Nov. 2 “Alice in Sunderland” by Bryan Talbot

      "Alice in Sunderland" by Bryan Talbot was something really unexpected. I came to this comic expecting a funny, weird version of Alice in Wonderland and was suddenly introduced to many amounts of his own history. Not to mention, with many other mythical stories and their history. Honestly, it took me a few moments to realize where the story was headed. When I got to the point where many of these so-called "famous people" were all actually connected to the "Sunderland Empire Theatre" and town I knew what I was reading.  Even though the comic is classified as a graphic novel the meaning of what is a "story" becomes frail. This interesting piece of Talbot's work is neither fiction or a consistent narrative. It bounces all over the place from one piece of history to the next. With this in mind, I really enjoyed the fact that one of Talbot's main points he tries to get across is, war is either a disastrous outrage whose pain lingers forever or it is a natural thing to happen as common as the glaciers. We journey at one point through the history of Britain and it is by far the most interesting to me. I was a little lost but very intrigued when I was suddenly introduced to the world so many million years ago; from Neolithic hunter-gatherers who are taken over by these Beaker folk, who in turn are overrun by Celts, Romans, etc. They go and destroy so many things just to end up changing into peaceful citizens with their own newfound desire for destruction. It is also sad to say it kind of relates to the downfall of this beautifully made theatre. It has become a place that has been so devastated by Normans so mercilessly. Though I was being guided through this intricate history of Talbot's life in the same named British town, "Sunderland", there is a limit to how much can be digested. Especially going back and forward so many times I end up not knowing where the heck I am. Still this historical graphic novel is none the less exciting and very entertaining!