FANTAGRAPHICS AT 50! The mention of WW II most often summons up images of the Holocaust. It’s easy to find narratives, both fiction and non-fiction, centreed around US experiences of Pearl Harbour and the nuclear bombings in Japan. But Asian perspectives and experiences of the war are not commonly found. In On Their Frontlines Marina Lisa Komiya follows four civilians whose lives intersect in the aftermath of WW II. Haru and Yoriko are two young Japanese women whose bond is broken by some choices they were forced to make due to the war. Arthur and Scott are American soldiers, each managing his own complicated relationship with identity and belonging. The story shifts between their four distinct perspectives and shows how personal histories are also connected to larger political realities.
Komiya keeps the focus firmly on civilians, the ordinary people who are usually relegated voicelessly to the background during and after wars. She shows us the women who had almost no agency over their futures, and the people caught between cultures.
Haru and Yoriko are in love and decide to spend their lives together. But when the war ends, circumstances separate them and Yoriko finds a letter waiting for her when she comes home. It’s from Haru saying she is about to marry an American soldier and move to the US with him. Haru, on the other hand, is also looking for Yoriko. She writes a letter to her, which lands up in the hands of her abusive father. He beats her and tries to force her to get married but she manages to run away. Both their lives take a turn when they meet Arthur and Scott.
Arthur is a Japanese American who is constantly battling with his identity and refers to himself as a “half-baked thing”. He is detained in an internment camp and he signs up for the military as a means to escape. He feels he never fully belongs to either Japan or America and his encounters expose the contradictions of patriotism and prejudice. “Other Japanese people turn a cold shoulder to people like me”, he says. The only way to prove that he is an American was to join the army but Japanese like him never quite get accepted there either.
While Arthur undergoes the angst of determining where he really belongs, Scott faces constant pressure from his army mates to follow certain accepted behaviours. They try to ‘loosen him up’ and push him to find a “working girl” but Scott isn’t interested. Instead, he walks the streets of Japan where he has just landed as part of the American contingent. He talks to children, sketches the local flora and fauna, and tries to learn Japanese. Scott’s compassion and gentleness sets him apart from the expectations placed upon soldiers, and he reminds us that masculinity, too, can become another kind of prison.
Komiya’s artwork complements the story perfectly. Done in greys, black and white, the linework is expressive and more comic-book style. There are some dreamlike passages allowing emotions and memory to flow naturally into the visual language without interrupting the narrative. Through her panels and words, Komiya interweaves the characters’ stories with that of a Japan finding its footing after defeat and destruction, and the different ways individuals experienced the same historical moment.
On Their Frontlines is an impressive opening volume, which certainly builds up excitement and anticipation to find out what happens next.
Marina Lisa Komiya (W/A), Diana Taylor (T) • Fantagraphics Books, $22.99
Review by Swati Nair
Look for an extensive and exclusive preview of On Their Frontlines coming to BF soon.
Fantagraphics at 50 Month runs through August at Broken Frontier. You can see articles as they’re published in one tagged list here.
