By Baru, with colour by Daniel Ledran (Drawn & Quarterly Publications)
ISBN 10: 1896597521
ISBN 13: 978-1896597522
Sport, despite being a world obsession, has oddly dropped out of the remit of most comics storytellers these days which is both odd and a shame. The Road to America, by Baru, uses the fervour of the immigrant’s dream and the fierce metaphor of struggle as depicted in the boxing ring to create a compelling tale of adversity against a true historical backdrop.
Set in Algeria in the 1950s, when the country was struggling to achieve independence from France, it is the story of the bloody rise of an impoverished street kid, Said Boudiaf. Becoming a boxer, he literally smashes his way out of the slums to the glittering lights of Paris, whilst his brother turns to bombs and a more permanent form of bloodletting as a freedom fighter determined to overthrow French Colonial rule.
Said is an unstoppable force in the ring, becoming a sporting hero, but in the real world he’s a leaf in the wind. The French despise his ethnicity whilst capitalising on his achievements, and he’s regarded as a puppet by the Algerian resistance forces. However, both sides want him for his propaganda value.
Said wants nothing more than personal freedom. His fights are non-political as is all Sport, but when his successes mount, and his unstoppable rise culminates in winning the French Championship, politics claims him anyway as a race riot between native Algerian and French spectators erupts in the stadium.
The tragic culmination occurs when Said makes it to America, and qualifies for the World Championship, but on returning to Paris to train for the bout he is sucked into the events of October17th 1961 – the day when a protest march against anti-Algerian policies and heavy-handed Police Suppression led to a bloody riot and a terrible massacre.
This beautifully executed tale is both blunt and subtle: weaving threads of ambition, morality, freedom, sacrifice and prejudice, both personal and social, into a compelling if sometimes chaotic narrative that is a joy to behold but often a bitter pill to swallow.
© 2002 Baru. All Rights Reserved.