A mold-breaking new graphic novel you’ll want to consider is La Perdida, by Jessica Abel, who publishes the zine Artbabe. La Perdida follows Carla, a young Mexican-American woman who sets out with vague motives to explore her heritage. She goes to Mexico City to crash with an ex-flame, a blue-blooded writer called Harry, but before long they fight and she dives into the city on her own. Things go from interesting to exciting to terrifying pretty rapidly, and the consequences for Carla, Harry and many of the locals she befriends are dire. Abel’s black-and-white drawings are both loose and bold, a combination of strong lines, evocative gestures and very basic facial features. The dialogue is in both Spanish and English, which enhances the tension that automatically exists between curious visitor and struggling native. Alienated in the huge city, Carla finds it hard to decide who her friends are, so she assumes she has none which proves to be the biggest mistake she makes.
Valiant Women is a vital and engrossing attempt to correct the record and rightfully celebrate the achievements of female veterans of World War II.
