Personal Histories in Comic Strips

There is no other graphic way to express the tragi-comic historical drama than through strongly visual appealing images. Bring it the broken bodies with blood and enormous hearts taken out of the body, multi-dimensional realities and psychotic thoughts.

The Realist, by Asaf Hanuka - which I've read in the German translation - is an autobiographical comic book about an illustrator living in Tel Aviv. Although some of of the interpretations might be considered as breathing a dramatic pessimism, it is not a wrong-placed feeling. It makes sense to be like this when you feel that life and its masters are faster than you. But I don't think that one should read this book with a sad twist. That's the realism, the title refers to that is the best way to describe this life: you are sinking into debts for reaching a minimum life standards, you work a lot and still unable to make your family happy, you feel under threat of various military attacks, you dream - realistically - that the protests for the unbearable costs of the living are the beginning of a better life (it was just a dream). Besides the personal story, there are other information intertwinned in the story, such as stories of Iraqi Jews coming to Israel or even about some long forgotten bands from the 70s.

I've followed the multi-awarded Asaf Hanuka for too long to remember when and how I actually discovered his works. His illustrations were published in Forbes, Politico and Wall Street Journal, among many others, and he was a contributor to Waltz with Bashir. His twin brother Tomer, is also an illustrator. 

It is fascinating how he succeeds to create through colours and multi-dimensional illustrations fantastic emotional stories. The images are not only alive, but able to transmit feelings - raw, some of them - and strong impressions. There is a strength of the images that leads you into the story without asking. You are becoming part of the story told. For me, it is the perfect way to make comic strips reliable mediums for story telling, regardless what kind of stories do you want to tell.