30 Day Comic Challenge Day 05

Day 05 - Comic character you feel you are most like (or wish you were).

This guy isn't technically a super-hero, but he's pretty heroic in a lot of ways. My choice is Aoki-Sensei from Keiko Tobe's manga With the Light: Raising An Autistic Child (published in the US by Yen Press).






As a teacher myself, I see the dedication and the innovation that Aoki puts into working with special needs kids and it reminds me of the challenges and the rewards of my profession. It's a great portrayal of the good that a teacher can do.

With the Light is one of the best books I've read about parenting. My review of the second volume is here.

From My Creations

I don't write characters based on myself. It's never really been something I'm interested in. This is also why I'm not into roleplaying games where the players play versions of themselves transported to some fantasy world or faced with some bizarre circumstance. I want to read about the adventures of people who are more heroic than me.

That being said, like any writer I put aspects of my personality into all the characters I write.

The character that strikes me as resembling me most is Brother Petrus from Perils of Picorna.



Petrus isn't a kid who grew up on the streets like Picorna is. He come from a good home, and he's not out looking for trouble or even for adventure. He's a guy who loves books and learning, a guy with good intentions and some courage when he needs it. He's not concerned about being shown up by a girl or with proving anything. I didn't design him to be myself as a teenager (and he's not in a lot of ways), but he does carry a lot of my personality traits and attitudes.

The 30 Day Comic Challenge Page on Facebook is here. Here is the complete list of daily topics:

30 Day Comic Challenge
Day 01 - Your first comic book.
Day 02 - Your favorite character.
Day 03 - A comic that is underrated.
Day 04 - Your guilty pleasure comic or character.
Day 05 - Comic character you feel you are most like (or wish you were).
Day 06 - Most annoying character.
Day 07 - Favorite comic couple.
Day 08 - Best series being published right now.
Day 09 - Most touching comic book/comic book scene.
Day 10 - Dream versus match.
Day 11 - Favorite comic book cartoon series.
Day 12 - A comic everyone should read.
Day 13 - A book you’ve read more than five times.
Day 14 – Most awesome single comic book image
Day 15 - A Picture from the comic you’re reading right now.
Day 16 - Funniest comic book/comic book scene.
Day 17 - Most useless Villain.
Day 18 - Favorite B-list character.
Day 19 - Comic book city/universe you wish you lived in.
Day 20 - Favorite super power or skill.
Day 21 - Favorite writer.
Day 22 - A series that you liked but stopped reading
Day 23 - Your favorite artist.
Day 24 - Dream character team up.
Day 25 - A book you plan on reading.
Day 26 - A comic you wish they would make into a movie.
Day 27 - Favorite comic book movie.
Day 28 - Favorite comic publisher.
Day 29 - A comic you thought you wouldn’t like, but ended up loving.
Day 30 - Your favorite run or series of all time.

With The Light Volume 2

This comes by way of the going-out-of-business sales at Borders. I've been reading it over the course of the last two weeks or so.

Title: With The Light: Raising An Autistic Child
Issue: Volume 2
Date: 2008
Publisher: Yen Press
Writer: Keiko Tobe
Artist: Keiko Tobe

There's a lot that I love about manga, but I think that first and foremost I am amazed by the breadth of story types. American mainstream comics seem narrowly limited by comparison, and while American independent comics do better, they often don't get the kind of distribution that manga receives.

One excellent example is Keiko Tobe's family drama, With The Light, centered on Hikaru Azuma, a young boy with autism. Writer Tobe has clearly done her homework, presenting a very balanced portrayal of Hikaru that mostly avoids the stereotypes of autism that are often seen in the media. She has also meticulously researched educational techniques and presents a wealth of ideas as Hikaru engages with his family and his teachers.

This is the second volume, and it covers Hikaru's later elementary school years. The main plotline is the impending transfer of beloved teacher Aoki-sensei, who has worked very hard to find innovative ways of teaching Hikaru. Along the way, Hikaru helps plant a garden, gets into conflict with the local shopkeepers, and ends up on a train ride with an emotionally distraught fellow student. There is a fair amount of melodrama, but Tobe's characters are always multifaceted. Even the teacher who takes over for Aoki-sensei, and is originally presented as a villain, ends up being revealed as complex and ultimately sympathetic.

The art is beautiful, especially in the depiction of Hikaru himself.

What I love most about With the Light is that it is not just a book about a condition. It's a book about parenting. A really great book about parenting, and about how Hikaru's parents must fight for their child's place in the world. This is a story that's well worth reading.

Rating: 9/10