Comic Book Heroes
I just read “Darkness Calls,” a comic book on suicide prevention, which the publisher calls “the story of the struggle between good and evil over the spirits of youth.”
The hero is Kyle, a talented teenaged artist who has one good friend but is tormented by bullies and a teacher, and is thinking about taking his own life. Kyle, an Aboriginal Canadian, attends an assembly where the speaker is a tribal elder, who is introduced as “know[ing] a lot about the ancient storytelling ways.” (His clueless teacher throws Kyle out of the assembly for drawing in his sketchbook.)
Later, the assembly speaker shows up at Kyle’s door and says, “I’m your grandfather.” When Kyle is understandably nonplussed by the appearance of a grandfather he’s never heard of (except earlier in the school gym), the man says, “Well, I’m your grandfather’s brother on your mom’s side.” Despite the conflicting stories (“No, wait, I’m your . . .”), Kyle, whose parents aren’t home, invites the old man in. (Our resident expert on teen suicide, Daniele Sadres, pointed out that it’s a little dicey to invite strangers in and that maybe this was not a good behavior to model. Daniele liked the book but also worried a little about the references to other kids’ suicides. Experts say that hearing or reading about suicide – real or fictional – can increase kids’ suicide risk, and describing methods, as “Darkness Calls” does, exacerbates the problem.)
The story concludes with a battle between Kyle and a towering creature with talons and a jaw full of enormous teeth. Kyle, who at first is having little luck keeping the creature at bay, is finally able to vanquish it by saying, “I don’t wanna die!” At this point, the elder says, “Just believe in yourself and you’ll be okay.” And that seems to be that. So my final caveat is, I think it’s a little more complicated. (Treatment might be one suggestion.) However, except for Art Spiegelman, R. Crumb and Chris Ware, I haven’t read any graphic novels in a long time and maybe the author is just trying to keep it simple.
The publisher is also putting out some comics drawn by teens themselves, on such topics as drug addiction, diabetes, what it’s like to have a family member with a mental illness, and the importance of being accountable for what you do – in this case, a hit-and-run.
The diabetes story is told by a diabetic crow, who seems to be a folk hero. It begins, “Hi, my name is Crow. You may know me from such stories as, ‘Crow Steals the Light’ and ‘Crow Releases the Tides.’ This is a picture of me with the light. This is a picture of me after I released the tides. This story is about my diabetes.” If that isn’t a great opening, what is?
For more information, contact the Healthy Aboriginal Network, http://thehealthyaboriginal.net, 328 East Thirty-Second Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5V2Y4.
posted by Susan Rogers
The hero is Kyle, a talented teenaged artist who has one good friend but is tormented by bullies and a teacher, and is thinking about taking his own life. Kyle, an Aboriginal Canadian, attends an assembly where the speaker is a tribal elder, who is introduced as “know[ing] a lot about the ancient storytelling ways.” (His clueless teacher throws Kyle out of the assembly for drawing in his sketchbook.)
Later, the assembly speaker shows up at Kyle’s door and says, “I’m your grandfather.” When Kyle is understandably nonplussed by the appearance of a grandfather he’s never heard of (except earlier in the school gym), the man says, “Well, I’m your grandfather’s brother on your mom’s side.” Despite the conflicting stories (“No, wait, I’m your . . .”), Kyle, whose parents aren’t home, invites the old man in. (Our resident expert on teen suicide, Daniele Sadres, pointed out that it’s a little dicey to invite strangers in and that maybe this was not a good behavior to model. Daniele liked the book but also worried a little about the references to other kids’ suicides. Experts say that hearing or reading about suicide – real or fictional – can increase kids’ suicide risk, and describing methods, as “Darkness Calls” does, exacerbates the problem.)
The story concludes with a battle between Kyle and a towering creature with talons and a jaw full of enormous teeth. Kyle, who at first is having little luck keeping the creature at bay, is finally able to vanquish it by saying, “I don’t wanna die!” At this point, the elder says, “Just believe in yourself and you’ll be okay.” And that seems to be that. So my final caveat is, I think it’s a little more complicated. (Treatment might be one suggestion.) However, except for Art Spiegelman, R. Crumb and Chris Ware, I haven’t read any graphic novels in a long time and maybe the author is just trying to keep it simple.
The publisher is also putting out some comics drawn by teens themselves, on such topics as drug addiction, diabetes, what it’s like to have a family member with a mental illness, and the importance of being accountable for what you do – in this case, a hit-and-run.
The diabetes story is told by a diabetic crow, who seems to be a folk hero. It begins, “Hi, my name is Crow. You may know me from such stories as, ‘Crow Steals the Light’ and ‘Crow Releases the Tides.’ This is a picture of me with the light. This is a picture of me after I released the tides. This story is about my diabetes.” If that isn’t a great opening, what is?
For more information, contact the Healthy Aboriginal Network, http://thehealthyaboriginal.net, 328 East Thirty-Second Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5V2Y4.
posted by Susan Rogers
Labels: suicide
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