The coming-of-age novel, in any medium, has long been favoured by writers trying to make sense of their own particular worlds. In the hands of Eagle Valiant Brosi, however, it also becomes a mirror, held up to expose the hypocrisy of everyone on the outside. What he presents is a singularity of vision that comes not just from the authenticity of his experience, but from the empathy with which his protagonist engages with the world. It makes for a touching, powerful debut.
A memoir of a boy raised by hippies, Black Cohosh is set in what some would call Redneck America, a place of clichés based on popular culture and statistics related to literacy rates, violence, and a consistent slide in standards of living engendered by decades of government neglect. It is a place where bullies thrive, in school and at home, and where a boy with long hair and a speech impediment can’t possibly stand a chance. And yet, this boy does in his own fashion, his struggles ultimately revealing the distance between what people say and who they really are.
Brosi displays a keen understanding of the comics medium, which allows him to say a lot with the bare minimum. This isn’t just a reference to his art – black and white, borderless and bold – or the fact that his protagonist’s words as depicted as squiggles, but the narrative itself. By sticking to silence, the boy simply hands everyone in his life a rope with which they proceed to hang themselves. Hippies purporting to care about the environment turn their own kind away; teachers pretending to educate their students do the opposite; even parents let their children down, time and again.
The only bright spot is Eagle’s mother, Connie, who tries to help her son make sense of an unkind world, while teaching him about nature, consumerism, and capitalism. They aren’t easy lessons, given that they occur in the shadow of neglect and violence, as everyone in Eagle’s life abdicates their responsibilities. This isn’t to say it’s a sad book; far from it. There is humour too, not just in the form of the mini-comics Eagle likes to create in his spare time, but in the sheer absurdity of people who claim to know a lot but don’t. It’s also present in the cast of characters with ridiculous names like Roger That and Merry Death, and all Eagle must do is stand aside and watch them, which is enough.
Black Cohosh, the plant that Connie introduces to Eagle, acts as a metaphor for the purity she represents; the only person who genuinely cares about her son and tries to connect with the deepest part of him. She suggests he create a comic based on a black cohosh superwoman, with the hope that this fictional being will do good. Her goodness also acts as a foil for the wickedness that anyone perceived to be different is forced to live with.
Much of what Eagle deals with isn’t new, be it harassment at school or the difficulties of growing up in a dysfunctional home. It is the creator’s voice that sets Black Cohosh apart, the economy of his art, coupled with a keen sense of how a writer can use the bare minimum to illuminate a universe where grief can ultimately lead to wisdom.
Eagle Valiant Brosi (W/A) • Drawn & Quarterly, $24.95
Review by Lindsay Pereira
