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Somewhere in the heart of the earth, it must exist. Just above the water. Just beneath the sand. A justice. Whether divine or human, it must exist. Give me something like an equal ending count. Give me loyalty, good faith. The germination of the fruit. The seed turned into a plant. And then a flower. The candor and grace. Something not aborted. Any thing that resembles a benefit. That leaps. That glides. That has courage. That smiles. That matches the fear. The ugliness. Don't always curdle my milk, god. Don't send me rain and plagues. Stop for a moment before all this overwhelming force falls upon me. This could be the prayer that Ana would address to god, if there was one. Ana came into my hands by chance. Or by destiny. As usual, two ways to call the same thing. Or rather, it was gifted to me for my birthday by a person who is my destiny. In the end, it's the same. I should preface this by saying, I don't understand comics. My encounters are limited to bambina filosofica, Futurama, Corto Maletese and Tintin. A gap, I realize, that I try to fill during visits to the Lucca Comics & Games Fair, but (usual reprise) that's another story. So please be gentle. I'll try to explain. Uncomfortable, inappropriate, and unforgettable, as defined by Juan Sasturian in the preface, Ana is the story of a girl beaten by life that unfolds in a hypothetical totalitarian France, a mirror of Argentina in the late seventies, when the National Reorganization Process (el golpe to be clear) had just deposed Perón to establish the military dictatorship in which people and ideas were swallowed into nothingness. Of a narrative strength that only that naked truth which terrifies us can gift us, if we are able to survive. Every panel a stab to the heart, exactly where it needs to strike. The authors, Gabriel and Francisco Solano Lopez (father and son), thus exorcise their own experience, I suppose to withstand its devastating impact on their lives. Born in exile (nothing to do with our romantic experiences in Paris, London, or Berlin), together with Historias Tristes, Ana was recently published in Argentina and, in January 2008, in Italy by the Turin-based publishing house 001 which received at Lucca the Special Jury Prize for bringing EC Comics' series to Italy. I learn, indeed from the Lucca Comics & Games website, that Francisco Solano Lopez (Buenos Aires, 1928), the father, is one of the most important illustrators in Argentine comics. With Héctor Oesterheld (desaparecido) he created Uma-Uma and Bull Rockett, published by Editorial Abril, and with Editorial Frontera, Rolo el marciano adoptivo, Amapola negra, Joe Zonda, Rul de luna and the legendary El Eternauta, the most well-known character. With Fleetway Publications (now IPC), the series Kelly's Eye. Then in collaboration with Riccardo Barreiro, Slot Barr and with Carlos Sampayo, Evaristo.
Do you think perhaps I care that you are in love? Who takes care of love anymore? And freedom? Do you really occupy yourself with these things?... and below the frame of Ana, naked, defenseless in the enormous hand of power. Whether it is the power of love or any other kind doesn't matter. It is power and acts as such. It devastates, corrupts, and causes suffering. As for freedom, we will all need to take care of it since, along with oxygen and bread, it is essential for living.
Gabriel and Francisco Solano Lopez - Translation: Enrico Petrella - 001 Edizioni, 2007 - Series: H! Historietas n. 3 - pp. 112, black and white - Price: Euro 14.00 - ISBN 978-88-95208-38-1 - EAN 9788895208381
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