Lost in NYC by Nadja Spiegelman and Sergio García Sánchez (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Lost in NYC by Nadja Spiegelman and Sergio García Sánchez Elizabeth Bush Lost in NYC By Nadja Spiegelman and Sergio García Sánchez; illustrated by Sergio García Sánchez. TOON Graphics, 2015 [48p] Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-935179-81-8 $16.95 Spanish ed. ISBN 978-1-935179-85-6 $16.95 R* Gr. 3-6 What’s not to love about a class field trip? A day off. No textbooks. No quizzes. A fresh setting. Looser supervision. Unless, of course, you factor in the lurking anxieties: who will I partner with? What if the group leaves without me? And where the heck am I, anyhow? Whereas class outings have long provided inspiration for picture books, the giddy nervousness that older kids experience when wrenched from their familiar schoolgrounds has been largely overlooked. Spiegelman sets this to rights in a crowd-pleaser of a graphic novel that embraces the looniness of silent movie comedies while respecting the stomach-roiling worries of kids embarking on the big trip. Pablo shakes off his helicopter parents at the gates of his new school on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, the sixth school in his academic career, thanks to Dad’s frequent job moves. The class greets him politely enough, but they’re focused on the day’s trip to the Empire State Building. As they discuss the NYC transit system with their teacher, Mr. Bartle, and plan their route, Pablo maintains a studied air of indifference, resisting classmate Alicia’s overtures of friendship—or at the very least, guardianship. She tries to help him read the transit map at the 96th Street Station, but he’s too wrapped up in his own cool to listen. Next thing you know, they’re separated from their class, squabbling between themselves, and then separated from each other. As the entire cast bumbles its way among local and express trains in an effort to reconnect, everyone learns a transit lesson—there’s more than one correct way to get from here to there in NYC. Pablo learns an additional lesson—maybe he could use a friend after all. Writer Spiegelman is deft at sketching personalities through the economical dialogue demanded of the GN format. Readers can sense the world of embarrassment pressing down on Pablo’s shoulders courtesy of well-intentioned but clueless parents: “Do you want me to come in with you?” “No! Bye!” “Are you sure?” “Yes, please just go away!” “Bye, little man! We love you!” Likewise, the strain between Alicia and Pablo, sorely mismatched in local street smarts, is palpable. “You dummy! We should have stayed with the class!” “I’m a dummy? You’re the one who dragged us on this train!” “Whatever.” Even curricular blitzes, delivered on the hoof by Mr. Bartle, ring true: “The [Empire State Building] has its own zip code. Anyone know what it is?” “It’s 10118!” “Wow . . . ” “I just Googled it!” It’s Sánchez’s artwork, though, that steals the show, imbuing the madcap adventure with visual humor while keeping readers off-balance and slightly disoriented in the labyrinthine underground system. Even seasoned comics readers will [End Page 477] appreciate his approach to movement, changing up the conventional evocation of progression (through small, sequential panels) with more chaotic but stunningly effective single large frames in which characters appear in multiple positions and the viewer is directed along unexpected paths. Competing feelings of claustrophobia and heady excitement are pervasive, as pedestrians jam every available inch of space around the isolated kids, and even cutaways of their train cars zooming over a city map seem like airless tin cans. Also tucked within the cheek-by-jowl crowd scenes is a hidden mini-drama (loosely based on Sánchez’s own debut visit to NYC) featuring a camera-happy tourist who catches the unwanted attention of a policeman, who follows him around town. Comics are not generally distinguished for thoughtful end matter, but this title is a happy exception. Six pages of NYC transit history and Empire State Building information, illustrated with contemporary and period photographs, are included, as well as an annotated list of additonal print and online resources. Even...