One tool that the creative team gifts to the readers is the stunning lettering work provided by Sal Cipriano. Beeby“s Mata Hari is already screaming for a TPB version since having all of the story at once might help readers sort through the discontinuity of the early acts. This approach may frustrate some readers, especially early on. It will leave some questions unanswered and some of the Mata Hari“s motivations unknown or unknowable. Note well: this story may become the definitive Mata Hari tale.
This is in sync with Beeby“s narrative mission as she wrestles with the complexity of an almost unknowable woman ”“ a spy of sorts ”“ the Mata Hari is a woman whose motivations remain mysterious in the early stages of this comic version and will likely remain that way throughout this story. Those narratives tend to only see a hyper-sexualized femme fatale.Īriana Kristantina (art) and Pat Masioni (colors) are committed to a serious and sensual visualization of the protagonist ”“ not so much a sexual one. Don“t be fooled by the alluring covers and the anatomical sub-titles, Beeby is invested more in the nuanced complexities and contradictions of this historical character and much less interested in repeating the traditional historical narratives writ large through the male gaze. This fact makes Beeby“s approach appear to be counter-intuitive. Comics is a genre known for its sensationalism, its fast and furious playing with history and the limits of reality for a younger audience.
One of the ironies of Emma Beeby“s narrative approach to the history of the Mata Hari is that her particular vision of the story is being realized in comics. This complexity and attention to detail is required since the Mata Hari remains one of the most misrepresented and misunderstood “femme fatale”“ figures in world history. But if you can keep up if you can keep pace with the flashes forward and back, with the geo-spatial maneuvers across nations and continents, then you will realize how the comic book form can be manipulated into a meticulous character study. At times, Mata Hari Chapter 2: “Bare Breast,”“ from the Berger Books imprint at Dark Horse, moves so quickly and so fluidly - through time and space ”“ that it will leave readers“ heads spinning.
0 kommentar(er)
