ShareThisSometimes you read something that is so real, so tangible, so personal that you know it has already affected many lives ... and is about to affect yours. Such is the case with "Cuba: My Revolution" (DC/Vertigo, $24.99).
"Cuba" is written by Inverna Lockpez, a Havana-born artist and curator who left that troubled island in the 1960s -- just like the lead character. DC's website says the graphic novel was "inspired" by her life experiences, so we don't know which of the people and events are specifically true, or are composites, extrapolations or simply inventions to propel the narrative. Still, there's a claustrophobic, throat-choking feel throughout this story that feels more like history than fiction.
Our heroine is Sonya, a teenager who puts aside her dreams of being an artist to become a doctor when Fidel Castro sweeps into power in 1960. A true believer, she thinks the revolution will need physicians more than artists to replace the bourgeoisie who fled. She also joins the militia, which puts her smack in the middle of the Bay of Pigs. And that is not at all a good thing.
I really don't want to spoil too much of this story, as it is powerful -- and may be, for all I know, completely true. So Lockpez should tell you her tale, not me. Suffice to say, though, it is filled with more tragedy than triumph, as the scales fall too slowly from Sonya's eyes about the true nature of Castro's revolution. In most coming-of-age stories, the young protagonists are correct and righteous in rejecting the caution of their elders in the pursuit of their ideals (a la Luke Skywalker). In this story, though, it is the pragmatic elders who see the truth, and the youthful idealist who is wrong, as her socialist dream is replaced by an authoritarian nightmare.
"Cuba" is drawn by Dean Haspiel, who recently won an Emmy (with three other artists) for Main Title Design on HBO's "Bored to Death." I have enjoyed his work before ("The Alcoholic," "The Quitter"), but this is not his best effort. He's light on detail, especially on figures and facial expressions, which is unfortunate. On some occasions I confused Sonya for her mother, and had to go back and reread pages once a dress or a hairstyle clued me in to who was speaking.
But Haspiel's strong storytelling skills are still evident, and his well-researched depiction of a specific historical time and place is impressive. That's all that Lockpez's powerful story needs to grip you by the throat and squeeze. If anyone fails to read "Cuba" in a single sitting, I'll be surprised.
Elsewhere:
-- I was less impressed with "Dark Rain: A New Orleans Story" (DC/Vertigo, $24.99). Points go to novelist Mat Johnson ("Hunting in Harlem") for ambition in weaving together a variety of threads into a larger tapestry. The central plot is about two ex-cons, Darby and Emmitt, who plan to rob a New Orleans bank submerged and isolated by Hurricane Katrina, in competition with the corrupt security firm "Dark Rain" (See: Blackwater), a term that is also a metaphor for Katrina itself and the collapse of social services during that crisis for people who were primarily black.
Johnson may have shot for too much. The central plot, a semi-farcical crime caper, becomes by the numbers. The social commentary seems out of place. And Darby, the "good guy" of the two would-be thieves, is a cliche -- heart of gold, you know, and he's only doing it for child support for the big-eyed little girl that he really, really loves. Then there's the sassy but knowing pregnant girl who implausibly ends up tagging along, another addition straight from the "Creative Writing 101" textbook. It doesn't take a seasoned reader to guess how this one ends, and despite the strong, polished (albeit slightly cartoony) art of Simon Gane, I was ready for it to.
-- Call it the Jimmy Olsen Syndrome, but Andar, the ever-younger sidekick in the 1960s "Turok" reprint series, has completed his journey: He's now an idiot. Almost every story in "Turok Archives Vol. 6" ($49.99, Dark Horse), all from 1963-64, revolves around Andar doing something incredibly stupid, forcing Turok to do something heroic and save him.
That's a pretty good story structure, as every issue of the 1960s "Jimmy Olsen" series demonstrated. Until it becomes formula, and then it's just boring.
(Contact Andrew A. Smith of The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal at capncomics(AT)aol.com or on his Web site, http://captaincomics.ning.com.)
CAPTAIN COMICS
The way they were?
How many of us can faithfully recall what we did a week ago today? A month ago? A year ago? Imagine trying to recall things which took place half a CENTURY ago.
Most likely, this woman, like other Cuban exiles, continues to live in a fantasy world of "what if". They bitterly resent the fact that the United States has failed, despite half a decade of trying, to overthrow the Cuban government and the social system which it represents and defends.
The revolution's opponents couldn't defeat it on their own, and hoped that Washington would do what they couldn't. Some people seem to never learn.
My father and his parents lived in Cuba for several years, and, though I was born here in the United States, that history has always been part of my formative culture.
It's time for people in this country to give up the idea that they have a right to determine for Cuba what kind of government the Cuban people should be permitted to have. Look at Iraq and Afghanistan today and we can see what a Washington-imposed freedom would look like.
Communist defenders bad as Nazis
I was pleasently surprised that a GN is coming out that isn;t some glowing tribute to Communist thugocracy in Havana.
I find it disgusting that anyone defends the tyranny in Havana, but, it's what I have come to expect from the same people who think Iraq, Afghanistan and the world is better off with Saddam and the Taliban in power.
Still, I have seen first hand the freedom imposed by Communists. It's about time another real view was written not some glowing schlockumentaries about Che' driving a motorcycle so Upper West Side millionare Communists in NYC can feel good.