A Contract With God

I read Eisner’s A Contract With God a little while ago and decided I really need to do a post about this one. A Contract With God is a graphic novel that’s separated into four different stories about the lives of Jews living in a run-down tenement in the Bronx. Before the stories begin Eisner writes that all of these stories are true.
The first story, titled the same as the book, is about Frimme Hersh, who when he was young wrote a contract with God on a flat stone. Because of Frimme’s good deeds as a young man he was always told that God would reward him. One night when Frimme was home in the Bronx tenement he gets a knock at his door. He opened to see whom it was but instead was amazed to find a baby at the foot of his door. He took the child in and raised it as his own daughter. Years later, at the stories beginning, we find out that Rachele, Frimme’s daughter has died. Frimme doesn’t understand how God could have done this to him. They had a contract. His daughter’s death convinces Frimme to shave his beard and become a businessman. He buys the tenement in which he used to live and becomes quite a mean old snob. He marries a young idiot who’s clearly only with him for the money. Frimme then goes to a group of wise elders and asks them to write him a new contract with God. They do so and Frimme is pleased with his new contract. As he’s reading it he suddenly has a heart attack and dies.
All the stories in this book are lessons. It’s hard for me to relate, since I’ve never really dealt with most of the situations portrayed in this book, however, I think even these elaborate stories can be boiled down to simple human emotions that we all experience at some point.
I think Eisner told half of these stories through his line work. His drawings are just so expressive and detailed. He has a way of drawing that really sets the tone for the emotions he’s trying to convey. I love how he throws away the panel at times. He’ll use up the whole page for one big drawing. I also love how he draws around the type a lot. It gives the comic such a unique and powerful voice.

Maison Ikkoku

Last week I read Rumiko Takahashi’s Maison Ikkoku Vol. 1. When I was in middle school my two best friends were addicted to anime and manga. I tried to read their manga books and follow along with their favorite anime shows, but I just couldn’t get into it like they were. For me, Harry Potter was more my style at the time. The anime shows my friends watched annoyed me. Dragon Ball Z was the show I thought of when someone mentioned anime. I tried many times to watch Dragon Ball but the slowness of its plot bored me. It took whole episodes to show one fight. Most of the mangas my friends suggested were pretty cute to me. I liked them, but like I said, Harry Potter was more my style.

Maison Ikkoku is the first manga I’ve read in years and I have to say that I enjoyed it a lot. It’s a very simple, light read. There is no symbolism or hidden meanings in this book. It’s kind of refreshing to be able to read a cute, romantic story without looking deeper into underlying themes.

Maison Ikkoku is a story about a new manager who comes to live at a run-down apartment building. The tenants there are a very interesting group. They all know each other and love to annoy the main character, Godai. Godai is a student who usually takes his studying for granted. The tenants always call him “flunk-out.” Immediately upon seeing her, Godai falls in love with the new manager, Kyoko Otonashi. Kyoko helps Godai get the quiet time he needs for his studying. Godai wants to try really hard to pass his entrance exams to not let Kyoko down.

The first volume is separated into six chapters. Each one consists of Godai trying to tell Kyoko how he feels about her. He fails every time. In one chapter Godai is informed that Kyoko has a boyfriend by his flaky neighbor, Akema. Of course Kyoko doesn’t have a boyfriend but until Godai figures this out he traipse around, wallowing in his own self-pity. As we read farther into the book we discover that Kyoko may have feelings for Godai. Overall, the book is a very easy and light read. I’m really interested to see what happens next with Godai and Kyoko.