For the Comics by Women week I read This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki. The story followed a young girl, Rose, who is away on summer vacation with her parents. She meets up with her long time vacation friend, Windy, who vacations in the same location as her every year. It's a very "slice of life" comic.
As someone who watches shows like Law and Order SVU and Dexter, I kept thinking this comic was going to have a very dark ending. I was worried that Rose would be taken advantage of by one of the teenagers or that her mother would commit suicide after their big fight. Early on it reminded me of the manga adaptation of School Days, which starts off very light has a very dark and unexpected twist at the end. Although I was expecting a dark ending, I am very glad that there wasn't one. Side note, the art style for this comic was very appealing and I plan on drawing inspiration from it.
The story for This One Summer was a story about growing up. You start to notice that things aren't always perfect with the people you look up to and that people make mistakes. Rose fought with her mom in the story and her father even left town for a bit. At first you wonder why the mother is acting so emotional and irrational, but you find out that last summer she was pregnant and lost the baby in the same vacation spot. It is heartwarming to see Rose and her mother patch their relationship towards the end. Because in the end regardless of any mistakes they may make your parents and your family is always there for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment