It is 2016 and recent events, incidents, and tragedies that have taken place this year in this country that has never quite lived up to its' myth, neaIt is 2016 and recent events, incidents, and tragedies that have taken place this year in this country that has never quite lived up to its' myth, nearly 8 years after the inauguration of its' first black President (which serves as the overarching climax for this 3 book graphic memoir about John Lewis' activism during the Civil Rights Movement), makes me urge you to readMarch: Book Two.
If you want a traditional review and overview of this graphic memoir therearemany on Goodreads that do a more in-depth and articulate job than I could detailing the events and politics that John Lewis, Nate Powell, and Andrew Adyin illuminate in this second volume. But, in some ways, there is a power in images that mere words can fail to capture and evoke. John Lewis knows this, since the seeds of his activism were planted by Martin Luther King and The Montgomery Story in his youth, and even though he had already written and published Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement and Across That Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change he set off on this endeavor in graphic novels for younger generations.
And, unfortunately, there is no film nor pictures of all the events, incidents, and tragedies Lewis, Powell, and Adyin chronicled here so they have crafted numerous panels, pages, and double-spreads of illustrations with enough power that they've seared themselves into my memory. I'm not sure any of my words or the words of others can really do a more than an adequate job of doing this painful, harrowing, horrifying, inspiring reading experience justice, because the second book of Marchdoes do justice to those painful, harrowing, horrifying, inspiring times by bringing this past to vivid life for those us who weren't alive to personally witness them. Even posting screenshots of those illustrations that my mind's eye can see with perfect clarity would be a disservice to them since they should not be seen and read in a vacuum.
This is an urgent reminder: with the disparity of the incarceration rates of minorities compared to their presence in the population of the United States; the mass shootings that have taken place in the past few years; the disheartening unjustified deaths of too many black men, women and children at the hands of police with seemingly no consequence; the ridiculous restrictions placed on LGBT people and abortion clinics throughout numerous states; the absolutely disgraceful way far too many police officers, judges, and college campuses go about dealing with cases of rape; and the hate, racism, and xenophobia that haven arisen since Donald Trump chose to run for President this election year we can't forget that every bit of social progress the United States has seen was a titanic struggle to achieve, and injustices were never curbed purely through the whims of those who weren't effected.
The current times have made me angry, sad, and, above all, ashamed that I haven't found the time to be a part of "good trouble." Not despondent, though. John Lewis' courage and fortitude, and the courage and fortitude of his contemporaries - the big names who led and planned the protests, and the countless and nameless men, women, and children who followed - show you have to fight that with all you have, too.
Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima's Lone Wolf and Cub, despite the fact it only ran from 1970 to 1976, is one of those few stories whose acclaim and reputKazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima's Lone Wolf and Cub, despite the fact it only ran from 1970 to 1976, is one of those few stories whose acclaim and reputation is so grand that it looms over not just manga but the comics medium as a whole like a giant's shadow. It can be called, without hyperbole, iconic.
Still, I like to keep my expectations at reasonable levels when it comes to highly praised work. I wasn't all that surprised when the first eight stories Koike wrote and Kojima illustrated weren't engrossing. The first eight stories are good, action-packed, and incredibly stylized but other than the historical and cultural details the writing and the scenarios presented weren't all that noteworthy. I figured it must have taken a while for Koike and Kojima to find their groove, that the first omnibus collection would be nothing but stylized action scenarios. Which I was fine with since style that's as electric as Kojima's, so long as its not hindered by incompetent or dull writing, had me satisfied with my purchase.
But then came the ninth story, The Assassin's Road, where Koike and Kojima, right after the end of the eighth story revealed that Ogami Itto used to be the Shogun's very own executioner, take us back to that pivotal day when Itto and his son Daigoro chose this corpse-strewn way of life. I am sad to say I'm being literal here when I say father and son chose this way of life.
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And so, before he can even stand on his own two feet, Ogami Daigoro makes his first life-or-death decision.
This reminiscence between father and son (which gets stirred up as they watch a pair of children play with a very similar ball) to that pivotal day they chose, willingly and unknowingly, the path of Meifumado (the Buddhist Hell) to revenge themselves and the Ogami's clan honor against the Yagyu clan is the turning point. The rest of the tales that follow in this omnibus are a remarkable improvement over the first eight. Koike's writing measures up to Kojima's inks and brushing from The Assassin's Road and onwards as the assassination jobs grow more creative and complicated; the politics and cultural norms of the time are further intertwined into the circumstances parent and child find themselves in; Buddhist theology and philosophy are delved into deeply as they relate to Itto's mission; most of all Daigoro's tragic, dysfunctional upbringing at the hands of his murderous, vengeful, loving father is brought into sharp focus.
It's a road traversed by demons to damnation. The end is the destruction of those responsible for... not so much the death of Daigoro's mother, but for the Ogami clan's disgrace. No matter the cost in human lives, or a child's innocence and well-being. Yet Koike and Kojima have spellbound me with this bloody journey. I'm compelled to continue walking on this bloody road in this bloody land in this bloody era all the way to it's bloody end, side by side with this lone wolf and his cub.
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