Susceptible
There’s clearly a market for graphic memoirs, as the things have never been more numerous, but I have to admit the genre has always left me a bit cold. They seem especially vulnerable to a few things in comics that irk me; over use of narration and a penchant for inertia-less navelgazing in particular.
I bought Susceptible at Autoptic, a biannual small press comics festival in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The cartoonist, Genevieve Castree, was there to sign copies so I picked one up without knowing too much about it (I liked the cover art because it gave me the impression, for some reason, that it was about sailing). When I cracked it open and started reading I was initially a bit bummed to discover that it was an auto-bio comic. I kept reading, though, and finished the thing in one sitting, finding it to be a powerful and assured comic (which isn’t about sailing, sadly).
The book presents the memories of a childhood, told in chronological order but with a minimum of connective tissue. Rather than try to force a narrative on her recollections, Castree is content to unspool her memories as they are recalled. Of course, there are overarching commonalities through the book (her mother’s drinking and mental health, teenage rebellion, an absent father) and it avoids feeling aimless through a sense of immediacy and honesty. The main character, Goglu, is a stand in for Castree, though it’s obviously impossible to know how much is true and how much is dramatic invention (not that it really matters, I would say).
Castree draws with a thin line, creating rounded figures shaded in grey with expressive faces. Her work almost has a childlike quality, which is by no means an insult. It strikes one while reading that this quality in the cartooning makes the book feel like you’re experiencing unfiltered memories from a childhood, being depicted exactly how they felt. Memories frozen in amber and presented to a reader and not filtered through the artistic sensibility of an adult. That they obviously were filtered through the artistic sensibilities of an adult is a testament to the vibrancy of the work.
I bought Susceptible at Autoptic, a biannual small press comics festival in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The cartoonist, Genevieve Castree, was there to sign copies so I picked one up without knowing too much about it (I liked the cover art because it gave me the impression, for some reason, that it was about sailing). When I cracked it open and started reading I was initially a bit bummed to discover that it was an auto-bio comic. I kept reading, though, and finished the thing in one sitting, finding it to be a powerful and assured comic (which isn’t about sailing, sadly).
The book presents the memories of a childhood, told in chronological order but with a minimum of connective tissue. Rather than try to force a narrative on her recollections, Castree is content to unspool her memories as they are recalled. Of course, there are overarching commonalities through the book (her mother’s drinking and mental health, teenage rebellion, an absent father) and it avoids feeling aimless through a sense of immediacy and honesty. The main character, Goglu, is a stand in for Castree, though it’s obviously impossible to know how much is true and how much is dramatic invention (not that it really matters, I would say).
Castree draws with a thin line, creating rounded figures shaded in grey with expressive faces. Her work almost has a childlike quality, which is by no means an insult. It strikes one while reading that this quality in the cartooning makes the book feel like you’re experiencing unfiltered memories from a childhood, being depicted exactly how they felt. Memories frozen in amber and presented to a reader and not filtered through the artistic sensibility of an adult. That they obviously were filtered through the artistic sensibilities of an adult is a testament to the vibrancy of the work.
Additionally, Castree uses a large number of moment to moment transitions inside six and nine panel symmetrical grids to allow these moments to breath. The danger in creating a graphic novel without a strong driving plot is that these memories run the danger of just becoming a series of greatest hits; this happened, then this happened, then this happened and so on. But by allowing these scenes to breath a bit they become real lived in moments.
Here is perhaps my favorite page from the whole book, where the protagonist Goglu watches her father through a bedroom window as a small child.
Here is perhaps my favorite page from the whole book, where the protagonist Goglu watches her father through a bedroom window as a small child.
Her father, Tete d’Oeul, fidgets on his motorcycle as the seconds tick by before driving off. A child’s logic connects her father leaving to her father’s friend and then to the father’s friend’s dog who once bit her. It’s an important moment in Goglu’s life depicted as how a child would have perceived it.
Another thing that struck me about Susceptible is how honest it feels. This isn’t an adult reflecting on past experiences and drawing out hard earned wisdoms, but rather a warts and all retelling. No scene expresses this more clearly than the one where Goglu, ah... goes number 2 in the bed as a young girl. This scene doesn’t add much to an overall narrative but it does shade in another detail of a vulnerable and difficult adolescence.
Logically, the book ends when she turns 18. Some childhoods are lived and treasured; Goglu escapes into adulthood, left to wonder about what kind of person she is. The opening few pages ponder this in narration:
I often think about what is innate and what is acquired. are our genes ever a valid excuse? I wonder if it is possible for a sadness to be passed from one generation to the other… if my depressions could be caused by emotions accumulated by me, but also by my parents, my ancestors even. or if those difficult moments are simply provoked by what falls onto me. maybe it is just my core that is rotten… maybe my internal fauna and flora are too fragile, unbalanced. That is possible.
Susceptible is a great comic book and I would recommend it highly even if, like me, you don’t necessarily get excited at the idea of another autobiographical graphic memoir. Here are a few more nice pages and the little doodle Genevieve made when she signed my copy.
Another thing that struck me about Susceptible is how honest it feels. This isn’t an adult reflecting on past experiences and drawing out hard earned wisdoms, but rather a warts and all retelling. No scene expresses this more clearly than the one where Goglu, ah... goes number 2 in the bed as a young girl. This scene doesn’t add much to an overall narrative but it does shade in another detail of a vulnerable and difficult adolescence.
Logically, the book ends when she turns 18. Some childhoods are lived and treasured; Goglu escapes into adulthood, left to wonder about what kind of person she is. The opening few pages ponder this in narration:
I often think about what is innate and what is acquired. are our genes ever a valid excuse? I wonder if it is possible for a sadness to be passed from one generation to the other… if my depressions could be caused by emotions accumulated by me, but also by my parents, my ancestors even. or if those difficult moments are simply provoked by what falls onto me. maybe it is just my core that is rotten… maybe my internal fauna and flora are too fragile, unbalanced. That is possible.
Susceptible is a great comic book and I would recommend it highly even if, like me, you don’t necessarily get excited at the idea of another autobiographical graphic memoir. Here are a few more nice pages and the little doodle Genevieve made when she signed my copy.
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