http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/7729/
11-15-08
By John Pietaro
Che: A Graphic Biography
by Spain Rodriguez
Edited by Paul Buhle
New York, Verso Books, 2008.
After the cult success of "The Motorcycle Diaries" and an endless
assortment of products brandishing the image of iconic revolutionary
Che Guevara, what possible biography of the man can live up to his
celebrity? Comic book artist and writer Spain Rodriguez attempts to
answer this question in a new graphic biography. Edited by historian
Paul Buhle, Che offers an exciting visual component via the language
of the underground comic. Its befitting that Rodriguez would present
a biography of Che, as the former was as active within the
counter-culture of the late 1960s as the latter was within a
political revolution leading up to that same period.
Ernesto Guevara was born on the Bastille Day, 1928, to parents who
were strong Leftists and supporters of the Spanish Republic in its
battle against fascism. Raised in Argentina, he would attend medical
school and then embark on several trips throughout Latin America,
offering medical services to destitute communities and seeing for the
first time the powerful connection among the Spanish-speaking people,
as well as their grief at the hands of global capital. Nicknamed Che,
or "Kid," along the way, Guevara came to understand the impact of
poverty and oppression on the people who shared his heritage. Che
began to advocate for the struggle for freedom against imperialistic
forces that had invaded Latin America, raping the land and abusing
the citizenry. He began to see the need for a united South America as
a means to stand up to the forces of military and corporate rule.
This graphic biography brings the story of Che into dazzling visuals,
as the art of Rodriguez leaps across panels and pages into the
reader's own desire for social change. From the cover's underground
comic depiction of the most famous photo of Cheeyebrows arched and
black red-starred beret tilted slightlythroughout the hundred-page
bio within, one comes away from this book with a real sense of
knowing Guevara. We see his childhood rapidly progress into his young
adulthood and then lead right into the period in which he wrote the
Motorcycle Diaries, that which was composed while on a sojourn
throughout the region. This segment of his life easily compares to
Gramsci's Prison Diaries, as both offered a picture of the
revolutionary in progress. Naturally, Che's diary encompasses the
visions of an outdoor trip, while Gramsci's was written from within
the somber grey walls of a fascist prison. But Che's sense of
captivity was empathetic, realized via the oppression of the people
whose homes and work places he visited. Often, he and his companion
were the first doctors any of these people had ever seen, even as the
wealthy jet-setted their way through the casinos, country clubs and
high-priced brothels of Latin America.
Rodriguez also offers the connection Guevara developed to the
fledgling Cuban liberation movement. Clearly depicted is the bond he
had with Fidel Castro, and how the two went from being leaders of a
populist uprising to becoming leading Marxists and the core of Cuba's
communist movement. Nakedly, Rodriguez exposes the greed and
brutality of the Batista regime and the response of the Cuban poor.
He is also sure to explain how corporate America reacted to the Cuban
revolution and the many years of manipulation and demonization that
followed on the part of the US government. One can see the parallel
of the US treatment of Castro's Cuba and that of Lenin's Soviet
Union, regardless of the approximately 50-year span of time. Neither
the money changers nor military industrial complex has ever offered
the slightest tolerance to socialist nations, near or far.
Closing out this book is an all-text segment co-written by Paul Buhle
and Sarah Seidman which explores Che as an icon within the realm of
the turbulent 1960s, and beyond. More than forty years after his
assassination, Guevara remains a larger-than-life figure and his
story is simply a fascinating one. This latest addition to the
radical icon series of book-length underground comics edited by Buhle
is welcome and just in time for a holiday present. Buy it for every
angry young man and woman on your gift list. But don't forget to keep
a copy for yourself so you can relive, recall or just find out why
"El Che" remains so vividly in our revolutionary hearts and minds.
--
John Pietaro is a labor organizer and cultural worker from New York –
www.flamesofdiscontent.org.
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