Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis tome 1 page 33 (2000)

If the defining social feature over the last 85 years is the mass migration of people, the primary cause of such movement are war, civil unrest, revolution, religious strife and other forms of violence. There are few works of autobiographical narrative art that describe the poignancy and effect of this violence better than Persepolis. Written and drawn by Marjane Satrapi, the book was initially published in French in four "tomes," one released each year from 2000 to 2003. I first read it when the first two books were collected and published in English in 2003 as "Persepolis 1: The Story of a Childhood." Persepolis is the ancient Greek name for Persia.

While it documents and describes a well known period before, during and just following the Iranian revolution of 1979, Persepolis shines in showing the human effect of social change on an individual level. Marjane is just ten when the Shah of Iran was overthrown by the Ayatollah and his forces, and her world changes rapidly from one of upper middle class cosmopolitan comfort to one in which women are increasingly subjugated to religious and social restriction. The page shown here is early in the book when young Marjane is still living a largely pre-revolution life full of family and friends. (Apologies for the poor scan - the piece came to me already framed).

Persepolis has won numerous awards and is considered a masterpiece. Ironically, it itself has been subject to censorship attempts in the US due its somewhat graphic images and language, following in the celebrated footsteps of its predecessor Maus.

Thanks to Andy Kurita for working with me on acquiring this great piece.