which I found quite refreshing. One of my favorite techniques is Patrick’s use of shading to indicate a character is speaking, yet no mouth is depicted.

Although Fires Above Hyperion is a commentary on the intricacies of the gay dating scene, readers of any orientation will commiserate with and chuckle at its “why does this always happen to me?” take on relationships.

Listening to Fallen Words

I decided to round out Asia Month with a book by an alternative manga pioneer, whom we lost earlier this year.

Fallen Words by Yoshihiro Tatsumi, is a collection of short stories inspired by the Japanese oral storytelling tradition of rakugo or “fallen words,” hence the name.

Like the folktales they are based on, these eight morality tales take place during the Edo period, complete with traditional attire, hair-styles, and stereotypes; the men are foolish, and the women cunning and/or spiteful. And each story has a punchline that, for the most part, the reader doesn’t see coming.

The tales are drawn in Tatsumi’s pioneering gekiga manga, considered a darker, more realistic style of cartooning. His clean-line drawings employ universally understandable facial expressions and body language to convey emotion, not the culturally-specific iconography of mainstream manga.

In Fallen Words, Tatsumi shows these two seemingly dissimilar storytelling forms: rakugo (that relies on vocal pitch and intonation) and gekiga (that has no sound) can work together. He recreates audio tone with graphic art.

Perhaps it is my love of morality tales, or Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s use of universally comprehensible imagery that allows me to appreciate this early master of Japanese alternative comics.

A Chance Encounter “Through the Woods”

Days after getting this book, I had the pleasure of hearing Emily discuss her work as part of a panel discussion at the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE). Talk about coincidence!

What’s your favorite Emily Carroll story?