With quiet artwork and complex, beguiling characters , S.M. Vidaurri pulls off a heart-stopping debut. He is unafraid to change the course of the story by planned decimation or by chance. The result is a story that piques curiosity and sympathy, and builds a longing to see justice served, though even when it is delivered, readers feel the cost.Iron: Or, the War After begins with the rabbit James Hardin stealing military documents for a rebel cause. Two military officers ordered to find him must work together while one openly insists the other is a traitor. What follows is a tale of old wounds, uncompromising beliefs, tests of mettle for adults and children alike, and as with any great war story, all-consuming obsession. The anthropomorphic characters lend to old sayings--one character is literally a stubborn old goat--while also breaking expectations such as Ford, the unwise owl. Readers may also be happy applying their own significance to the symbolism behind the animal choices, as Vidaurri leaves ample room for it.Vidaurri's choice to use anthropomorphic characters is a wise one itself. Humans would be challenging to distinguish in Vidaurri's simple lines and washes. In Iron, the animals stand out in the dark atmosphere with their long ears and beaks, allowing readers to easily track which animals belong to which faction.Some readers may be put off by the lack of information on the war that came before the story's opening. Vidaurri never reveals what it is about or whose cause is best to root for. This is an undoubtedly intentional choice as the Iron is not about the war before, but the war after, the one soldiers and citizens battle within themselves every moment after living through the horrors of war. The character in Iron are the result of every war. In the Acknowledgements, Vidaurri thanks Erich Maria Remarque for inspiration. Anyone who has read All Quiet on the Western Front will recognize Remarque's influence: there is no side to root for because all humans are destroyed by war, even the ones who go on living, and all people, even enemies, are capable of compassion toward each other. For the characters in Iron, living in a world of constant winter, the war is also constant. It is forever biting and lethal. Yet not one to end his first work in despair, Vidaurri concludes Iron: Or, the War After with hope. “IN A WORLD OF CONSTANT WINTER… When an intelligence spy from the Resistance-the rabbit, Hardin-steals secret information from a military base of the Regime, his actions set off a chain of events that reverberates through the ranks of both sides, touching everyone from the highest-ranking official to the smallest orphaned child. When the snow finally settles, who will be the true patriot and who the true traitor?”The heart wrenching blurb caught my eye while the cover of anthropomorphized rabbit running in a landscape does the rest for me. I have recently read about Alice in Wonderland, I did read about symbolism of animal in tales and this brought my interest for the “Iron or The War After”. It was until a few pages that I was immediately tuned to the work of SM Vidaurri.The graphic novel started with gorgeous painting of a bird on a tree in shaded tones that was similar to eastern asian calligraphy painting. I am reading both in my B&W kindle and coloured in tablet and they were both definitely gorgeous in either medium. I noted the snowy landscapes that were beautifully captured by the artist and the relevance of anthropomorphized characters that were metaphorical crafted with each pages. By each pages, I found the soul within the novel that was painfully stroked into the paper and I was engrossed by the serious storyline.Although the book is brief but the story is profound. Ink wash painting is a very highly skilled craft that I had tried once but never again. It is a hard work and require excessive patience and control to achieve a good stroke. Of course, it was very rare to find a western graphic novelist doing inkwash fully. However, I find the style is right for this novel. The overwhelming sadness and overtone of darkness that was carried by the characters in great depth was further emboldened by each contrasted frames . The artist effectively portrayed pretense confusions and self-contained destructiveness in great deal and he had given a sense of realism and identity to his work.While I was not distracted by the artistry, I was utterly captivated by the characters in this book. Hardin’s desperation , his children’s sadness and anguish, Engel’s contempt and Pavel’s conflicts. Each chapters carried unpredictability, sense of morose and utter despair. It is truly an emotional work of art and I’m grateful to have experience it and enjoyed it thoroughly.
What do You think about Iron: Or, The War After (2012)?
An absolutely beautiful comic! Recommend to just about anyone. Very atmospheric.
—venkatesh
Wonderful illustration and interesting plot.
—kied_fricad86
