Tommy Buri

The story of “The Complete Persepolis” was very interesting at first just by reading the title. To be frank, the last thing I expected was for the story to be a comic book, I feel comic books can help you understand the emotions the characters go through with less writing and more drawings. However, after reading a couple of chapters my favorite one would be “The Sheep.” The chapter begins with the news of the elections and the reactions of Marjane, her father, and Anoosh. They are all in disbelief as the news told its people that 98.99% of the population voted from the Islamic Republic. The chapter already started with a bang from the elections to then follow up with Marjane’s realization that the situation is and will get worst than what it already has been. All her friends and her crush are fleeing the country and are leaving for the United States. She is depressed and we get to see a panel where the whole room is pitch black and the only outline of light is used to form the shapes of objects. The panel on page 67 represents Marjane’s emotion after hearing her crush leave her. The same thing happens on the next page when her parents leave other relatives that are going to Los Angeles. When they enter the car and go back to their home the panels are dark representing their fear of the situation and if they should leave themselves to avoid the torment. The chapter keeps getting crazier as her father finds out his family is getting murdered by getting drowned or choked. As the chapter comes to a close it seems to end on a happy note where Marjane can see Anoosh one more time. But right after their happy get-together they kill Anoosh as well and the chapter ends with a page with one full panel covering it in darkness. The only character in the panel is Marjane who is spaced out of everything, and the artist plays with this idea as you can see planets and stars near her. As a result, “The Sheep” was a rollercoaster of emotions as a single chapter in this story, the nonstop action of ongoing events kept me engaged and guessing what will happen next.