Written by Mark Long and Jim Demonakos
Art by Nate Powell
2012
Available now from Islington Libraries
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Wowzer.
I wasn't expecting much when I sat down with this. I just thought it'd be something relativity light to go with my lunch outside in the sunshine. Nate Powell's artwork looked simple and inviting and it didn't seem like something I'd have to struggle to get into. (On that count I was right - there's a tendancy for "serious" comics to kinda act forbidding - with artwork that tends to skew to the uninviting and headache-inducing - but one of the many things that's great about The Silence of Our Friends is that everything is presented so clearly that I can't imagine anyone not being able to get into it: it's all like - hey - welcome - how's it going? Would you like to sit down? How about I pull you up a chair and get you something to drink?). I mean - I knew from looking at that cover with all that black [1] that maybe it had like a dark undercurrent or something - but from the poses my best guess was that it was some sort of buddy cop thing? Like 48 Hours only as a comic book maybe? Or - judging from that hairstyle and the thick glasses on the main dude - maybe like a Watergate thriller type thing? Uncovering state secrets and the whathaveyou?
Well - no - turns out it's based on childhood recollections (one of the authors is the son of that white guy in the background) and it's all set in the history (namely: the late 60s all the way over in Houston, Texas): and there's people trying to do their best in a world that's seemingly doing everything it can to beat them down.
So why the "Wowzer"? Well - obviously - as an enlightened 21st Century world child I know that racism is bad bad bad bad bad [2] however - that doesn't mean that I like to read or watch or listen to simple Sesame Street type polemics telling me what I already know (and agree with) in a boring dull way ("This episode of Sesame Street was brought to you by the letters "Don't" and "Be" and the number "A racist.") And - you know - being so cocky and arrogant - I guess I just kinda felt like I'd heard it all before and there was no more stories I could hear from that whole "civil rights" era of history [3]. But - of course - I am an idiot. Because that "Wowzer" comes from The Silence of Our Friends making me feel in my gut the desperation of what it felt like to live back then and what it meant to try and do the right thing - and presenting that in a way that feels utterly unvarnished and as raw as an open wound. Like - yes - there are bits of this book that you will feel like you've seen play out before (but then I guess that's the thing about racists - they tend to be pretty one-dimensional) but then there's other parts that will hit you in the face like a slap: making simple points seem monumental. I could list all the great scenes and say how and why they work so good - but I wouldn't want to spoil it - and you'll know what I'm talking about when they roll around.
All in all: good stuff.
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[1] Oh lordy - I just read that line back and realise that it sounds like it could be racist (!!!) So - just to confirm: I mean the background colour and not - like - anything else. Ok? Ok. Ok.
[2] I was tempted to try and write something frivolous or wannabe funny like "racism is silly" or something dopey like that - and if not that - then something with lots of swearing like "all racists are ____" - but then just settled for my go to of picking a simple word and then repeating it lots of times. But just to confirm: racism is an ugly belief for ugly people and it's both wrong and abhorrent: so don't be a racist - ok?
[3] Of course - if it's a civil rights thing with Captain America going up against Iron Man then - WOO! - count me in and pass the popcorn!
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Links: Comic Book Resources Review, Comic Book Resources Interview with Nate Powell.
Further reading: Swallow Me Whole, Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow.
All comments welcome.
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