Finished reading book number 15 for the year – a horror graphic novel called “Infidel” by Pornsak Pichetshote & Aaron Campbell. I don’t know if it’s because I read the e-book and not a physical copy, but I thought it was just okay.
It’s about an American Muslim woman Aisha, who moves into a building that had experienced a terrorist attack in the past. The building is now haunted by demons and Aisha begins to experience their terror. Aisha has the twin challenge of dealing with demons and her partner’s mother, who doesn’t hold a very high opinion of Muslims. Things spiral out of control quite quickly and grotesquely.
The main theme of the book is “intolerance”, but I feel like it’s overdone. While I’ve read plenty of books that show the kind of racism and hate people of color face in America, despite being born & brought up in the country, the racism shown in this novel felt a little ‘forced’. The illustrations are done well, they are very realistic, almost like real photographs turned into comic format. So full points on the art, but the story was lacking punch.
Interestingly, the book had an afterword by Jeff Lemire, whose work I read just last week and loved. Can’t say the same for “Infidel”.