Truth; Rabbi's Cat 2; Nana.

[sanguinity]

Noted briefly:

18, 19. Ai Yazawa, Nana, Volumes 11-12.

(Yes, I count manga.)

20. Robert Morales and Kyle Baker, Truth: Red, White & Black.

In which the history of the super-serum that transformed Captain America into Captain America is revealed: in keeping with so much medical testing of the era, it was unethically developed on black test subjects.

I loved the first half of the series, but around the midpoint two-thirds mark it suddenly went off the rails and stopped being about Isaiah Bradley (the black Captain America), and started being all about Steve Rogers (the white Captain America). And not just about Steve Rogers, investing a serious chunk of time in making sure that the readers know that Steve Rogers is in no way responsible for the history of the super-serum, and that he really does not approve of the history of the super-serum, and that if he had only known he would never have been a part of it. Also, that Steve Rogers thinks it's a shame, a crying shame what happened to Isaiah Bradley, and that Steve Rogers is a good, good guy, who's willing to give proper credit to Isaiah Bradley.

I dunno, maybe I'm reading too much into those last, Rogers-centric issues. But apparently Truth began as a parallel history, officially outside of the continuity of Captain America, and then halfway through they decided to bring it into the main storyline? And given that, I do wonder at how the last two issues are devoted almost completely to making sure that white Captain America remains completely untarnished by this backstory.

Anyway, I very much liked the premise, very much liked the first part, and was very eyerolly about the latter part.

One of the things that is very cool about Truth, in addition to the premise, is that it is a veritable festival of historical and literary allusions (OMG, Pinkwater's Wingman!). And in case you do not know these allusions, there is a handy issue-by-issue listing of the allusions in the appendix, including a reading and sources list. Which is very satisfying for a references-junkie like myself. Yay - I like clues about interesting things to go look up next!

21. Joann Sfar, The Rabbi's Cat 2.

(Sfar is Ashkenazi and Sephardic; Rabbi's Cat implies that Sephardic Jews are not considered white in France, which is where Sfar lives. If anyone has better information than I do about how race works in France and in Judaism, and consequently feels that Sfar shouldn't be counted as POC, please let me know.)

A continuation of the previous volume, which was a collection of stories about an Algerian rabbi, his daughter, and her cat. Two more stories appear in this volume: "Heaven on Earth" (in which the Rabbi and his cat visits with Malka and his lion, and there is much, much storytelling all around) and "Africa's Jerusalem" (in which the rabbi meets a Russian Jew who is headed for Ethiopia in search of the true Jerusalem -- a Jerusalem where, yes, all the Jews are black Africans, much to the rabbi's disbelief).

Of the latter story, Sfar says:

For a long time I thought there was no point in doing a graphic novel against racism. That stance seemed so totally redundant that there was no need to flog a dying horse. Times are changing, apparently. Chances are, everything's already been said, but since no one is paying attention you have to start all over again.

Terence Taylor, Bite Marks: A Vampire Testament

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

46. Terence Taylor, Bite Marks: A Vampire Testament

On Christmas Eve, in Times Square in the mid 1980s, a hooker named Nina is violently murdered by a vampire. Just before she dies, she manages to turn her small infant into a vampire itself to give it a chance to survive. Now everyone's trying to find that baby: the Veil, a secret government of vampires in charge of making sure humans never find out about them; Adam, the vampire who killed Nina, who wants to kill the baby before he gets in trouble with the Veil; Jim, Nina's brother, who wants to save the baby and get revenge; Steven and Lori, a couple working on a book about true stories of vampires; among others. And then the zombies show up!

I can't say this book is anything particularly deep, but it's a lot of fun. I love books set in NYC, and Taylor clearly knows it well. I like his diversity of characters- black and white and Asian and Arabic, rich gallery owners and street kids and junkies and donaters to the Met. The writing, on a sentence to sentence level, is nothing special, but the plot is fast and enjoyable. Originally I thought the idea of a 'vampire baby' was a bit cheesy, but it turns out to actually a creepy concept. Overall, recommended, and a great read for right now, since the entire book takes place in the few days between Christmas Eve and the first few days of January.