Siskel and Ebert Review Graphic Novels
"With the continued absence of new films and streaming movies lacking urgency it is time to read. There is no shortage of time in a pandemic. I'm Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times."
"And I'm Gene Siskel from the Chicago Tribune. Now is a great time to pull books off the shelf that you have been meaning to read."
RE: So, are you saying this pandemic is a great opportunity to learn a new skill?"
GS: As much as I love Saturday Night Fever, that is not the hustle I extol. This is an opportunity to do something different; such as enjoying Giraffes on Horseback Salad. Josh Frank researched the great unmade Marx Brothers collaboration with Salvador Dali and brings the concepts to life on the printed page.
RE: Bringing iconic performers from a different era to the twenty-first century? Where have I have heard that before?
GS: I have no idea. The story involves The Surrealist Woman. Her face is never seen and the Marx Brothers get into to their usual anarchic hijinks. There was no Margret Dumont in this story.
RE: Didn't need her. The Marx Brothers take me back to my earliest memories. My father loved them and watching this serious man who raised me crack up with laughter that children rarely see in parents made me seek out The Marx Brothers. It makes me wonder if Josh Frank would work on The Marx Brothers at The United Nations.
GS: Good call, Roger. The film Billy Wilder and I.A.L Diamond wanted to make between Some Like It Hot and The Apartment would have culminated their career. Chico was pretty close to death at that point and they couldn't pull it together.
RE: The prospect of bringing two of the greatest comedy writers at the peak of their powers- that will have to wait. (To the camera) Shifting gears, our next graphic novel is of a far more serious subject. They Call Us Enemy is George Takei's account of life in an internment camp. He was removed from his home at the age of five.
GS: There are many great films about The Holocaust. Starting with The Pawnbroker there are many films on the darkest period of the twentieth century. Strangely there are not movies about the Internment of American citizens of Japanese descent.
RE: This was an inspiration for George Takei. He has large followings on social media; far greater than he could have attained for that cape in Star Trek III: The Search For Spock.
GS: The wardrobe in that film was futuristic and very good. Fearing this page in history would be forgotten he worked on this book and told a compelling story. It would be disorienting for the government to supplant anyone from their homes. For a five year old? Devastating. There are humorous recollections sprinkled in the serious business of naturalized Japanese Americans being told to forfeit their citizenship and how they fought to maintain what they earned.
RE: While it is not as tragic as The Holocaust? This is one of the darker chapters of American history that was so egregious the survivors were given reparations.
GS: This is definitely a story that should be told. I believe either or both of these books can be made into movies. Giraffes on Horseback Salad would make an interesting animated feature.
RE: It certainly would. Do you think there will be a film adaptation of Night?
GS: The Elie Wiesel book? There have been many attempts. The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski would make a compelling film as well.
RE: Thinking about movies that could be made is probably better than the summer movies that would be coming out now.
GS: There is room for any well made movie. I was anticipating The Fast and the Furious 9 although that was pushed back to next year. We can always read the books that are on hand and in our minds? Envision the movie.
RE: I try not to cast the movie of whatever book I am reading. It can be fun. When a movie is actually made? I am thinking of it against the perception of my mind.
GS: And we know that can be a scary place. So, Thumbs Up to both?
RE: Absolutely. People have to realize there is more to comic books or graphic literature than Marvel and DC. Just like movies? The independents can cultivate the most memorable experience.
GS: Which is why I anticipate the next work from Dan Nokes.
RE: 21st Century Sandshark Studios has a Patreon page
GS: I'll keep that in mind. Hoping that everyone finds entertaining works wherever they are? For Roger Ebert? I'm Gene Siskel and the balcony is closed.