By Tony Kiondl
■ The Dakota Student
U. of North Dakota
Despite their disreputable back
(ground, comic books are cur
rently enjoying a newfound re
spect. Formerly the realm of greasy little
brats and nerdv collectors, the brightly
colored short stories have grown into a i
challenging and progressive art form
With the strict categorizing and bor- j
ing commerciality of much of pop- I
culture these days, the masses can now j
feast their MTV-glazed eyes on a
plethora of unpredictable culture hid
den between the seemingly innocent j
pages of comic books
The American boom in comic book
production comes on the heels of the
medium’s expansion in other countries
It was not long ago that America found
itself playing catch up in a field that it !
spawned. The French took the genre to ■
new heights more than two decades ago,
and in handsome volumes introduced a i
wide variety of styles to the art form, i
The French have a high regard for the
books. In January, thousands of people
migrated to a comic book, or “B.D,
album" (literally, comic book), fair in
Angoulene, France It was a govern
ment subsidized art event, which in
France means prestige.
The Japanese were inspired by the
elegant French B.D.s, and as a result j
have created an avalanche of Japanese
comics. Comics, or "manga” in
Japanese, are reportedly more popular |
than moviegoing in Japan Many of |
these comics were formed as part of an
underground movement, and feature a
distinct visual style.
The recent Japanese work has ere- i
ated a generation of American artists
who initially imitated the successful
.Japanese strips, but have since gone on
to ignite today’s wonderful, self
1 Comic
* Books
*
*
I
i
a
mutating comic industry- Unlike other
cultural industries, there is a fabulous
and almost total lack of organization in
terms of style. Ideas are shared by
artists in an unprecedented fashion,
creating an intense creative climate.
Also unique to the comic industry is
the tug-of-war between larger and
small comic companies. Unlike today's
popular music industry, the giant com
panies do not suppress the smaller
groups’ products — they just fire back
with something just as challenging
It is a credit to the comic book indus
try' that it can accept a wide variety of
styles, mediums and belief systems and
continue to thrive. This new genre of art
and literature is capable of consistently
rewarding the reader And reward it
does, with permanence of value, excell
ence of form and lasting effect.
To start your collection:
Love and Rockets: Written and drawn by Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez. Love and Sockets is an odd book, if
tor no other reason than its use of a loopy, elliptical narrative scheme that owes as much to Gabriel Garcia Marquez
as it does to the Archie comics of the 1960s Each issue otters three to tour anecdotal stories Gilbert's work loilows a
soap-operatic course through the lives of various oddballs and schemers While Gilbert's art is shaggier and more
amateurish than his story sense. Jaime's illustration is as cluod-m as his dialogue, mixing the punk style and pop-an
giddiness Jaime's stories center around two young women, Maggie and Hopey. who socialize, work, romance and
rock n' roll in an anonymous barrio community
Black Ordlid: Created by newcomers Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, the heroine of Black Orchid shares the
name of an early 1970s cnmefighfet In the opening issue of the new series, a costumed crusader is promptly killed
oil by a yuppie crimelord The new Black Orchid is a greenhouse-bred clone grown by the original Orchid's lover, a
botanist who no sooner greets the infantile pfanbwoman before he. too. is beaten to death The new Black Orchid sets
oft lo trace her past and avenge her creator's death More than just a lisb-out-of-water story. Black Orchid gets at the
root of the lost and alienated
The Watchmen, Saga of the Swamp Thing: For book-length entertainment, pick up one ot these
compilations Alan Moore's epic The Watchmen, with visuals by Dave Gibbons, is the virtual textbook lor the
modem-day adult comic It is sad, tunny, thrilling and may renew your faith in life itsell Saga ot the Swamp Thing is
nearly as good featuring genuinely spooky stones from the bayou
■ Casey Seiler, The Daily Northwestern, Northwestern U., IL
Book Review
Tyler’s latest a breath of fresh air
By Katrina Brown
■ The Daily Texan
U. of Texas, Austin
The worst accusation one can
make about Anne Tyler’s new novel
Breathing Lessons is that its struc
ture is a tad reminiscent of a bad TV
sit-com — perhaps Gilligan’s Island.
That show’s characters were always
trying to get off their island, but nev
er did, no matter what they tried.
The same ideas are at work in
Breathing Lessons. Tyler explores
the frustration and failed expecta
tions found in family and mantal re
lationships Her characters realize
their various predicaments, but nev
er manage to get off their “islands "
Breathing Lessons follows a day in
the life of Maggie Moran, a sweet,
klutzy, middle-aged woman who
meddles too much in the lives of her
family and friends.
In the one chronicled day, Maggie
and her husband. Ira, are on their
way to the funeral of Maggie's best
friend's husband. Along the journey
up and down Route One, Maggie
manages to alienate her best friend,
bumble an attempt to reunite her son
and his ex-wife, and, on several occa
sions, nearly destroy her own mar
riage. Every one of her schemes is an
endeavor to correct her past mis
takes. Maggie never succeeds.
however, and she hates herself for
her failures.
Tyler does a marvelous job in illus
trating Maggie's world — set in Tyl
er’s hometown of Baltimore. During
Maggie’s journey, an incredible
array of characters are introduced
through her memories. Each mem
ber of Maggie's circle of family and
friends has a complex, but always
fascinating, set of quirks.
Tyler's bizarre anecdotes make
Breathing Lessons a pleasure to
read. Humor, she proves, is an effec
tive way to show characters’ faults.
One downfall of the novel is that
sometimes it is too obvious. Tyler
uses effective symbols, but they tend
to be overdone and overexplained.
This can make Breathing Lessons
tiresome at times. But the symbols
do show how people are victims of
time. As they get older, the same
ghosts of failure keep popping up,
and opportunities for new direction
are fewer and farther between.
All in all, Breathing Lessons is
great reading, giving witty insight
into how normal people (not those
with sordid lifestyles, all too common
with best sellers) deal with each
other on the big Route One of life
Although Tyler’s road has plenty of
bumps, the fascinating details make
the trip worthwhile.
Hostels are a big money saver
when traveling this summer
tjy t>neri rvieizier
■ Oregon Daily Emerald
U. of Orsgon
If you are a student who is interested
in traveling around the United States
this summer but never seems to have
the necessary funds, youth hostels are
the answer
Hostels are an inexpensive way to
travel that also provide ideal settings
for meeting new people from other coun
tries. Betsy Ragland, office manager of
American Youth Hostels Inc. i AYH), de
scribes hostels as “a network of budget
accommodations set up for travelers to
meet other travelers.” Prices for a
night’s stay at a youth hostel range from
$4 to $10, she said
Begun in HM)9 by a German teacher
who wanted to bring his students out to
the country, hostels have been widely
used ever since. “The goals of a hostel
are recreational and educational, to
provide a better understanding and
peace in the world," Ragland said
In this country there are no restric
tions to those who want to stay in a
hostel. The term “youth" simply applies
to “young at heart," Ragland said, as
people of all ages stay at hostels Most
travelers who stay at hostels are be
tween the ages of 18 and 35.
Office assistant Diane Sontag said
that hostels are a “self-help situation.”
The hostel provides travelers with
“Nowhere else (besides
hostels) can you talk
politics or share stories with
other people in that type
of situation. It’s a nice way
to bring people together.”
— DIANE SONTAG
blankets and pillows, but the hosteler
must provide his own sheets and usual
ly his own food. Some hostels also fea
ture kitchen facilities.
“Hostels are shared everything,” Rag
land said. Hostelers share kitchens,
bathrooms, common lounge areas and
sleeping rooms. Men and women sleep
in different dormitories with hunk beds,
though some hostels have rooms fur
families and couples.
Sontag, who is an avid hosteler, con
siders the prices and the wealth of in
teresting new people to be the main
appeal of hostels. “Nowhere else can you
talk politics or share stories with other
people in that type of situation. It's a
nice way to bring people together.”
Hosteling is also very safe, according
to both women. “It is a supervised situa
tion," Sontag said
Interested travelers can contact the
national AYH office: American Youth
Hostels, P.O. Box 37613, Washington,
I).C., 20013.