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saglo's review
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.25
shonatiger's review
5.0
Thank you to NetGalley and to Europe Comics for this eARC.
T’Zee, the ageing leader of an unspecified central African country, is in prison. There has been a rebellion against him, and the country is in chaos. His son, Hippolyte (Hippo), and his friends Arissi, the daughter of an independence hero who was executed by T’Zee, and Walid, the son of a Lebanese businessman, are hanging out at T’Zee’s jungle palace. Bobbi, T’Zee’s young wife, is also at the palace, trying to work out what to do to save her husband’s reign, and herself.
Through a series of flashbacks, we are told more T’Zee’s corrupt and despotic rule, about Hippo’s life, about Bobbi’s background, and about how Arissi’s father died. Water his execution, Arissi’s father’s body was dropped into the country’s huge, mythical river, and legend has it that Mami Wata¹ is intent on revenge on T’zee and on his family for this injustice. We arrive at the novel’s turning point, with an attempt to break T’Zee out of prison ending with his apparent death.
T’Zee, An African Tragedy is a gorgeous graphic novel, with a thrilling, well-told story, and beautiful artwork. The DRC/Congo is strongly represented: T’Zee is probably Mobuto (with his famous leopard hat), a sapeur makes an appearance, and there are vivid descriptions of the countryside, especially in Hippo’s nostalgic remembrances. African (and Congolese, to be specific) mythology is interwoven through the story, and the perspective of the whole novel is consciously Afrocentric, reminiscent of African literature from the 1960s. I also loved the pan-African themes: Bobbi’s father was from Angola, and Hippo spent time in Paris with students from many different African countries, where a frequent topic was pan-Africanism. Colonial France also comes up, but, importantly, not as the focus of the story.
This novel receives my highest recommendation; it is exceedingly well-done. Absolutely read it, and keep a copy in your library.
¹ TIL, through Wikipedia, that Mami Wata mythology is present in central Africa.
T’Zee, the ageing leader of an unspecified central African country, is in prison. There has been a rebellion against him, and the country is in chaos. His son, Hippolyte (Hippo), and his friends Arissi, the daughter of an independence hero who was executed by T’Zee, and Walid, the son of a Lebanese businessman, are hanging out at T’Zee’s jungle palace. Bobbi, T’Zee’s young wife, is also at the palace, trying to work out what to do to save her husband’s reign, and herself.
Through a series of flashbacks, we are told more T’Zee’s corrupt and despotic rule, about Hippo’s life, about Bobbi’s background, and about how Arissi’s father died. Water his execution, Arissi’s father’s body was dropped into the country’s huge, mythical river, and legend has it that Mami Wata¹ is intent on revenge on T’zee and on his family for this injustice. We arrive at the novel’s turning point, with an attempt to break T’Zee out of prison ending with his apparent death.
T’Zee, An African Tragedy is a gorgeous graphic novel, with a thrilling, well-told story, and beautiful artwork. The DRC/Congo is strongly represented: T’Zee is probably Mobuto (with his famous leopard hat), a sapeur makes an appearance, and there are vivid descriptions of the countryside, especially in Hippo’s nostalgic remembrances. African (and Congolese, to be specific) mythology is interwoven through the story, and the perspective of the whole novel is consciously Afrocentric, reminiscent of African literature from the 1960s. I also loved the pan-African themes: Bobbi’s father was from Angola, and Hippo spent time in Paris with students from many different African countries, where a frequent topic was pan-Africanism. Colonial France also comes up, but, importantly, not as the focus of the story.
This novel receives my highest recommendation; it is exceedingly well-done. Absolutely read it, and keep a copy in your library.
¹ TIL, through Wikipedia, that Mami Wata mythology is present in central Africa.
robin_dh's review
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
joann_l's review
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.5
T’zee is an action-packed, noir blockbuster in a graphic novel. It has all the makings of a Hollywood or Nollywood film: Post-colonial angst, corruption, family drama, illicit romance, sabotage, political violence. T’zee lacks actual history – it is all fiction — but its premise is grounded in real events of the twentieth century.
The story starts and ends with T’zee, the amoral dictator of an unnamed African nation struggling through its traumatic post-colonial afterbirth, but revolves around his young wife and youngest son, who each are coming to terms living with their larger-than-life husband and father and the roles they are supposed to play in this political drama. The former is a member of the new elite — but the limitations of gender and patriarchy force her into positions she might later regret. The latter is also a member of the new elite, the intellectual elite. During the typical educational sojourn young men of his class make in this era, T’zee’s son finds himself torn between his family and his morals. Politics, power, and ambition rule over both of them, force the wife and the son into decisions that are less of their own making than orders carried out under duress.
In three acts the reader witnesses the ebbs and flows of T’zee’s power, how his family fares in the pressure house of his politics, and the swiftness by which all their fates can change course.
This is an entertaining read. However, elements of its narrative promote a colonial logic which need to be addressed. T’zee is portrayed as a cruel and inept leader, one focused solely on his own aggrandizement and accumulation of wealth, at the expense of his people. His wife too is a woman focused solely on her own selfish advancement and fulfillment. The son is feckless and weak. Scenes of the city and the rural areas of this nation are memes of poverty and crime too often associated with the so-called “developing” or “under-developed” world, what has been classed so disparagingly as the “third world.”
I balk at depictions of African nations as cesspits of corruption, poverty, and crime. The implication that African peoples cannot rule themselves is one grounded so obviously in the so-called Civilizing Mission, that lynchpin of colonial logic; this is wholly inaccurate and stereotyping. I wish that elements of the story had addressed T’zee and his regime with more nuance; I wanted more decolonization in these pages. I cannot help but read as a historian, especially on a subject so close to my heart.
Still, this was a fun read and one I would suggest for casual consumption.
paolus's review
dark
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
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