María Hesse

Another mixed-bag anthology. There are a couple gems, but the rest is pretty meh.

Julio / Julia Otero, writer; Ada Diez, illustrator
~2 stars~

Julia Otero's chauvinist father, Julio, becomes a "self-made feminist" as he supports and respects her and her successes. Seems like the bare minimum to be a father, but I suppose some don't.

24 Hours / Lola García, writer; Agustina Guerrero, illustrator
~2 stars~

A trifle of a dream sequence that imagines a world where men are harassed and earn a fraction of the salaries of the women who take the lead role in business and government. Not as shocking as the creators intended. Wouldn't a better dream involve equality rather than role reversal and continued oppression based on gender?

The Bug / Diana López Varela, writer; Akira Pantsu, illustrator
~4 stars~

The author recounts her struggle with anorexia. Always depressing as subject matter, the art really trips it over into a manga-esque horror story.

Empowered / Estefanía Molina, writer; Ana Oncina, illustrator
~2 stars~

Giant blocks of text with a nearly academic tone caused me to zone out and totally disengage. This looks and feels more like a government pamphlet about sexism than an autobiographical account. Good points were made, but in a very boring way.

Loneliness / Eva Amaral, writer; María Hesse, illustrator
~2 stars~

This is a visual adaptation of song lyrics from the song "Soledad" by the author's band, Amaral. So it's like vague poetry with random and surreal imagery, which I consider in principal to be a waste of time.

Sexier / Leticia Dolera, writer; Raquel Riba Rossy, illustrator
~4 stars~

A television actress has all the feels when notes from the network request that she wear a push-up bra to make her character sexier.

This is a graphic adaptation by Rossy of a chapter from Dolera's original book, Morder la manzana : la revolución será feminista o no será. A full graphic novel adaptation, Morder la manzana, was subsequently published in 2022. I hope it gets translated to English sometime.

Turtle Steps / Sandra Sabatés, writer; Sandra Cardona, illustrator
~2 stars~

This story follows a family heirloom for over a century as it passes through generations of mothers leading up to the author. It skims a little too quickly through the decades and women to really allow me to engage with anyone.

Over a Banana Skirt / Almudena Grandes, writer; Sara Herranz, illustrator
~2 stars~

Ugh. So many graphic anthologies try to sneak in an illustrated text story amongst the actual comics. This one, excerpted from the author's essay, "Por una falda de plátanos," is a tribute to Josephine Baker. The author is astonished that her grandparents went to watch Baker dance topless. Big whoop.

Mzungu / Patricia Campos, writer; Sara Soler, illustrator
~3 stars~

The author was the first female jet pilot in the Spanish navy. Unfortunately, she zips past that achievement and its many challenges and spends most of this autobiographical sketch talking about her love for soccer and how she traveled to Uganda to teach soccer as a means of improving the lives of the children there. One of those stories that makes me want to know more about the subject.

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: [All stories translated by Diego Jourdan Pereira]
• Cover illustration / Esther Gilli, illustrator
• Introduction / David Hernando, writer
• Julio / Julia Otero, writer; Ada Diez, illustrator
• 24 Hours / Lola García, writer; Agustina Guerrero, illustrator
• The Bug / Diana López Varela, writer; Akira Pantsu, illustrator
• Empowered / Estefanía Molina, writer; Ana Oncina, illustrator
• Loneliness / Eva Amaral, writer; María Hesse, illustrator
• Sexier / Leticia Dolera, writer; Raquel Riba Rossy, illustrator
• Turtle Steps / Sandra Sabatés, writer; Sandra Cardona, illustrator
• Over a Banana Skirt / Almudena Grandes, writer; Sara Herranz, illustrator
• Mzungu / Patricia Campos, writer; Sara Soler, illustrator
• A Few Words [author and artist commentary and biographies]… (altro)

I got this from the library because I thought it was a graphic novel biography, but OOPS it is instead a fictionalized first-person life of Bowie with each two-page spread having about a page worth of typeset text and a very large illustration. Sort of a young adult picture book. No real depth, with the added bonus of having to figure out which bits are lies. Hrmm.

I'm not a fan of the art, especially since it is not good at capturing the likeness of Bowie or the many famous people he encounters over the years.… (altro)