Manga & International Comics

Written by Michele Botton.

Art & Cover Art by Dorilys Giacchetto.

English Translation by Nanette McGuinness.

SUMMARY:

Released in the U.S. in 2024 by NBM Graphic Novels, this 176-page biographical comic book was evidently first released in Italy before being translated for an English-speaking audience. In addition to its hardcover format, this book is also available digitally as an e-book.

Though undated, the prologue occurs in 1988 Ethiopia, as a nearly 60-year-old Hepburn confides in her companion, Robert Wolders, the heartbreaking reality of the challenge she has now accepted as an UNICEF global ambassador.

In recalling her life, Chapter 1 flashes back to Hepburn’s transition from ballet student to a struggling Dutch model/actress. Personally recruited by the elderly French writer, Colette, Hepburn accepts the title role in the Broadway play, Gigi. Her rising stardom would set Hepburn up for Hollywood in her Oscar-winning performance in 1953’s Roman Holiday. In spite of her inexperience, director William Wyler and co-star Gregory Peck soon adore Hepburn and become her lifelong friends.

Per Chapter 2, while filming 1954’s Sabrina, Hepburn meets her first famous love, William Holden, though their romance later ends mostly over the issue of having children. On the same film, she meets costume designer Hubert de Givenchy, who ultimately created her most iconic looks throughout her Hollywood career. Through Gregory Peck, Hepburn would meet her future husband, actor/director Mel Ferrer.

Chapter 3 explores Hepburn and Ferrer’s romance and subsequent marriage. Also seen are Hepburn’s experiences filming 1957’s Funny Face. A further flashback revisits Hepburn’s troubled childhood with her mother and long-absent father before moving to England. There she becomes an aspiring ballerina at age 19.

In Chapter 4, an adult Hepburn’s confidence grows, as she next stars in 1957’s Love In The Afternoon. Hepburn reconciles abandonment by her distant father by bonding with co-star Maurice Chevalier, who views her as a surrogate daughter. Further childhood flashbacks depict her parents’ turbulent marriage and her own loneliness. Joining Ferrer in the Caribbean, the couple celebrates her newfound self-assurance.

Chapter 5 foretells Hepburn’s UNICEF participation three decades after the filming of 1959’s The Nun’s Story. Also seen are glimpses of Hepburn’s wartime life as a child and teenager in Holland. Chapter 6 depicts Hepburn, with Ferrer as her director, filming 1959’s unsuccessful Green Mansions. Elated over her pregnancy, Hepburn’s horseback riding injuries while filming 1960’s The Unforgiven would ultimately cause a miscarriage. Hepburn’s subsequent depression would impact her physical health, including severe weight loss and a smoking addiction.

With strain developing in their marriage, Chapter 7 has Hepburn and Ferrer’s subsequent pregnancy joyfully welcome their first child: Sean Ferrer. A now-rejuvenated Hepburn returns to work in 1961’s Breakfast At Tiffany’s and then The Children’s Hour. She gains an unexpected new friend in her co-star, Shirley MacLaine. Hepburn’s exasperation over Hollywood’s sexist expectations and the media’s judgmental invasion of one’s privacy gnaws at her.

Balancing a troubled marriage and motherhood, Chapter 8 depicts Hepburn’s experiences and professional disappointment filming 1964’s My Fair Lady. Hepburn is emotionally devastated by the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

Chapter 9 depicts Hepburn’s preparation as a blind woman for 1967’s Wait Until Dark. Often overshadowed by Hepburn’s celebrity status, her fourteen-year marriage to Ferrer ends in 1968. A subsequent rebound marriage to an Italian psychiatrist-neurologist, Dr. Andrea Dotti, also later fails, though they would share a son: Luca Dotti. In her early fifties, Hepburn would meet Dutch actor Robert Wolders, who would then accompany her for the rest of Hepburn’s life.

The epilogue shows a frail Hepburn’s determination to make a difference for UNICEF, including a heartfelt press conference. The concluding page spells out Hepburn’s ardent belief in giving more love back to the world to make it a better place for all.

Note: Neither Hepburn’s 1929 birth nor her cancer-related passing in early 1993 are depicted.

REVIEW:

It’s a biographical masterpiece both elegant and undeniably eloquent. Writer Michele Botton’s historically accurate text – despite its semi-vague timeline, and Dorilys Giacchetto’s consistent visuals – especially, Hepburn’s endearing likeness, mesh in a first-class tribute to the iconic actress.

Still, given the mature subject matter (i.e. an inference of sexual intercourse, implied partial nudity, and a few profanities), one shouldn’t dismiss this comic book as mere kiddie literature. More so, it would be helpful to readers going in to already identify Hepburn’s various co-stars and directors – per Giacchetto, their likenesses tend to be storybook-style generic. Using the included filmography as one’s general timeline is suggested since Botton’s narrative doesn’t reference specific years.

Intended for an adult audience, this classy Audrey Hepburn homage is a welcome treat to explore.

ADDITIONAL CONTENT:

Entitled “Everyone Has Their Own Audrey,” Hepburn’s younger son, Luca Dotti, provides an insightful two-page foreword. A brief biographical summary on him is also provided. Chapter pages are adorned with standing Hepburn poses created by Giacchetto. Including some thank-you’s, Botton supplies a two-page postscript entitled “My Audrey.” Hepburn’s essential filmography is included, though highlights are addressed in Botton’s text.

Similarly, Botton and Giacchetto supply a bibliography, as to which books and a 2020 Italian documentary (translated as Audrey – Beyond The Icon) they consulted for the project. Brief biographical summaries are provided for both Botton and Giacchetto, as they offer personal thank-you’s.

BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 9 Stars

Written by Tatsuya Endō.

American Translation by Casey Loe.

Black-and-White Art by Tatsuya Endō; Rina Mapa; Satoshi Kimura; Mafuyu Konishi; Yuichi Ozaki; Kazuki Nonaka; & Masahito Sasaki.

Cover Art by Tatsuya Endō. Colors are Uncredited.

SUMMARY:

The black-and-white Spy X Family, Volume 12 was first published in 2019 in Japan by SHUEISHA Inc. out of Tokyo, which also coordinates this title’s English translation rights. In a 208-page SHONEN JUMP (digest-size) edition, VIZ Media LLC reprinted Spy X Family, Volume 12 for the U.S. market in 2024.

In a world where Westalis and Ostania are rival factions/countries, Westalis’ Secret Service has initiated ‘Operation Strix’ to gain intelligence on Ostania’s chief political operator: Donovan Desmond, an unstable warmonger. Sent in for closer surveillance are master-of-disguise ‘Twilight’ posing as psychiatrist Dr. Loid Forger; naïve assassin ‘Thorn Princess’ posing as a city clerk/typist and Loid’s adoring wife, Yor Forger; and a young telepathic orphan, Anya, posing as their daughter. This undercover ‘family unit’ is completed by lovable Bond, the Forgers’ clairvoyant guard dog that somewhat resembles a seal.

The operation’s gameplan involves assimilating Anya inside the private Eden Academy. That way, she can get closer to the Desmond family through her classmates, among which is Desmond’s spoiled child. Also involved are:

Sylvia Sherwood, Loid’s world-weary intelligence handler, whose slovenly personal life is mitigated by her loyal German Shepherd, Aaron.
Fiona “Nightfall” Frost, who is Loid’s colleague and is secretly in love with him.
Yor’s kid brother, Yuri Briar, who is a gung-ho undercover police officer, who despises Loid.
Damian Desmond, who is Donovan Desmond’s snotty young son; and
Becky Blackbell, who is Anya’s new friend.

Most recently, the Academy was rocked by a school bus hijacking, with Anya among the distraught hostages. Her telepathy subsequently helps defuse the emergency, but this incident’s repercussions are still being felt.

While a hyperactive Anya continues to interact with her classmates, Loid’s talents posing as a psychiatrist come into play counseling one of Eden’s teachers. At a dog park, Sylvia meets up with Loid and Anya where she adds a new assignment to his casework. Their competing dogs, Bond and Aaron, humorously finish in a draw over which canine is the best trained. Egged on by her co-workers and then Yuri, a meek Yor tries far too hard conveying that she and Loid have marital difficulties, too, like any other normal couple.

Though bewildered by Yor’s drunken behavior (which she privately regrets), Loid is called upon to go undercover with Fiona to pursue an elusive intelligence mole. Yet, their quarry’s improvisations heighten the jeopardy they are in. Case in point: should the mole escape with classified materials, the exposure of ‘Operation Strix’ would dangerously compromise them all.

Posing as both the fugitive and then subsequently as Yuri, Loid finds himself pursued by the police. Injured in solo combat, Loid’s super-spy talents may not be enough when facing the enemy alone.

Also included are a few ‘confidential’ back-up stories, including: 1. Eden Academy’s zoo trip; 2. Loid’s efforts to help teach Anya history has him crafting a spy comic book; 3. Eden Academy students discuss a trip to the moon; and 4. “Franky’s Secret Files” offer some breaking-the-fourth wall insight about Sylvia’s character design.

Notes: This title is also available digitally. To the publisher’s credit, there is a parental advisory as a ‘T+’ (ages 16 and up) read per the book’s ‘realistic’ violence quotient. Spy x Family, Volume 12, ironically, is really a mild ‘PG,’ as compared to some DC and Marvel titles where a parental advisory ought to have been (and wasn’t) included for vile content.

Lastly, for those of you like me where Spy X Family, Volume 12, is one’s first experience with manga, here’s a few rules of thumb. 1. This story begins at the very back with a table-of-contents. Hence, the book is to be read in a reverse page order (backwards to front). It initially seems you are supposed to generally read the panels from right to left. Sometime shortly thereafter (perhaps it’s due to the American reproduction/translation), the reading then shifts to the conventional Western left to right – at least, the dialogue still makes sense that way.

REVIEW:

Including its quirky sense of humor, Spy X Family, Volume 12 is a fun discovery. As both writer and primary artist, Tatsuya Endō concocts an assortment of slightly strange characters that consistently fits a classy semi-parody of spy capers. Hence, his plotting balances the narrative’s shifting from low-key humor to character development to action scenes without missing a beat, in terms of its coherency.

While some intriguing characters (i.e. Sylvia Sherwood) receive less screen time, the compensation plays up, for instance, a seemingly good-natured Yor’s role as Loid’s ‘perfect wife’ vs. Fiona’s resentment that she didn’t get the role. Endō, suffice to say, knows how to make good use of his cast without resorting to profanities or gratuitous violence (i.e. the extensive Loid/Yuri fight scene is kept clean).

Though Spy X Family, Volume 12 isn’t necessarily a must-have, its intriguing content delivers a cartoony cloak-and-dagger caper. Finding it at the library first might be the best option, as far as considering this book for purchase.

ADDITIONAL CONTENT:

A brief dossier on the characters helpfully identifies the pertinent who’s who and provides a quick summary of the plot-to-date. Endō’s ‘special thanks list’ credits additional collaborators on this project, along with a brief message from. Including a personal quote, Endō has a paragraph-long biography.

BRIAN’S OOD MOON RATING: 7½ Stars