Indian Comics Irregular #117

At my local comics shop last March, I spotted a mini-comic titled
CLOVERLEAF by Jacob Lambert. The cover showed a stereotypical Indian
warrior frantically riding a mechanical pony with the power unplugged.
Curious, I bought it.

Lambert's crudely cartooned story tells of a traditional Plains Indian
husband and wife. One morning they wake up to find their tipi
surrounded by modern buildings. The man goes out to hunt but finds
only a mini-mart selling junk food. Taking a job there, he learns how
to handle the cash register. Soon he's going to bars after work,
trying to get a date, or sitting at home watching TV, gaining weight.

Eventually he remembers the wife he left. He returns to her only to
find she's married someone else. You're too late, she rebukes him.

Despondent, he drives off into the night. He picks up a hitchhiker
who turns out to be the Grim Reaper. They stop on a bridge and the
Indian, with nothing to live for, leaps.

I won't tell you the "surprise" ending. Suffice it to say it isn't
original, but it works. It lingers in memory long after you put down
the book.

This is the kind of comic I'd recommend for school use. It's a
one-shot story, cheap and easy to read. The theme is simple but
surprisingly powerful. A class could spend hours talking or writing
about it.

For instance, what does the title "Cloverleaf" mean? I don't know. A
four-leaf clover is a lucky charm that hints at the wonder of nature.
A cloverleaf is also a complex freeway interchange where people
supposedly get lost in an endless loop. Perhaps the title has a dual
meaning, suggesting both the natural and unnatural aspects of the
Native experience.

You see? I'm already pondering the layers of meaning in CLOVERLEAF.
That's a sign of worthy reading material.

To buy the comic, go to the Baboon Books store at
http://www.baboonbooks.com .

Comics Inspire Kids

One of Blue Corn Comics' objectives is to "increase reading among
youths, especially Indians and other minorities, who are averse to
books and other materials not geared to their specific needs and
interests." An article in the San Antonio Current (12/9/04) explains
how comics and graphic novels are doing this:

Jennifer Velasquez, the library's coordinator of teen services,
says graphic novels offer an unexpected side benefit: turning more
and more teens, especially boys, into avid readers.

"Teenage boys aren't supposed to be readers," she said, "but they
actually get these books and read them." Graphic novels can even
serve as a stepping stone to traditional books. Velasquez said
she's seen teens exhaust the library's supply of Spider-Man
graphic novels, and then move up to a novelization of the
Spider-Man movie, a book they might not have tackled otherwise.

The library began stocking comics around 2000, when Viz
Communications sent a hefty package of free manga volumes as a
gift. Librarians put the new manga on the shelves and watched it
disappear. "The demand for it was off the chart," Velasquez said.
Now, boys and girls are beginning to request more titles from
Velasquez and her fellow librarians, who are becoming more
comics-savvy as they try to keep up with demand. They're even
working with San Antonio-based manga publisher Antarctic Press to
host kid-friendly programs at the library.

"Today's librarians get it," Calvin Reid said. "They know that
comics are just like other books. Comics get boys and girls into
the library."

Rob Schmidt
Blue Corn Comics