In the Hands of Boys

Supercbbox| title = In the Hands of Boys
comic_color = background:#8080ff


caption = The cover of "In the Hands of Boys" #1. Art by Melody Nadia Shickley.
schedule =
format = limited series
publisher = Self-Published (Xeric Grant)
date = 2006-2007
issues = 2
main_char_team = Anna Novello
story = Janet Tangirala
writers = Melody Nadia Shickley
artists = Melody Nadia Shickley
creators = Melody Nadia Shickley & Janet Tangirala

"In the Hands of Boys" is a self-published two-issue comic book limited series, written and illustrated by Melody Nadia Shickley.

The story deals with the emotional impact of the Bosnian War on a young reporter and an orphaned boy. The book is notable as one of the recipients of a grant from the Xeric Foundation. The first issue was released in June 2006. The second is forthcoming.

Plot

The story opens with "Anna Novella", a young woman, learning over the phone that her friend and confidant Lynn, a corespondent in Sarajevo, has been killed. While attending Lynn's funeral, Anna is approached by a lawyer and informed that her presence is required at the reading of Lynn's last will and testament.

Anna attends and receives a letter addressed to her from Lynn, informing her that Lynn has left her considerable fortune to Anna, but that Anna need use some of it to tend to the previously unmentioned illegitimate son Lynn had conceived after being raped in Sarajevo. Anna bursts into tears upon hearing this news.

Anna meets with Alan, implied to be Lynn's partner, at a coffee shop in order to make arrangements for bringing the boy into the U.S. After an uncomfortable conversation, during which Anna accuses Alan of not being there to protect Lynn, Alan reveals that he already has the boy in New York City.

Meeting the boy, Radojko, who ultimately proves withdrawn and stone-faced (at first accidentally identifying Anna as his mother), Anna attempts to communicate with him via a Serbo-Croatian translation program, but he proves unresponsive.

Anna attempts to enroll him in school, but is told she cannot until she can prove that she is his legal guardian, which she is unable to do until the U.S. State Department has made a "good faith" attempt to contact the boy's biological father, a man renowned for his brutal and misogynistic ways.

The story then flashes back to the initial rivalry and budding companionship between Anna and Lynn, and explains exactly Anna's actions led to Lynn fleeing for Sarajevo.

The story is ongoing.

Production

"In the Hands of Boys" is the first non-digital comic created by Melody Nadia Shickley. She was previously known for her work illustrating the online web-comic series "Young Bottoms in Love". Based on a story told to her by her mother, Janet Tangirala, the book was original intended as Shickley's school thesis. Shickley went on to adapt her mother's story and illustrate the book. While working on the project, her professor suggested to her not to ink directly over her pencils. Deciding that she liked the resulting style, Shickley decided to use this sketch shading aesthetic for the entire book. [ [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=69632&highlight=shickley MELODY SHICKLEY ON IN THE HANDS OF BOYS] , Newsarama, May 5, 2006]

The title is a reference to Wilfred Owen's poem "Anthem for Doomed Youth"--

"Not in the hands of boys but in their eyes, Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes."

It was Tangirala who found and suggested the title over the phone to her daughter, though Shickley only partially quoted the line. [ [http://www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_music_info&products_id=29668| Forbidden Planet preview] ]

Time frame

In the Hands of Boys was heavily influenced by thewartime atmosphere that one of the main characters,Radjoko has grown up in. These wars occur in the areathat was previously known as Yugoslavia duringconflicts between the various states of Serbia,Bosnia, Croatia and Herzegovnia.

Throughout the first issue of the comic Anna, a friendof his mother and possibly new adoptive parent, iscontinually worried about the safety of Radojkoespecially when explaining to someone that “If wecontact him(Radojko’s father) he may try to haveRadojko killed in the U.S.” and not long after, “Maybewe could bring to the court’s attention thathe’s(Radojko’s father) on the U.N. wanted list for warcrimes! When the peacekeepers find him, we can askhim how he wants to take care of the dozens ofchildren he sired in 1991 and 1992!” This makes astatement as to what state the country in whichRadojko was born was in at the time of The BosnianWar. Radojko seems to have what has been speculated asexcited/ scared reactions to pictures of violencepublished in magazines as shown in Issue 1 of In theHands of Boys. He also seems to play “pretend” withimagined guns in the same issue.

It is as of yet unclear whether this is intended tobe seen as an allusion to his history growing up inBosnia during a politically tumultuous time or if itis meant to be a comment on the type of games thatmany boys participate in.

The wars in Yugoslavia again come into play in thecomic when flashing back to Radojko’s mother, Lynn.She was a well off American student who had beenoffered a reporting assignment in Sarajevo. The storyexplains that during her time there, Lynn was rapedfor refusing to identify herself as either an Americancitizen or a journalist in an effort to be loyal toher friends. This resulted in the birth of Radojko.

Lynn later died in Sarajevo as well. Throughoutissue 1, the characters refer to the constant dangerthat Lynn faced daily while she lived there. Thoughthe exact nature of Lynn’s death has not yet beenexplained it is implied that this is due to wartimeviolence. This is believed especially because thedates in which the comic takes place (2001 - 2002)correspond with some of the aftermath of the TheBosnian War, taking place between 1992 and 1995.

References

External links

* [http://www.popimage.com/content/inthehandsofboys.html Popimage article]