Today we have a new feature for you here at Multiversity Comics. Every Tuesday, we’ll write up a breakdown on an original graphic novel or a comic series that has caught our interest with its high quality, but that series has to come from a small press publisher. While we love our comics from the major publishers here, there are many works out there that come from smaller companies that show the incredible power of the comic medium.
Thus, with today’s first edition of our Small Press Spotlight series, we are showering praise upon Nick Abadzis’ Laika, a graphic novel that was released by First Second Books in 2007.
This story at its core is about Laika (or Kudryavka as she was truthfully named) and the Russian team who was tasked with sending a living creature in to space. In particular, it tells the story from the perspective of the eponymous dog, of Yelena Dubrovsky (the woman who tends to the test dogs for the Russian program), of Oleg Gazenko (the scientist who cares), and Sergey Korolyov (the “Chief Designer” of the space program). While it isn’t purely factual, a lot of it is and reveals a lot of interesting detail about the truth behind this animal and its life.
However, the parts that aren’t purely factual (some are hypothesized from the truth) really give the story the emotional depth that makes the story work so well. From the opening with Korolyov trying to survive as he walks to town from a Russian gulag in the dead of winter, to Kudryavka’s life as a stray, to Dubrovsky and Gazenko’s almost romantic relationship, the weight of the story is developed through the people (and special animals) involved. Plus, the love everyone develops for this special dog gives a lot of the weight to this tragic story.
The story is really for any pet owner who has lost an animal that they loved, as you would be able to relate to it very easily. The love that everyone shares for Kudryavka is really a universal feeling people have for their animals, and Abadzis delivers the story in such a way to make the animals fate all the more devestating. Given that we are all animal lovers here at Multiversity, this is adds a lot of weight for us.
While Abadzis the artist is not traditionally great, his basic stylings really are bolstered by his layouts. Abadzis seemingly provides different style layouts for each of the primary characters, and sometimes abandons all comic convention to properly capture the mood of a particular segment (especially well done in Kudryavka’s dream sequences where she is flying). With the layouts so well put together, it allows Abadzis to focus his art on strict storytelling to further enhance Abadzis the writer and his message. Sure, it isn’t flashy, but it gets the job done and conveys the touching relationship Kudryavka has with the humans in her life incredibly well.
I’m not sure I’ve conveyed how much I really loved this book. I connected with it in a way I rarely do. In terms of standalone original graphic novels, I’d say this is one of my all time favorites, surpassing a lot of the more hyped ones like Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home or Chris Ware’s impenetrable Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth and being nearly on par with Craig Thompson’s Blankets. In fact, I’ve loaned this to a number of people, two of whom (both girls) told me that this title was so emotionally devestating that they were bawling by the end of it.
Once again, this is for fans of good stories, not just comic readers. If you appreciate the comic medium though, there is no reason for you to not pick up this incredible graphic novel.
