I Reads You Review: REMEMBER

Creator: Benjamin
Publishing Information: TOKYOPOP, Full-Color, paperback, 144 pages, $14.99 (US), $18.99 CAN
Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-4278-1566-8 (ISBN-13)

TOKYOPOP, known for publishing manga and related books, also publishes English language editions of full-color graphic novels. These titles originate, thus far, from French publishing house and are created by an international roster of writers, artists, and cartoonists. A recent release is Remember, which was originally published by Xiao Pan, a French publisher and distributor of full-color manhua (Chinese comic books).

Remember is the work of Benjamin Zhang Bin, better known as Benjamin. In addition to manhua, he also produces poster art for films and video games. Last year, TOKYOPOP also published an edition of his manhua graphic novel, Orange.

Remember has as it themes memory and recollection. Remember is not a graphic novel so much as it is a collection of two similarly themed novellas or short stories. The first one, “No One Can Fly. No One Can Remember,” focuses on an outcast, wannabe comic book artist who inadvertently attracts the attention of a female comic book artist named Yu Xin (which apparently means “rain heart”). The narrator, who may be named Benjamin, wants to be a comic book artist, but doesn’t want to conform to the expectations of the publishing industry nor to Yu’s expectations of him as boyfriend.

The second story, “That Year, That Summer,” is set in a dorm at an art school. The narrator’s primary goal is to soak in the experiences and freedoms school and dorm life will afford him. However, he finds himself placing his new life in juxtaposition with the struggles of a tormented student with whom he feels some level of sympathy.

While Benjamin is certainly capable of composing an engaging linear narrative, which these two stories are, his aim is emotional and psychological storytelling. He has a deft touch at painting and uses his painted comics as a vehicle to tell stories robust with strong emotions. The iridescent, watercolor-like painting in “No One Can Fly” reflects the narrator’s need to reconcile two things: what Yu Xin’s appearance meant to his life and his memory of events of their relationship.

Benjamin tells the other story in art that could be described as mixing impressionist and realist oil painting with Dave McKean graphic style. This visual approach also reflects the inconsistency of memory, but in this story, the narrator is not trying to reconcile memory. Rather, this method of painting is meant to convey the chaos of the narrator’s first year in school. Both stories exemplify Benjamin’s ability to put across in pictures emotions. Readers that only like excitement or good feelings from their comic books may not like Remember, but readers who like engaging pathos will enjoy Remember.

Buy Remember