Here

Bibliography: McGuire, R. (2014). Here. New York, NY: Pantheon.

ISBN: 978-0375406508

Genre: graphic

Reading Level/Interest Age: 15+

Plot Summary: Here is not a novel, so it doesn’t have (or need) a plot. Instead, it uses graphic images to tell the story of a particular corner in a particular room in a particular place in America. Before that corner even existed, though, that spot of Earth was occupied by water and trees, dinosaurs, mammoths and wolverines. Native Americans swam, hunted and played. As time passed, the land changed. Water dried. Land solidified. Europeans arrived and fought over the future of the country. Homes were built and families created life together--birth, laughter, tears, heartache, joy, excitement, terror, adoration, death. With an unfailing eye for detail and color, Richard McGuire brings to light the history--and the future--of a space we call home.

Critical Evaluation: Innovative, imagination and delightful, Here gives the reader a spectacular change in perspective by characterizing a place. The characters (human, robotic and animal) are secondary, acting only as support to emphasize what exactly happens in this very specific place. Just as characters in a story require depth to develop believability, these few feet of space also require complexity. Richard McGuire achieves this by layering graphic panels, each featuring a different point in time, but carefully maintaining its detail and position. The main graphic, always a two-page spread, serves as a focal point, but smaller cells highlight other points in time. For example, one particular spread highlights the room in 1969, but graphic snapshots of history are layered on top, pinpointing a child in 2017 building with blocks on the right side of the room, a baby in 1956 playing with a balloon on the left and a woman from 1911 facing the window. Various themes are intertwined throughout the illustrations, sometimes on a single page spread, sometimes weaving back and forth through the book. Sometimes this is portrayed through illustration alone; when text is necessary, speech bubbles are used. One such example features a woman in 1996 saying “I lost my self control”, a man in 1959 baffled by his missing keys and a man in 2222 searching for his car. All three cells are layered over a graphic showing a solitary (maybe lost?) mammoth in 50,000 BCE. The culmination of images and storytelling create a modern day Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book, giving the reader permission to flip back and forth, read and absorb, and discover the adventure a single room can hold.

Reader’s Annotation: The very place you’re sitting right now was once home to dinosaurs, mammoths, Native Americans and someone much like your Great-Aunt Mildred. Take a peek into all the history that happens in this one particular corner of the world.

Author Information: Richard McGuire (born 1957) is an illustrator, graphic designer, comic book artist, animator, children's book author, musician and toy designer. His illustrations have been published in the New York Times, The New Yorker, Le Monde, and other publications. He has written and directed two omnibus feature films, designed and manufactured his own line of toys, and is also the founder and bass player of the post-punk band Liquid Liquid.¹

His short story Here is likely the most lauded comic book story from recent decades. He began the concept as an influential 6-page comic which was published in Raw Volume 2 #1 in 1989. In 2010, McGuire announced the graphic novel version Here (expanded to 300 pages, full-color). It was published by Pantheon Books in December 2014.²

Curriculum ties: sociology; anthropology

Booktalks: What do you think happened in this very place 10 years ago, 50 years ago, 1,000 years ago, 1,000,000 years ago?

Challenge issues: none

Challenge resources: n/a

Reasoning: This is an innovative way to incorporate history with the incredible popularity of graphic books. Just as the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books captured the attention of countless children in the 1980’s by allowing them to become an interactive part of the story, Here gives readers permission to flip back and forth, compare and contrast, the different storylines. The sparse text and engaging illustrations also make this book a great tool for reluctant readers to become enamored with both the possibilities within a book and the mystery within history.

References:

¹ Richard McGuire. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2015, from http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/133217.Richard_McGuire?from_search=true&search_version=service

²Here. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_(comics)