Welcome to the Weekly Comics Hype! I'm doing these alphabetically, but occasionally skipping around a bit. Today, I wanted to recommend you stop whatever you're doing and go buy La Perdida by Jessica Abel, which is one of the very best stories to appear in the medium in some time, a simply masterful use of the sequential art format to create a tension-building and incredibly sad story.
La Perdida is the story of Carla, a Mexican-American who decides to pack up and move to Mexico City and explore her heritage, full of romantic ideas about art and socialism and revolution, the fire of Frida Kahlo inspiring her to successfully immerse herself in the culture.
Carla finds herself running out of options and money before very long. She initially stays with an old boyfriend who annoys her by not being as interested in learning about the local culture as she is. Her cultural snobbery leads her to make some new friends who challenge her beliefs and her upbringing in the United States, and then things take a long, slow and leisurely turn for the worse...
Periodically, when I'm reading fiction, I get annoyed by that horrible feeling that I know where the story is going. I don't like "figuring it out" before the protagonist, and wish that I was wrong. When things go wrong for Carla, it's done with an incredibly painful slow burn, and watching this incredibly lively and wonderful character get caught up in a bad situation that doesn't look like it will ever end is just amazing. Jessica Abel had always left me a little cold before this book, but the thrilling change of pacing and tone, matched with such a masterful use of her page count, has sold me completely.
This edition was published earlier this year, compiling a five-part magazine version. It's been a huge hit for Pantheon Books and a critical darling among indie comic fans. If you make the odd mistake of passing on this excellent story today, I'm sure I'll remind you at the end of the year, because this is probably going to field off whatever competition is out there and be the best comic of 2006 in my book anyway.
La Perdida is available from your local comic shop, who would enjoy your custom; new books ship on Wednesdays, so why not stop in after work?
La Perdida is the story of Carla, a Mexican-American who decides to pack up and move to Mexico City and explore her heritage, full of romantic ideas about art and socialism and revolution, the fire of Frida Kahlo inspiring her to successfully immerse herself in the culture.
Carla finds herself running out of options and money before very long. She initially stays with an old boyfriend who annoys her by not being as interested in learning about the local culture as she is. Her cultural snobbery leads her to make some new friends who challenge her beliefs and her upbringing in the United States, and then things take a long, slow and leisurely turn for the worse...
Periodically, when I'm reading fiction, I get annoyed by that horrible feeling that I know where the story is going. I don't like "figuring it out" before the protagonist, and wish that I was wrong. When things go wrong for Carla, it's done with an incredibly painful slow burn, and watching this incredibly lively and wonderful character get caught up in a bad situation that doesn't look like it will ever end is just amazing. Jessica Abel had always left me a little cold before this book, but the thrilling change of pacing and tone, matched with such a masterful use of her page count, has sold me completely.
This edition was published earlier this year, compiling a five-part magazine version. It's been a huge hit for Pantheon Books and a critical darling among indie comic fans. If you make the odd mistake of passing on this excellent story today, I'm sure I'll remind you at the end of the year, because this is probably going to field off whatever competition is out there and be the best comic of 2006 in my book anyway.
La Perdida is available from your local comic shop, who would enjoy your custom; new books ship on Wednesdays, so why not stop in after work?
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
blyddyn:
Just one question; how come you got into 200AD in the first place? Your average american comics fan likes DC and Marvel - and then they tend to go on about the artwork, whereas with 2000AD and The Meg, storyline is a major factor.
jackie:
