Review: Orange by Benjamin (Graphic novel)
Orange, a young high school student, is obsessed with an artist that lives in her apartment building. He’s always drunk. He ignores her, but she looks out for him and hopes one day he’ll pay attention. Then he comes up on the roof while she’s there. He looks at her and shows her a letter. Then he jumps from the building to land on a car below.
Orange is devastated. We then flashback five months.
Orange felt alienated and alone believing that she’s the only one to feel this way and that no one can understand her frustration, anger, and pain. She writes a note, goes up to the roof, and stands on the edge. She nearly worked herself up to jump when unexpectedly, a young man who lives in the same building is up there, drunk and the smashing of his bottle has her off the edge. It’s the same young man who we previously saw jump from the roof.
We now go forward again to that opening moment to see what happened and how these two lives intersected.
The artwork is vivid and filled with movement. There’s flashes for scenes that suggest mood, setting, movement, along with the narrative. Graphical stories are carried as much by the art as the words and when one person does both there tends to be a melding of the two.
Benjamin has produced a story that touches the pain of teens who are unsure of where they are going, what will happen as they transition from older child to an adult. As adult as they may be in their teens, they have no markers to tell them if what they’re feeling is normal or not. There’s no roadmap to adulthood, we all travel it alone. Orange, our main character, is desperately trying to make sense of a life that seems to be empty and lacking in the emotional richness she believes that others have. And then her world is shattered further by her observation of her neighbor’s suicide. It’s a difficult subject and this story gives no answers just the message you’re not alone in how you feel.
Following the story the author has several short pieces explaining some of his other work and his observations on life — mostly his life and art. After reading the additional material the raw energy of the artwork of Orange seemed more intense.