MADreads

World War dad

September 22nd, 2009 Dennis - Central

It seems like Carol Tyler has been kicking around the comics scene since it was referred to as the underground comics scene.  In the last few years, she’s turned her attention to the full-length graphic novel.  Her latest, You’ll Never Know: A Graphic Memoir begins to tell the story of her father, Chuck Tyler, in words and pictures, with an effort to tell about his time in the army during World War II, as well as her life growing up with him and later with her own family.

Growing up it seems neither Chuck– nor most of the men of his generation who had served– spent much time talking about the war or their experiences.  Even the photographs and souvenirs they kept were seldom spoken of, although they were kept and preserved with something like reverence.  Carol had tried at various times to get her father to answer questions about the war, only to have him forcefully reject the overtures.  Then, one night, forty years after the war, he calls her on the phone and spends two hours talking about the war.  The phrase “rivers of blood” fairly leaps off of the page.

It’s a beautifully and cleverly done book, with some charming and imaginative illustrative and narrative techniques that cleverly glide from one era to another using overlapping dialogue and scenes that evolve.  A really terrific piece of craftsmanship, it jumps nimbly between eras separated now by almost seventy years.  It’s a fairly large-format book, with a cover suggesting it’s been made out of plywood, a sly salute to the working-class, can-do man that was her father. This particular volume is titled Book one: A Good and Decent Man.  Her story of her father’s time in the army has only taken him to the shores of north Africa so far.  Still, to come: Italy, France, and finally Germany. I’ll certainly be reading any future volumes that come out. But there’s more than a little trepidation about what will eventually be revealed.

At times charming and enthralling, and at other times emotionally wrenching, the story so far leads only to the edge of the war Chuck Tyler experienced.  The title, “You’ll never know” appears in the lyrics of a love song from the era and it’s a sweet counterpoint to the scenes where young Chuck is wooing Carol’s mother on the dance floor.  But it also hints at the dark side of the war (every war) that never seems to be revealed.  Like Carol, I want to know her father’s story, but I’m more than a little afraid of what I’ll find out.  The book’s title suggests a many-layered truth, not just about this one man, but about war itself.

If you’re interested in finding out more about author Carol Tyler, her website is here and there are numerous links to newspaper and magazine articles exploring her work as a teacher in the expanding field of “sequential art” (i.e. comics).

Entry Filed under: Graphic Novel, Memoir & Biography