The Peanutbutter sisters And other American stories

Rumi Hara, 1982-

Book - 2022

"An immigrant weaves a new, surreal Americana, complete with bubblegum fights and bomb queens Rarely does a new talent arrive in the medium as unmistakably distinct as Rumi Hara. With immersive art and a clear-eyed storytelling rhythm, her uncategorizable debut, Nori, put her playful cartooning on display. Her new collection, The Peanutbutter Sisters and Other American Stories, delights with equal mischievousness. The Peanutbutter Sisters is a glorious balance of contradictions, at once escapism and realism; science fiction and slice of life. Two students explore the urban landscape while following Newton Creek, the polluted Queens-Brooklyn border. As they do, they plan a traditional Japanese play with contemporary pop culture. Another... story features an intergalactic race of all living things set in the year 2099 and is a dazzling treatise on the environment and journalism. Yet, sometimes the fantastical collides with the quotidian in the same story. A man struggling with vertigo during quarantine encounters a world of sexual revelry whenever he has a dizzy spell. The Peanutbutter sisters ride a hurricane into NYC and yet aren't able to hitch a ride back with a whale due to a heavily polluted ocean. Hara's magical realist tendencies and diverse cast of characters all contort the tropes of the American comics canon. Yet above all else, her innate control of the comics language--her ability to weave the absurd with the real on such a charming and commanding level--is refreshingly unrivaled."--

Saved in:

2nd Floor Comics Show me where

GRAPHIC NOVEL/Hara
1 / 1 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
2nd Floor Comics GRAPHIC NOVEL/Hara Checked In
Subjects
Genres
Graphic novels
Published
[Montreal, Quebec] : Drawn & Quarterly 2022.
Language
English
Main Author
Rumi Hara, 1982- (author)
Edition
First edition
Item Description
"The Peanutbutter Sisters was first printed as a minicomic with the support of Short Run Seattle's Dash Grant in 2019"--Title page verso.
Physical Description
173 pages : chiefly illustrations (some color) ; 29 cm
ISBN
9781770464957
  • Tree love
  • The Peanutbutter sisters
  • Walking with Tammy Tabata
  • Living things
  • Bubblegum fighters
  • Verti-go-go
  • Bombadonna.
Review by Booklist Review

Hara's sophomore title is another shorts collection, featuring seven stories predominantly in black-and-white, interrupted by interstitial scenes that when puzzled together form "The Builders," a nearly wordless narrative drawn on a black background yet bursting with vivid blooms. These eponymous builders clad in furry bodysuits (with strategically placed openings) most resemble "The Peanutbutter Sisters." The siblings' late father "wanted us to have a true American name. A name that evokes heritage and love in this country. So he ditched his foreign name and made us the Peanutbutters." The trio sell dump-foraged treasures on eBay, travel on hurricanes, and return home via whale hitchhiking--although this time, they must resort to danger-riddled land travel. Most of the "Other American Stories" prove fantastical: two trees making "Tree Love"; an orgy hallucinator in "Verti-Go-Go"; naked vigilantes with explosive heads in "Bombadonna." The single realism-based story, "Walking with Tammy Tabata," introduces two students researching a Noh project, who decide "there can be different ways to be Japanese"--and, by implication, American. Beyond words, Hara's clever visuals underscore climate change, predators, mutable identities, and the longing for "home sweet home."

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Hari (Nori) captures the zeitgeist in this sprightly genre-bending collection. In the title story, three energetic and entrepreneurial sisters--Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi--experience the wider world through their yearly excursions off their island via hurricane winds. When the naive but tough trio alight in N.Y.C., they show off their knack for getting in and out of trouble. Other stories focus on human (or otherwise) connection, such as "Walking with Tammy Tabata," wherein two teens wander Brooklyn--its vistas, stark streets, and polluted shoreline lovingly detailed in black-and-white, fine-line art--seeking inspiration to write a contemporary version of a classical Japanese dance-drama; and "Living Things," as sentient beings from around the galaxy converge in 2099 for a race in Death Valley. "Verti-Go-Go" addressees the Covid-19 pandemic, as regular guy Brian has explicit visions of hedonistic orgies. Contrasted with his daily routine of sanitizer, masks, and social distancing, the bacchanalia's full-body contact, unconstrained bodily fluids, and exuberant joy captures a desire for human touch beyond the sexual. And more abstractly, in "Bombadonna," female figures with bombs for heads use destruction to create renewal. Through stories alternating realistic and fantastical, Hara creates worlds where anything seems possible--yet her big feat is capturing everyday experience. (May)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved