It’s a great page, but, unfortunately, the reason that page 39 stands out as much as it does is that it’s one of the few in which the art in the panels drive the comic, rather than just coming along for the ride as the narration tells the story.
And Tiananmen 1989 is an extremely suspenseful book, particularly for readers who only know the few details of the events that made international news that is, you know incredible violence is coming, just not when, exactly. On this page, it is the imagery that not only tells the story, but also brings a great deal of drama and suspense to it. There are words on the page, of course, some 100 or so words of narration running horizontally in the white gutters between each tier of panels, but here, those words are almost superfluous. The final panel on the page is a repeat of the first, but now the square is completely filled with the marchers, and there’s no sign of the police. In the next, the colorful shoes are marching again, the soldiers having parted to let them pass. In the first, the marchers have stopped, having come toe to toe with the drab green shoes of the lines of policemen. The second panel is a close-up of the marchers’ shoes, in a variety of styles and colors, as they proceed into the square.īelow that, on the third tier of the page, are a pair of panels, both of which remain close-up on the shoes. Before them is a neat row of police officers, standing like columns of olive green.
The top panel, stretching across the top tier of the page, offers an overhead view of a bit of the titular square, a corner of roof and swooping bird in the foreground, while in the background artist Ameziane draws a mass of students and demonstrators, all gray and black, holding signs aloft. Of Tiananmen 1989: Our Shattered Hope is a really great page.
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