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I admittedly know very little about Iran, which is pretty sad considering current events indicate a confrontation between America and this nation nestled between Afghanistan and Iraq. Anyhow, an introduction to Iranian history and culture is better done through a graphic novel than not at all, so here’s an overview of Persepolis 1 by Marjane Satrapi.

This graphic novel is an autobiography, in the same vein as Craig Thompson’s Blankets, Joe Matt’s The Poor Bastard, and Chester Brown’s I Never Liked You.

However it parts dramatically from the typical Drawn and Quarterly fare in two big ways: One, Marjane illustrates in a minimalist, graphic design manner, in large swaths of black and white and little detail, making Charles Schultz look ornate. Second, Marjane’s story about about a constricted life in a conservative nation at war is adult, blunt, neither romanticized nor glorified. The wordy and smart writing is an interesting contrast to the sometimes child-like drawings.

At times, the scope of the work is epic. This entire first volume documents only Marjane’s childhood - not even a teenager, yet witnessing kidnappings, arrests, killings, and family friends taken away and executed. Even from a young age she was forced to confront serious issues of politics and war, as Iran slipped from a free, intellectual country into a conservative one ruled by religious extremists.

It’s involving to see school kids being taught to beat their chests and wear veils, shocking to read about children from poor neighborhoods given golden keys before being blown to bits at the hands of the Iraqis on the front lines, and nearly exhausting to realize this was all witnessed by a girl not even a teenager.

What keeps this heavy, depressing story line from becoming unbearable is Marjane’s illustration style. It took me some time to get used to the sometimes jarring contrast between subject matter and artwork, but it soon grew on me.

First, it adds a needed edge of humor. The expressions on the character’s faces when expressing dismay or laughter is at times unintentonally exaggerated.

It’s worth recalling Scott McCloud’s theory in Understanding Comics that the more simplistic the rendering, the easier it is for people to relate to the characters and see themselves in that role, because the faces are so abstracted.

So despite the foreign country and theme, we see Marjane as a typical daughter, and her parents as relateable, loving, caring parents, despite the chaos blossoming around them. It may be the key to this novel’s success at introducing foriegn events and subject matter to the Western world.

While reading Persepolis 1, I began to wonder if America could ever descend into fascism or religious fundamentalism. It is said that for Germans living under the Nazis, civil liberties were slowly whittled away like salami on a deli slicer. When people finally realized what was happening, the sausage was gone.

Judging from Marjane’s experience, the things we should watch out for are propoganda (a good observation is made that every day, the Iranian news reported that 10 Iraqi planes had been shot down. If true, for the number of years they were at war, Iraq must have had a larger air force than the USA). Second, the disappearance of many citizens under the guise of political prisoners. Lastly, the government’s desire of control (under the guise of war) over private life: regulations on clothing, parties with liqour, protests, etc. I find it hard to believe any of these things could ever happen in the United States, but it’s something to think about.

Anyhow, I highly recommend Persepolis if you want an engaging, unique view of life through Persian eyes.

Note: Here’s a link to Marjane’s blog. Also, I did not know at the time I wrote this that Persepolis is being made into an animated film, to be released in 2007. It looks like the film retains the stark, graphic design look of the comic. I for one will want to see it.

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