320 pages
Published 2022
Read from March 1 to March 2
Rating: 4 out of 5
I'm still a novice when it comes to reading graphic stories. I'm learning to pace myself better, to absorb the details and the flow of the artwork instead of just speeding ahead and reading the words, but I'm not there yet.
One thing that particularly struck me about Squire is the expert use of "silent" panels, allowing pose and expression to communicate the hesitation, doubt, and disillusionment of our hero Aiza, as well as the other recruits around her (not to mention the subtle double-dealing of a certain antagonist). The art is exceptional, poised between delicacy and energy, wistfulness and brute motion. It well repays attention and care while reading.
Vague, general spoilers ahead.
The story itself is magnificent, built from the heavy stones of colonialism and complicity, of trying to do what's right for yourself within the confines of empire until you can no longer live with yourself, and must instead do what's right in spite of empire. Even if, in the end, your actions don't amount to much against the great wheel of warfare and exploitation, at the very least you have to do what you can.
No comments:
Post a Comment