3 'must-read' graphic memoirs, according to CBC Books' comic book superfan Ashly July
A talented visual producer, Toronto-based CBC Books producer Ashly July has always had an appreciation for the impact of combining the storytelling of both words and pictures through comics.
There's something kinetic and something potent about the blend of pictures and words and storytelling in graphic novels and comics. July has always appreciated this. He's the go-to guy at CBC Books for anything we need to know about his favourite genre.
He returned to The Next Chapter to speak about three graphic memoirs that spoke to him.
All Our Ordinary Stories by Theresa Wong
In the graphic memoir All Our Ordinary Stories, Teresa Wong uses spare black-and-white illustrations and thought-provoking prose to unpack how intergenerational trauma and resilience can shape our identities.
Starting with her mother's stroke a decade ago, Wong takes a journey through time and place to find the origin of her feelings of disconnection from her parents. The series of stories carefully examine the cultural, language, historical and personality issues that have been barriers to intimacy in her family.
July says that the extraordinary nature of these 'ordinary' stories stayed with him.
"These stories are very intense — very harrowing. She talks about how her dad, on his first attempt to swim across the Bay, got caught by the Chinese government. He spent a year in jail. And then he made his second attempt with two friends and they actually made it across.
"Wong talks about her mom having to travel through all the mountainous regions and travel for weeks and then ends up swimming for hours overnight and just all of these things just to have a chance at a better life for them and their children. And they recount these stories in sort of a mundane way as if they're not extraordinary.
So those stories are, to them, they're ordinary, but it's also an ordinary immigrant story. It's such a universal experience of leaving everything behind and hoping for something better, which is not always the case.- Ashly July
"I think that reflects the way that a lot of immigrant stories are where it's, at least in my family, I've heard these stories. They're all escaping something or surviving something, whether it be poverty or oppressive governments or all these things like religious or political persecution. It's like everyone has survived something, left something behind and left major parts of themselves behind.
"And so those stories are, to them, they're ordinary, but it's also an ordinary immigrant story. It's such a universal experience of leaving everything behind and hoping for something better, which is not always the case."
Something, Not Nothing by Sarah Leavitt
Vancouver comics creator Sarah Leavitt is no stranger to exploring personal stories through her art.
Something, Not Nothing, her latest work, also highlights Leavitt's talent for capturing powerful and raw experiences and describes the grief of losing her partner of 22 years and the sparkling love they shared.
Leavitt's portrayal of the messiness of grief left and a lasting impression on July.
"This book recounts the time before and the time immediately after her partner's medically assisted death, and Leavitt goes through this almost preemptive grief where she's grieving in advance of the death that they know is going to happen. They know it's coming. They plan for it. They plan the day everything is set in stone.
"So she's almost grieving and going through this process of acceptance and sort of anger all these the stages of grief, but she's doing them preemptively.
She's almost grieving and going through this process of acceptance and sort of anger all these the stages of grief, but she's doing them preemptively.- Ashly July
"I think of it as the grief and the love are two sides of the same coin because the grief is the remnants of the love. It's almost like the grief is proportionate to the size of the love. So that's how I think the book paints that picture of her having to accept this fact and realizing it's not her choice. She has to support her partner's choice in this. And it's going to leave a huge hole in her life, but she has to figure out a way to love them enough to accept their choice and live with it."
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist by Adrian Tomine
Before the Internet, many comic books included a section to send letters to the creators and get insight into their work and their process. When cartoonist Adrian Tomine was growing up, he was the one sending those letters — and now he's the one answering questions from his readers.
Known for his series Optic Nerve, his memoir The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist and his work in The New Yorker, Tomine's latest book, Q&A, dives into the questions he most often hears, and responds to them with a combination of words, photos and illustrations.
July says he found Tomine's relentless pursuit of his art relatable.
You spend a lot of hours by yourself thinking, creating, reviewing your work, and it doesn't leave a lot of time for you to create a life for yourself sometimes.- Ashly July
"It's a play on that exactly and it shows how the art can be a way to express yourself and be a way out, a way to achieve the things that you want to. But it's also a very lonely pursuit. It's also very solitary. You spend a lot of hours by yourself thinking, creating, reviewing your work, and it doesn't leave a lot of time for you to create a life for yourself sometimes. And it can be so lonely. There's so many times in this book where he talks about, he says out loud, 'I'm so lonely.'
"It's lonely because you put your head down and do your work all the time. And then you realize that you're missing out on moments with your family and your health is failing and all of these things that are actually important.
"And it's hard to find that balance. So yeah, it's like that laser focus that it takes to be an elite runner. That's the same focus and lifelong dedication that it takes to be a great artist."
This segment has been edited for length and clarity.
