"A Week of Kindness or The Seven Deadly Elements" by Max Ernst

In the fifth and last book in the series, Max Ernst’s surrealistic novel in collage A Week of Kindness or The Seven Deadly Elements, the artist defines Thursday by the element he calls “Blackness”.  In this novel in collage, all the illustrations began with a base illustration drawn by another artist from a popular novel or publication widely known at the time and incorporated one or more unexpected or found elements into the scene to create a disordered, unexpected or even sometimes disturbing amalgam of the two artist’s work. The artist provides two groups of example collage illustrations to define the element blackness. The first group he subtitles “Example: The Rooster’s Laughter”. Each base illustration within this first grouping depicts a different scene of human suffering, death and despair in which he has incorporated the image of at least one rooster. The inclusion of roosters in such an emotionally distressing human situation seems not only surreal, but also irreverent and completely out of place. The second group of collage illustrations under Thursday’s element Blackness he subtitles “Example: Easter Island”. Each base illustration within this group depicts a scene of rape, sexually charged violence, prostitution, vanity or other similar form of human depravity in which he has added an illustrated version of one of the carved stone heads that had been discovered on Easter Island. The unexpected illustration of a chiseled stone head from Easter Island replacing the face of one of the perpetrators in the midst of an illustration depicting a sexually violent scene, or the irreverent placement of a rooster in the middle of an illustration which portraits human suffering and death is a perfect example of surrealism.  These seemingly random augmented illustrations when grouped into a novel of colleges tell the story of the birth of the surrealistic movement through the work of its founding father.

"Frank in the River" by Jim Woodring

Jim Woodring surprisingly used bright luminously hued, often primary colors to illustrate this comic story with such a mature subject matter. The innocently juvenile appearance of the cover panel gives a reader who may be unfamiliar with the author’s work, the impression that they are about to experience a “G-rated” comic story appropriate for a younger reader . This could not be further from the truth. While the artist did incorporate a simplistic child like style and dramatically brilliant colors to illustrate the story of Frank in the River, the illustrations and plot are most definitely meant for a more mature audience. While I found the plot to be convoluted and difficult to follow at best, I believe that the artist’s illustrative choices were brilliant. The child like illustration of the naked “Hog Man” who seems to (not so clandestinely) symbolize Frank’s employer, when contrasted by his ever present bare buttocks and bulging scrotum is enough to give any child who mistakenly happened upon this comic story full blown nightmares. The ironically dark subject matter of Frank killing, burying and subsequently being given the same bloody monster body parts to eat by his Hog Man employer being illustrated with the use of brightly colored simplistic drawings normally reserved for children’s books is just one more example of the artist’s intent to suspend your beliefs, get you out of your comfort zone, shake up your sense of security and examine the motives and aspirations of Frank’s (your) employer.  While I am not sure that every reader will consciously understand the artist’s message of discontent, my impression is that Jim Woodring, using only his artistic talent and illustrative choices was able to shock you, get your attention and impart his sense of distain for “the establishment” and “the status quo” without the use of a single word.       

"The Arrival" by Shaun Tan

This beautifully detailed graphic novel leads it's "readers" through the fears, struggles and triumphs of people who have had to leave the country of their birth due to oppression, war or poverty and immigrate to another country for a better life. The stories are told through the eyes of the main character, who the artist dedicated to his father. Without the use of written words, the artist Shaun Tan masterfully blends the use of fantasy to illustrate the unknown or unfamiliar, with realistic drawings of the actual people and places in the main character’s life. This is not a graphic novel that you will just want to thumb through; there is so much detail in each frame that you will be afraid that you might miss something. Through the contrast of fantasy and realism, you are able to experience what the people in each story must have felt when coming to a new country where they did not speak the language, know the customs or have any money to provide for their own basic needs. The artist's choice of using an aged looking paper with sepia toned or black and white drawings adds to the reader's overall impression that these stories are really the main character's memories which took place many years ago. Shaun Tan demonstrates through his illustrations in this novel that these recollections of immigration are not unique to one family or one country, but that they transcend borders and ethnicity. These stories are excellent examples of the indomitable human spirit to overcome adversity regardless of ethnic background or country of origin. The reader is sure to enjoy Shaun Tan’s artistic talent throughout the entire novel as each frame within The Arrival is such a beautifully detailed illustration, that it could stand alone as a framed work of art in any gallery.