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There are certain types of music, movies, and books that appeal only to a certain group of people. Society likes to throw labels on them…art-house, avant garde, alternative…mainly so the public at large doesn't feel excluded for not "getting" The Smiths, Harmony Korine flicks or books like American Psycho.
Comics are no different. Often an artist has a personal story to tell, removes all the constraints to good sequential storytelling, and seems to be writing the story inked with his or her own blood. Still, no matter how personal the artist may choose to make it, if there's no understanding between what the artist creates and what the reader perceives, the book falls flat, and sadly that's the case with 12 Days.
12 Days is the story of a woman who lost the love of her life. Determined to get over her, she drinks the girl's cremated ashes in a variety of beverages over the course of twelve days. I'd heard about this book for some time before it landed in my review stack and I was really looking forward to it. Every one of us, at some point in our lives, has dealt with or will deal with someone close to us dying, and this book certainly promised a different outlook on the concept.
Jackie had a same-sex relationship with Noah, but at some point Noah decided to marry a man, leaving Jackie behind. The two never reconciled, and so when Jackie finds out about Noah's death during the girl's honeymoon, she's left with questions and feelings that will never find release. Determined to get over her memories, Jackie attempts to heal herself by enlisting the help of Noah's brother, Nick. By consuming Noah's ashes for twelve days, Jackie feels she can exorcise any residual memories of Noah from her life. The journey is not just Jackie's, however, but Nick's as well, as he must also learn to cope with the loss.
This book is full of lush visuals. There's a lot to like about the variety of illustrations June Kim uses in this book, and there are scenes that will stay with the reader for some time. The real struggle involves putting these scenes together to make a coherent story. It begins well enough, with Nick grabbing a bottleful of his sister's ashes to give to Jackie, and the initial few days of interaction between the two as Nick finds more and more reasons to hang around Jackie, as if the two are anchors for either other as they pair attempt to deal with the loss. However, the more things escalate, the more disjointed they become and by the final few chapters of the book it's not clear what's really occurring. By the time the final page was turned I found myself going back to try to make sense of it all.
| 12 Days
Written by: June Kim |  |
Obviously this book is trying to go for a deeper level of understanding than your average issue of X-men or Fruits Basket, but it still needs to be understandable to the reader, or what's the point? 12 Days is simply trying too hard, burying some absolutely beautiful illustrations in a sea of chaotic storytelling. After all is said and done, the only real lesson to be learned from this book is that dealing with loss is a very personal thing, but it's nice to have someone to commiserate with. Oh, and don't drink cremated ashes.
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