How to Draw Intermission: March 2024
Offering up a curated list of what I've been reading and watching lately: My Brother's Husband, The Red Turtle, Joe Sacco's Palestine, and more.
Howdy, friend.
I’m in some deep throes. I’m working hard to complete a full draft of my graphic memoir HARD BODY by the end of March. I’m in week five of my six-week online graphic memoir primer class. I’m also working on a deadline for a comic I’m making for a magazine (!!!). So, I won’t be making a full newsletter this month as I catch up on things; instead, I figured I’d recommend some comics and films I’ve seen lately, all related to the illustrative form.
Hope you find something to enjoy in this list. And I’ll see you next month. ♡
– RJR
Graphic Rage
Illustrator Aubrey Hirsch runs a fantastic newsletter she recently rebranded as Graphic Rage. Highly recommend subscribing. Her most recent comic, “The Consequences of (Not So) Casual Sexual Assault,” is a must-read.
Ocean Waves (dir. by Tomomi Mochizuki)
I’ve fallen in love with this highly underappreciated Studio Ghibli film. There’s no magic realism here; instead, the plot revolves around the nostalgic memories of a young man named Taku as he recalls his high school days in Kochi, Japan. And that’s…really it. Simple yet effective, this is an exercise in reflection—in dealing with the complexity of growing up. (It’s currently streaming on MAX, if you have access.)
“Mulch”
Although it released back in December 2023, I recently discovered this wonderful comic by Eliza Harris over at The Rumpus that I can’t get out of my head. Deceptively simple, it invites you back to examine what stories we believe are worth telling or not, and why we’re so hard on ourselves as we sort through our personal histories.
My Brother's Husband
I recently revisited Gengoroh Tagame’s sensationally good My Brother's Husband. The story revolves around Yaichi, a Japanese man, who unexpectedly meets his deceased twin brother's Canadian husband, Mike. We follow Yaichi's journey of understanding and coming to terms with his own biases while navigating the complexities of familial relationships and societal norms. Beautiful and necessary reading.
No One Else
R. Kikuo Johnson’s masterful graphic novel thoughtfully presents a family in the grip of loss, and how they’re able to find common ground between them in order to press on. I’m revisiting this book often, finding new details and depth on each visit.
The Red Turtle (dir. by Michaël Dudok de Wit)
More and more, the general moviegoing populace has begun to understand that animated films aren’t just for children; yes, there’s plenty of depth in Pixar films for everyone to enjoy, yet we shelve those films in the children’s section. Confine them in that particular box when we consider their worth. So, it’s good to be reminded that animation is cinema; that some animated films ask a lot of us as viewers and give us so much to consider. The Red Turtle is not an easy film—there’s no dialogue, and it deals with some serious issues like isolation and death—and yet it’s one of the most rewarding filmgoing experiences I’ve had in a long while. It’s just a beautifully crafted, emotionally resonant film, animated or not. (The Red Turtle isn’t streaming anywhere currently in the US, but it’s absolutely worth renting!)
Palestine
Given the genocide currently happening in Palestine, it’s a good time to (re)visit this important book by journalist and illustrator Joe Sacco. Through first-hand accounts, Sacco depicts the lives of Palestinians living under occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip during the early 1990s, capturing the complexity, fears, and hopes of the people affected by it. This is a powerful book and an important narrative in our comics canon.
In Gaza, around 2.2 million people, nearly the entire population, are now in urgent need of food assistance. Donate to the World Food Program to help deliver food to families.
Thanks so much, Robert!