Excitement crackles off the pages of Moonshot: The Indigenous
Comics Collection, a handsomely produced book just out from AH Comics.
The striking art and captivating stories by Indigenous authors and
artists will appeal to adults in addition to the typical adolescent
comic-book reader. Moonshot has a place in colleges, schools and libraries,
as well as on individual bookshelves.
The title comes from a poem by superstar Cree singer-songwriter
Buffy Sainte-Marie. In her poem, published in the book, she rejoices
in the visionary framework of indigenous storytelling: "Off into
outer space you go my friends / we wish you bon voyage / and when
you get there we will welcome you again." Sainte-Marie pokes fun
at the false expectations and stereotypes often assigned to indigenous
people: "I know a boy from a tribe so primitive / he can call me
up without no telephone."
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Cover
of 'Moonshot,' courtesy AH Comics.
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The book's Native contributors and others (some indigenous storytellers
are paired with top non-Native comic-book artists) have no problem
smashing tired stereotypes. In Moonshot's 176 pages, you won't find
any of what award-winning Caddo comic-book author and historian
Michael Sheyahshe calls "fringe-and-feathers Indians"sepia-toned
sidekicks for non-Native characters who are somehow better at being
Native than their indigenous buddies. Instead, Moonshot's stories
feature complex Native characters, exhilarating action and thought-provoking
lessons threaded through with humor.
The 13 comics published in Moonshot slip-slide along a continuum
that arcs from the mythic past through the present to a sci-fi future.
The storylines are either little-known or invented"to help
break down ideas of what Native spirituality and culture 'should
be,'" according to editor Hope Nicholson in a foreword to the volume.
Importantly, she says, the book emphasizes the diversity of Native
cultures.
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From
'Vision Quest: Echo,' courtesy AH Comics.
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The book also demonstrates the resilience of indigenous communities.
"Here we are, in the here and now," Sheyahshe writes in an introductory
essay. "[By] telling our own stories
we demonstrate our cultural
continuance."
The collection opens with Cherokee artist/author David Mack's
"Vision Quest: Echo." In it, a deaf girl pushes the boundaries of
communication in a way that puts her on a path to meaning and power.
Words, line drawings, paintings and depictions of Indian sign language
overlap on the pages, complementing and contending with each other.
The girl struggles to "learn my own language to tell my own stories."
Then, she tells the reader, "you can understand, even if you don't
hear like me."
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From
'Home,' courtesy AH Comics.
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Other stories offer intriguing looks at the origins of phenomena
around us. David Robinson, who is Irish-Scottish-Cree, shows how
stars came to light up the night sky, while Caddo storyteller Dayton
Edmonds explains how we got the six months of warm weather we enjoy
each year. In the last story of the book, by Anishinaabe-Métis-Irish
video-game developer Elizabeth LaPensée, a boy is saved by
spirits and is then able to save his sister, so they can "keep living
the stories."
The book's top-notch production valueswith saturated colors
on heavy, glossy papershowcase not just the stories, but the
additional art interspersed among the chapters. Métis artist
Stephen Gladue's cover image, "Northern Crow," as well as his "Thunderbird"
and "Untitled," explode with shards of color and energy. The curvaceous
geometry of Port Gamble S'Klallam artist Jeffrey Veregge's "Preserver"
and "Harbinger" evokes a modern-traditional crossover style he has
dubbed Salish Geek.
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Jeffrey
Veregge's 'Preserver,' courtesy AH Comics.
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Moonshot ends with a chapter called "Sketchbook." It lays out
some of the creative teams' collaborative process, as they developed
the look of their sections. Early pencil sketches morph into colorful
stylizations of fantastical characters, dreamscapes and futuristic
objects like spaceships. If Moonshot hasn't already inspired young
Native comic-book makers to develop their own work, this section
will ensure they do soand guarantee that the stories continue.
Moonshot is available from Amazon.com
and the publisher: ahcomicsshop.com.
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From
'Copper Heart,' courtesy AH Comics.
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From
'Strike and Bolt,' courtesy AH Comics.
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From
'Ochek,' courtesy AH Comics.
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From
'Coyote and the Pebbles,'
courtesy AH Comics.
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From
'Siku,' courtesy AH Comics.
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From
'Water Master,' courtesy AH Comics.
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From
'Moonshot,' courtesy AH Comics.
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