I was ready to hear about this dark part of history, and I get wanting to add some magic to ease the blow. But this was too ridiculous.
Summary:
Iracema, an strong Indigenous woman, ventures across her tribe's borders into the land of the "Pale Giants," where she sees an African slave being hunted down. She is determined to stop them and free the man. But her elder chief warns her that this evil stems deeper. To stop the pale giants, a mystical song must be played that will reveal the monster hiding in the white man at which time she can use her magical bow to kill it. Iracema teams up with Amakai, the slave she found who happens to have a magic flute known to reveal monsters, and Bartolomeu, a Portuguese sailor searching to make things right.
Verdict: 4/10
I was looking forward to a graphic novel based on a history that doesn't get much mention in books or movies. And while I got some of that, it just turned so unrealistic so quickly. Even just writing that summary, it got a little too ridiculous.
Don't get me wrong, I like a bit of magical realism. Magic bow and giant parrots - sounds good. White men are monsters - alright yeah, I see the metaphor you're trying to get at, their greed is monstrous, I think it's a bit of an oversimplification but I can still understand it. A Portuguese man who saves them by riding in on a magic transporting boat with his eagle-headed first mate - now that's too much, why do you need that? It doesn't make sense. Even if you are using it to redeem the people that were just wanting to explore and led the colonizers there. In magical realism, sometimes less is more. Especially in a historical context.
With that aside, the artwork was nice. The overall story arc was fine and I like that they still mentioned real topics, real facts on Amerigo, and snippets from his Mundus Novus. The hope is that readers will be inspired to take a closer look at history and go read the real document or do more research after this. At least, I hope they do and don't just boil it down to "white men are monsters" and look no further. If we villainize things to be that simple, that villainy will be repeated.
Separate rant. Anyway, the story would have been better without the trips into the mystic. Just keep it real with a sprinkle of magic.
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