Comic World News

April 22, 2008:
CWN and the Grand Finale! -

February 4, 2008:
In Conclusion - David ends his CWN run with Tezuka's MW from Vertical

February 2, 2008:
Acting Like You Have Nothing to Prove -

February 2, 2008:
The Shoegazer Returns - A New Year Begins, And Our Narrator Makes A Pledge

January 30, 2008:
Tim's Reviews -

September 13, 2007:
Wizard World Chicago Loot, Part One - Stykman, Empty Chamber, the Ztarian Saga, and yes, Little Bunny Foo Foo

February 15, 2007:
I Come Not to Bury Nick Cage... - But to mourn the death of my punchline

November 20, 2006:
The End - Rich's last Chicks & Romance

November 8, 2006:
Joann Sfar's Klezmer - And a Front Racks Hiatus

October 4, 2006:
This Month's Guest: Dave Gibbons - From the pages of Elephantmen!

September 18, 2006:
Back in Berlin - or How I spent my summer

July 29, 2006:
KICKING UP A STORM - An interview with David Lloyd

June 19, 2006:
You Ain't Never Had A Friend Like Me. - Graeme looks at Spidey's "genies"

December 18, 2005:
Disappointed - Sad news for fans of Busiek's CONAN, Stephen King, and others

December 13, 2004:
JUSTICE UNPLUGGED 2 at last !!! - By Fabrice Sapolsky & Xavier Fournier

December 2, 2004:
THE TWELFTH AND FINAL STEP - Say it ain't so, Dan.

November 23, 2004:
The importance of editing -

September 29, 2004:
Mystery and Conundrum indeed! - Where in the world is Jason Pomerantz?

September 13, 2004:
Hello and Goodbye and Hello Again - Change is in the air at CWN and it smells sweet.

August 12, 2004:
The Rise of the Web Toon - New Business Model or Dumb Luck?

July 30, 2004:
The Name Says it All... - Spin Doctors revamp Boomerang.

July 27, 2004:
Bigger Isn't Always Better -

June 8, 2004:
Pre-emptive Strike: MoCCA Arts Festival - Looking forward to the con, rather than looking back at it

The Layer Method
Our top Secret time-saving technique for creating and merging balloons and tails in Illustrator.

Friday, September 3, 2010

With the Light

Manga about raising an autistic child

You�re the new graphic novel arm of a major book publisher. You�ve lured one of the most powerful people in manga to a leadership position. How do you launch your line of licensed and original works?

Why, you roll out a fat volume of award-winning manga about the challenges and rewards of raising an autistic child. I should have thought that would be obvious.

That�s what Yen Press has done with the release of Keiko Tobe�s With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child. Targeted at the kinds of families it portrays and the care providers who work with them, it couldn�t be more out of place in the average bookstore�s manga section. While Yen has plenty of teen-friendly titles in the pipeline, you have to admire that kind of counter-intuitive programming.

You also have to admire With the Light as a work for its intelligence, sensitivity and nobility of purpose. When people talk about the relative goodness of a given series, they�re usually talking about the attractiveness of its illustrations, the effectiveness of its story structure, and whether or not the characters engage the reader�s sympathies (or antipathy, depending on the creator�s aims). While Tobe�s work isn�t immune from those considerations, it takes the concept of goodness to a different level. It has intentions different than just about any other Japanese comic currently available in English, and it achieves those intentions with great dignity and precision.

It tells the story of the Azuma family. Sachiko has married handsome, hard-working Masato, and she�s just given birth to their first child, a son they name Hikaru. Sachiko is prepared to embrace conventional domesticity, raising her child with all her love and supporting her husband. But Hikaru isn�t developing at the same pace as the children of Sachiko�s friends. He doesn�t talk, and he seems to be in his own world. He gets lost in repetitive behaviors and is given to tantrums with no evident cause.

Sachiko is faced with frustrations on every side. Her workaholic husband is irritated by the constant disruptions to their household, and Sachiko�s mother-in-law pins the blame for Hikaru�s behavior on Sachiko. Sachiko watches the children of friends learn too speak and absorb the world around them, and the jealousy this inspires shames her. Perhaps worst of all for Sachiko, Hikaru won�t connect with her. He hates to be held and won�t make eye contact.

The family doctor initially suspects that Hikaru is deaf, but he later identifies the root of the boy�s behaviors as autism, which the Autism Society of America describes as �a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and is the result of a neurological disorder that affects the normal functioning of the brain, impacting development in the areas of social interaction and communication skills.�

Diagnosis doesn�t bring relief. There�s no cure for the disorder, and Sachiko struggles with both her own denial and the limited resources available to people with autism and their loved ones. She eventually connects with a support group run by the local welfare center, meeting other parents and learning coping strategies that can help her care for Hikaru and introduce him to the world in meaningful ways. The group also empowers Sachiko, and she overcomes a natural reluctance to burden the people around her. In some powerful if overwrought scenes, she breaks through her husband�s ignorance and frustration to demand that he be a real parent to their child.

With the family unit solidified, it�s time to face the outside world. For every enlightened, helpful person the Azumas encounter, there are those whose ignorance places more obstacles in their path. Pity and criticism are frequent responses from strangers, forcing Hikaru�s parents to add �educator� to their already considerable roster of responsibilities. And then there are the persistent, haunting questions that any parent faces -- What kind of future will Hikaru have? Will he be able to go to school, get a job, be happy?

Tobe, who works with families of autistic children to research the work, doesn�t provide any easy answers. She portrays specific challenges and the ways in which the Azumas cope. But she�s careful not to present their experiences and strategies as universal, noting that every person with autism is different. It�s a case study, not a handbook, though certain underlying messages have universal application.

One of the most important is the notion that making an environment safer and more inclusive for people with special needs makes the environment better for everyone. Tobe�s illustration of this, via a conventional school festival, is a tremendously effective sequence in terms of conveying that message. The adaptations to the event don�t diminish it or even change it materially; they just open it up to all of its participants.

Equally valuable is the notion that ignorance isn�t incurable, nor is it entirely predictable. Tobe renders a horrible experience with health care workers, who might be expected to be better informed or more sensitive, then balances it with a surprisingly enlightened and encouraging encounter with the noisy, Filipina bar girls from upstairs. Frustrations and jealousy aren�t unforgivable in the Azumas� world; they can be overcome with information and honesty.

With its conscientious construction and unimpeachable intentions, it�s difficult to focus too much on the more traditional notions of manga goodness as they relate to With the Light. At root, it is a case study, an educational piece more than a structured story. If the Azumas aren�t as vivid as they could be and their world isn�t the kind of fictional landscape where readers can fully lose themselves, they aren�t primarily designed to entertain. (To be honest, it�s better when they don�t try too hard. The more character-driven, ostentatiously dramatic bits are the hammiest and least effective.)

But it educates with uncommon skill, and it�s not as if it�s void of dramatic interest or sympathetic characters. If dignity overshadows drama in With the Light, it�s for sound, noble purposes. It�s useful, intelligent, and even inspiring, and I absolutely applaud Yen for taking the risk in publishing it. I hope it reaches its intended audience and more, besides.