But Delisle shows that a simple approach can be just as effective. His minimalistic, limited palette of grays and blues matches the subject matter perfectly, mirroring the limitations of André’s life in captivity. Delisle’s art gives this small, furtive act the drama and emotion it deserves.Ĭomic books are going through a revolution in coloring these days, as Jordie Bellaire, Matt Hollingsworth, Matt Wilson, Laura Allred and others are exploding the potential of this essential facet of comics. One of the most heartbreaking moments in “Hostage” centers around André stealing, and then savoring, a single stolen garlic clove. If things were really going well, he might be offered a cigarette. The major events of his days were getting a little food and using a bucket to go to the bathroom. The persistent, numbing, percussive details give readers a glimpse of André’s horror and fragile state of mind. The daily routine of André varies only slightly through the graphic novel, taking on the tight dimension of a Steve Reich composition or a Samuel Beckett play. With no translation of the curt Chechen André’s captors speak, the reader is rendered just as confused, frustrated and isolated as the hostage. To create what might be the most claustrophobic comic of all time, Delisle used hours of conversations conducted with André over the the course of 15 years. Delisle keeps his focus on his subject, showing only what he sees, hears, feels and thinks. As to how he survived the monotonous, maddening, terrifying experience. Their hostage for about three months, André lived on thin soup and thinner knowledge of his captors or prospects for release. André was abducted in the middle of the night by a group of armed men and taken to Chechnya for an unknown purpose. “Hostage” is the story of Christophe André, who was working as an administrator for Doctors Without Borders in Ingushita, a tiny Russian republic, in 1997. The tights-and-flights crowd dominates pop-culture and the box office. While there’s plenty of inspiration to be taken from the mythical, stylized adventures of Captain America and Wonder Woman, the genre of nonfiction comics offers a view of heroism that’s far more real.Ĭase in point: “Hostage”- the new graphic novel from cartoonist Guy Delisle - provides a psychologically rich look at one person’s horrific experience. Comic books about superheroes get most of the attention these days.
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