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We Are On Our Own

By Henry Chamberlain
December 18, 2006 - 22:16

We Are On Our Own is Miriam Katin's memoir of the ordeal she and her mother endured in Nazi-occupied Hungary. Literally only a few steps ahead of the Nazis in avoiding being placed in a Jewish ghetto and assured execution, both fled their home in Budapest, faking their deaths and risking losing contact with Katin's father who was fighting in the Hungarian army. They were ultimately taken in by indifferent villagers. And it was not long before Nazi forces took over the village and one officer forced his attentions on Katin's mother.

Katin's story is undoubtedly remarkable and all the more so for its quiet, yet determined, contemplation. If you were to follow a marketer's crystal ball, you might shy away from such a story primarily set during World War II. But Katin's approach allows you to see a subject that you may think you already know. This story of survival  quickly has you letting go of any preconceptions and makes you wonder about how much you don't know.

Katin's style is of someone confident and accustomed to well-measured pacing. The drawing is made up of loose pencil marks with a spot on cross-hatching similar to Jules Feiffer and Edward Sorel. The writing is earthy and unsentimental. Katin manages to gingerly share with us the sweet life just prior to the Nazis all the way through to a bittersweet time as Katin experiences motherhood a generation later. This is Katin's first full length comics work but she clearly shows her chops from previous comics projects and from a long career as an animator.

The title of Katin's memoir refers to her struggle with faith after what she and her mother experienced. That Katin accomplishes this spiritual exploration as well as she  does through comics speaks well of her talents and for the comics medium itself. We Are On Our Own proves to be another excellent example of how comics can express our deepest thoughts in highly sophisticated ways.
10/10
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Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12