Barefoot Gen 2

Once again, I went to the comic store for Black Jack, once again, they didn’t have it, and once again, I got Barefoot Gen instead.  And once again, I am totally blown away by the gravity of the story and the graphic nature of the way it is told.

Not much time elapses in this volume, and it’s still mostly just Gen, his mother, and his baby sister.  More after effects of the bomb are shown, including people who have skin and flesh sloughing off their bones while they are still alive, people trying to cure their dying relatives with powder made from ground up human bones, people with sores and wounds full of maggots, and dead bodies that are bloating and rupturing.  It’s not mentioned, but I wonder about what the water Gen is often drawing up and drinking is like.  Of course, I’m sure the cleanliness of the water is the least of his worries, but there are rotting bodies in it.  It’s something more for me to think about.

One of the most important things introduced this volume is probably the radiation sickness.  The problem is illustrated best when the soldiers that have come for relief all start dying while they haul away the dead bodies.  The story goes into far more detail, but… it’s just one of those things.  To think that there were so many survivors, and the people who were sent to help are struck down as well is just… yeah.

Food is still in short supply, and we are also beginning to see the beginnings of what I’m sure is going to be a long history of discrimination against the survivors of Hiroshima.  I think that will probably be addressed more in the next volume, too.

This is truly the stuff of nightmares.  I say that in all seriousness, and again, I’m pretty sure almost everything in this story is likely a firsthand account of what the author went through, which makes it that much worse for being absolutely true.  Even if he is weaving fictional events in with factual, I’m pretty sure nothing has been exaggerated, and all the aftermath of the bombing that he shows is 100% true.  I… don’t even know how you would exaggerate it any more, it is literally some of the worst things I can think of to put people thorough.

It’s hard to read, but it truly is wonderful stuff, especially since through all this, Gen and his mother somehow manage to always stay upbeat.  Again, it’s not something I would be able to do myself.