I don’t have the energy to make new resolutions this year. All I’m willing to commit to is this: Whatever didn’t get right in 2009, try it again in 2010. I’m still motivated to find 15 minutes, still nudging Frieda to join us here in The Bottom more often (wink, wink), still resisting the urge to multi-task my life away.
But I also have an idea for the blog that I’ve been mulling over for a while.
Over a year ago, I wrote about my deep admiration and delight for the serial webcomic, Bayou by Jeremy Love. The comic has continued to earn critical acclaim since then, taking in five Glyph Comics Awards (including Story of the Year), and making the unusual leap from the web to print in a trade paperback series.
Beginning next week, I’d like to initiate an open-thread discussion about each section of Bayou, now in its sixth chapter online (and easy to access, free of charge), with the hope of attracting new and experienced comics readers to a story that I am eager to share. Seriously, I’m just a fan; nobody’s paying me to say this. Bayou is fascinating on so many levels: the plot’s use of southern history, its re-imagining of folklore and myth, a young female heroine and her mysterious otherworldly companions, Love’s brilliant artwork and Patrick Morgan’s coloring. I have a few criticisms of the story too, which should hopefully make for even more rewarding conversation. I’ll pose a couple of questions and offer preliminary thoughts, but I’m really interested in dialogue with the thoughtful, adventurous readers who visit TBoH (yes, I’m talking about you).
So we’ll begin with the first chapter – only 32 pages – next Thursday. My plan is to post a new thread once every two weeks until the Spring.
Posted by Wilhelmina Jenkins on January 7, 2010 at 10:16 PM
Claudia, tell me you didn’t expect anyone to stop after chapter 1! That is one spectacular piece of work! The complexity of the plot line, the variety of characters, earthly and otherwise, the historic roots he draws on – wow! (And, of course, I had a few – one major – problem, but nobody’s perfect!) I’m looking forward to the discussion and, of course, the continuation of this remarkable work. For someone like me who grew up on comics (and was constantly told that she was too old to be reading them), this is just mind-blowing!
Posted by Claudia on January 8, 2010 at 6:29 AM
Yay! I’m really glad you enjoyed it! That’s funny about stopping after chapter 1. My hope of course is that people will read further, but I didn’t want to intimidate those who may not have read a comic like this before. Can’t wait!
Posted by Zetta Elliott on January 9, 2010 at 9:58 AM
I’m not a comic book kind of girl, but this is a text I wish I could have taught in my lynching course…bought Volume 1 yesterday and think I’m up to about Volume 3 online…can’t wait for the discussion to begin!
Posted by Claudia on January 9, 2010 at 10:53 AM
I’m really looking forward to hearing what you think, Zetta. I’ll turn you into a comic book kind of girl, yet!
Posted by ghettoManga on January 9, 2010 at 1:58 PM
great stuff! Bayou is a fabulous offering from an artist I’ve been following for some time. Very mature and unnerving, but still appropriate for children.
Posted by Claudia on January 9, 2010 at 4:40 PM
Thanks for stopping by, gM. Your remark about its appropriateness for children is one of the questions I’d like to raise (and hopefully Zetta will also be able to weigh in on this). What is the intended audience for the comic? For some reason, it surprises me that Bayou is marketed for children. I think it is important for young people to know about the historical basis for Billy’s death, but there are a few scenes….well, that made me catch my breath. Hmmm… still thinking on that…
Posted by ghettoManga on January 10, 2010 at 12:37 PM
it’s not a children’s book. It’s all-ages horror.
when i was a kid, i read lots of things that would raise red flags today. if you have a preteen or young teen ager who likes to read ‘scary’ books, i think the book will be fine for them. little kids will not be interested because of how heavy it is.
I take issue with some of the ideas that are thrown around under the banner of ‘protecting children’… less and less is left to the parents’ discretion, but more and more is the parents’ responsibility.
but anyways, I think it is appropriate for kids, generally speaking, but i would advise a parent to flip through it before giving it to their child (one of the things that makes comics awesome is how easy they are to scan…). the things that might be questionable will jump off the page.
Posted by Wilhelmina Jenkins on January 10, 2010 at 4:47 PM
The age and maturity of the child is, of course, the real question. I wouldn’t market this toward children, and, if it were a movie, I would consider it PG-13. It is surprising to me how frightening some things can be to children. Neil Gaiman’s book, “The Wolves in the Walls” is loved by some of my second-grade grandson’s classmates, but others were terrified, much to my surprise. My tendency is to postpone, but not to censor. If a child ran into “Bayou” and brought it to my attention, I would read it with the child and make sure that the child understood the history vs. the fantasy elements and could put the frightening elements into context. If I were giving it to a child, it would definitely be late middle school and up. My viewpoint is, “What’s the rush?”
Posted by Edi on January 10, 2010 at 8:29 PM
After reading vol I of Bayou, several at my school are waiting tor the next volume. I had no idea it was online! I’m going to share a the link to Bayou and your blog. We’ll see what happens!
Posted by Claudia on January 11, 2010 at 2:46 PM
Thanks, Edi!
Posted by Holly on January 11, 2010 at 1:29 PM
Oh wowwowowow — thank you for linking this! So glad to find it. Curious to see your coming threads. I feel like I need to make time to get through all of these.
Posted by Claudia on January 11, 2010 at 2:47 PM
Hey there, Holly! Can’t wait to hear what you think!
Posted by elliottzetta on January 11, 2010 at 1:55 PM
I don’t have kids, so it’s hard for me to think about giving this book to a child–I’d probably only gift it to a teenager. Mostly I’ve thought about teaching it, maybe along with Incognegro, in my college course on representations of racial violence. I do think younger readers could handle the book, but it’s not likely they could put the contents in context–unless they’re particularly knowledgeable when it comes to AfAm history, folklore, Southern culture…literature that features a child protagonist isn’t always for children, or about the experience of childhood, so I’d be interested in the conversation a parent had with a child before and after giving her this book…
Posted by Claudia on January 11, 2010 at 3:07 PM
literature that features a child protagonist isn’t always for children, or about the experience of childhood… Love the way you put that, Zetta!
Sounds like most of us are in agreement about late middle-school teenagers and up. This is a question that I come back to frequently when I read BAYOU, but it’s also one that I like to get out of the way early. Speaking personally, I don’t really like for my reception of a comic book to be too hampered down by issues of appropriateness and reader reception. Comics have a long history of being heavily censored for “inappropriateness” and I’m sorta glad that Jeremy Love didn’t allow these concerns to keep him from illustrating lynched bodies or other forms of racial violence. Emmett Till was 14 when he was murdered – dear God – so Billy’s youth is especially horrifying in its accuracy. In any case, as far as I’m concerned, WE are the target audience!
Posted by Rich Watson on January 12, 2010 at 10:30 PM
And yet he self-censors the word ‘nigger.’
Posted by Claudia on January 13, 2010 at 8:21 AM
That’s right, he does! Interesting distinctions between the visual/verbal limitations of the story. Curiouser and curiouser…