The Arab of the Future 2: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1984-1985

Starred review from July 4, 2016
In the second volume of an acclaimed five-part graphic memoir, originally published in France, cartoonist Sattouf captures the discomfiting and occasionally humorous details of his first year in school in a Syria that is casually anti-Semitic and not particularly kind to anyone. Minor infractions against social norms are met with violence, and major infractions are met with much, much worse. Because everything filters through a six-year-old boy’s point of view, the more disturbing moments that Sattouf recounts aren’t bleak so much as confusing, surreal, and sad. The humor is pitch-black, the characters vivid: Nidal, a young boy who sits by his father’s grave and, because of a nervous tic, can’t stop laughing like Woody Woodpecker; a devout schoolteacher with a kindly face who takes particular delight in meting out corporal punishment. Sattouf is a master of visual storytelling, capable of compressing a great deal of human emotion and contradictions within a few panels. He creates a searing depiction of growing up poor in a country ruled by corruption and religious zealotry.

July 15, 2016
The second volume of the author's graphic memoir presents a portrait of the Franco-Syrian artist as a young boy.This would seem to be a transitional chapter, following the highly acclaimed debut, The Arab of the Future (2015), which presented most of the themes continued here. The young Riad, now a schoolboy in Syria, remains torn between his experiences in his mother's native France and his Muslim father's return with his family to his homeland. His father retains a somewhat prestigious position as a university professor but feels he should do better (and readers of the first volume know he could have). With his white-blond hair distinguishing him from his schoolmates, Riad is mocked as a "Jew" and finds himself playing "war against Israel" in order to fit in. "I always tried to be as aggressive as possible toward the Jews to prove I wasn't one," he says of these pretend wars. His teachers cross the line from discipline to sadism and seem most concerned with instilling a blind devotion in the Muslim children (to earthly rulers as well as Allah). He receives mixed messages about the impurity and inferiority of women ("they're more fragile, weaker. Satan enters them more easily") and the need for them to wear a veil, though no one seems to notice that his mother doesn't. And he sees the life of the very rich and very poor, though he finds it hard to tell exactly where his family fits given his father's ambitions and fantasies. A return to France provides some perspective--in the contrast and in the sheer abundance of consumer goods so rare in Syria. Instead of the Jews despised in Syria, his mother's family hates "the Krauts, the Germans!" Or as they still consider them, "the Nazis!" There's a lot here for a 6-year-old boy to process, let alone resolve. A solid continuation, but subsequent volumes are sure to provide even more provocative material.

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Starred review from August 1, 2016
The first volume of French cartoonist Sattouf's harrowing account of his childhood in Syria and Libya won international acclaim. In the second, young Riad turns six and reluctantly begins attending school in the family's Syrian village, where the sadistic cruelty of the teachers mirrors the brutality of the Hafez al-Assad regime. His father has abandoned his grandiose vision of pan-Arabism as he struggles to support his family, but his delusional nature persists in his scheme to build a luxury villa and his obsequious efforts to ingratiate himself with his cousin, an influential general. Riad's sole respite from his harsh existence is a trip to visit his maternal grandparents in France, where he's overwhelmed by the consumer goods available at the Euromarche superstore. Upon their return, his mother begins teaching him French and introduces him to Tintin comics, actions that presage his future home and career. Rather than being incongruous with the oppressive society and grim events he depicts, Sattouf's broadly cartoonish drawing style imparts a level of attachment that makes his story bearable. Even before its concluding volume, Sattouf's saga of struggle and survival has established itself among the most powerful memoirs the comics medium has seen.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2016

Begun in 1978, the wonderful, immersive, mythic fantasy Elfquest was one of the first American comics influenced by Japanese manga, and one of the first collected in graphic novel form. After many detours and hiatuses, the story from husband-and-wife team Wendy and Richard Pini returns to its major plotline here, as the many tribes of elves must decide whether to stay on the World of Two Moons or leave in the Palace, the now-restored starship that their ancestors crash-landed millennia earlier. Surprises still abound, and Wendy's artwork retains its beauty and polish. Truly epic, not only in its vast timespan, ever-branching plot, and huge cast, but also in its emotional depth, the series encompasses alliances, goals, and feelings that are complicated and changeable; life can be brutal and heartbreaking, and the way forward is never clear. Still, instead of doom and gloom, there is a spirit of kindness, optimism, and joy. To help new readers catch up, the authors have posted most of the series for free on elfquest.com, and Dark Horse is republishing the brilliant early stories in the Complete Elfquest omnibuses. VERDICT A satisfying revival of a grand saga.--SR

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2016

French Syrian cartoonist Sattouf follows up The Arab of the Future, a No. 1 best seller in France that got huge attention here, with this graphic-format account of his family's settling in his father's hometown of Homs after returning home from France.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.