WARNING. This blog is not for the faint of heart. The comic posted here is heavy and pretty damn depressing. That being said, it's also brilliant, so don't be scared away.
http://www.whatisdeepfried.com/COMIX/Family/PAGE1.html
http://zyguy.imgur.com/clarissa_comics#12
The two links above tell the story of Clarissa. Now before I continue, I'm going to pause here so that people who want to actually read them don't have it ruined.
Now, if you're like me, after the first one you were probably thinking "Wait. Did her dad... you know... do stuff to her?" Yes, the answer is. He did rape her (I warned you that this was dark). And if you keep reading, it only gets heavier. What I find brilliant about these strips, and specifically the first one, is how cleverly the author has hidden the truth in plain sight, just waiting for you to realize it. And as soon as you do, it's like a punch in the gut. And each successive strip is just as gut-wrenching. Honestly, the best comparison I can make is to the end of 1984. While that was a much more elaborate and drawn-out (and thus more powerful) punch to the gut, that same feeling of helplessness and horror hit me when I read that first comic strip. The second reason I find these strips brilliant is how well it manages to portray the feeling of being this poor little girl. The art clearly displays the hopelessness she feels in the way she's drawn and each little story shows a different side to her reaction to this tragedy, from letting it out in drawing, to her killed imagination in Stuffed Friend to the ending of Bath Time Fun. Every time you realize that this poor little girl has been forced to kill off her own childhood, or view herself as the problem or every exaggerated and fake smile on the faces of her family just kills a little bit of you.
Fortunately, as is the nature of tragedy, I find that a new little bit of me grows in that dead bit's space, and something like this ultimately leaves me feeling cleansed and that much more determined to right the wrong that happens in this world.
Jesus. Those were terrible...that poor girl.
ReplyDeleteThey're terrible, but they're brilliant...
DeleteI found this to be obviously dark as you forwarned, but I wasn't that surprised by the outcome. I saw it coming about midway through. The relationship between her and her father was obviously off kilter.
ReplyDeleteI was almost more disturbed, though, by the racial insensitivity of the artist/writer in his/her depiction of the black girl and her family. It seemed over the top, maybe for comedic effect (I wasn't laughing), and out of place.