THE MORNING LIST
Myth or reality, daydream or waking nightmare… The March albums offered comic and manga journalists in the World.
“The Paper Birds”: the Crow and the Kolbar
For those living in our latitudes, it is difficult to imagine Tehran as a haven of freedom. And yet, Rojan and Jalal dream of the big city, a promise of anonymity that would allow them to live out their secret love and break free from the mountainous and miserable Iranian Kurdistan. Rojan, promised to a toothless merchant by her father, weaves carpets all day to save a few toman. Jalal, an unemployed engineer, joined the ranks of “Kolbar’s”those smugglers who, for a ridiculous commission, carry heavy packages of goods on their backs from neighboring Iraq through the snow-capped mountains.
From the pen of Iranian cartoonist Mana Neyestani, a political refugee in France since 2011, no comment is superfluous, no charge too direct. The album, whose hatched black and white is reminiscent of press cartoons, certainly has undeniable documentary importance and underscores the scandalous state of the “Kolbar’s”, trapped in poverty and lack of prospects. But through the drama that unfolds between the members of this pathetic escapade, a suspenseful story is first written that is superbly put together. AL G
By Mana Neyestani, Here and There-Arte Editions, 208 pp., €20.
“Bokko” Volume 1, the secrets of defense
China, Warring States period. The Liang Citadel is about to be attacked by the Land of Zhao Army. To his rescue comes Ke-Ri, a mysterious character and follower of Moism, a philosophical current that rejects war and advocates defensive strategies. In this manga, drawn between 1992 and 1996, the reader—like the townsfolk and their overlords—is taken backwards in sketches that are as incongruous as they are clever, before slipping into a more epic dimension. PCr.
By Sentaro Kubota and drawn by Hideki Mori, based on the novel by Kenichi Sakemi, translated from Japanese by Odilon Grevet, Vega-Dupuis, 288 pp., €11.
“Toxic environment”: the hell of the Canadian tar sands
Kate has to pay back the loan that funded her anthropology studies. But for them it is impossible to find work in their specialty. She therefore decides to leave her homeland of Nova Scotia and dare the adventure of the tar sands of western Canada. The sector that produces oil from these deposits has a reputation as an important job provider that pays decent wages. Very quickly, Kate is exposed to a grueling work pace, a violent work environment, and daily sexist harassment… Not to mention the health issues of her co-workers and residents of the surrounding areas.
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