German cartoonist Aisha Franz's debut graphic novel de--tails a few short days in the life of two sisters and their single mother. Set in a soulless suburb populated by block after block of identical row houses bordered by empty fields and an industrial no-man's land, Earthling explores the loneliness of everyday life through these women's struggle to come to terms with what the world expects of them. Earthling unveils a narrative rich with surrealist twists and turns, where the peas on the dinner plate and the ads on television can both literally and figuratively speak to the most private strife and deepest hopes in a person's life. As the sisters begin to come to terms with their sexuality, they are confronted by harsh realities and a world that has few escape routes for young women. Drawn in deep grey pencil, the claustrophobia of Franz's crosshatching and smudging matches the tone of the book perfectly. Earthling is an atmospheric and haunting account of the inevitability of losing the dream worlds of childhood.
About the AuthorAisha Franz was born in Furth, Germany and was named after an elephant from TV. She studied illustration at the School of Art and Design in Kassel and has worked as a freelance illustrator and cartoonist since graduating. She has published two graphic novels, which have been translated into Italian, Spanish, and French. Her work has been exhibited in Germany, Belgium, and Italy, and she currently lives in Berlin, where she's part of the comics collective The Treasure Fleet.
ReviewsFrom her pencil drawings to her naive yet dry illustrations, each image she's whisked out of her brain is so funny and sweet at the same time it's enough to make you have a little cry.- It's Nice That
Book InformationISBN 9781770461666
Author Aisha FranzFormat Paperback
Page Count 208
Imprint Drawn and QuarterlyPublisher Drawn and Quarterly