Justin Eisinger, IDW Editorial Director of Graphic Novels and Collections and co-creator of the upcoming They Called Us Enemy, soloed a Saturday afternoon panel in which he passionately debuted three titles in translation scheduled to be released later this year.
Emmanuel Lepage’s award-winning Springtime In Chernobyl describes the lives of survivors and their children twenty-two years after the deadly Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. Lepage travels to the Ukraine location where the disaster occurred and finds himself asking“What am I doing here” and feeling as if he has defied death. Lepage uses a combination of greys and washed out hues to depict the scenes of destruction while also highlighting that “beauty exists amongst ruins.” The book will be released in June.
Sophie Ansel’s Burmese Moons has had the most profound effect on Eisinger. Displaced natives are forced to flee slavery and torture after military rulers in Myanmar crush a burgeoning revolution (People Power Uprising of 1988). They find themselves trapped between worlds and hostages in their own country.
Disagreements in the translation of particular nuances of text resulted in nearly a year of production delays. The experience changed how Eisinger would market the book, which was illustrated by Sam Garcia and will be released in July.
The black and white illustrations of Helene Adeguer’s After the Spring: A Story of Tunisian Youth are “simple, stripped down, but a very effective communication style.” Two years after the “Jasmine Revolution,” Tunisia continues to suffer instability and economic hardship. The book explores what happens to the lives of four teenagers amidst shifting politics. The book is scheduled for an October release.
