Graphic Novel Review: Lily Renée, Escape Artist by Trina Robbins

I’ve been reading a lot of indie graphic novels lately, which is a pleasant change from DC and Marvel comics that I often frequent. Mind you, I still love those comics as well, but switching things up a bit is great too. Lily Renée, Escape Artist is one such indie graphic novel. Honestly, I had just read the synopsis of it and when I went in and started reading it, I was surprised to discover that it was a graphic novel… pleasantly surprised.

”In 1938, Lily Renée Wilheim is a 14-year-old Jewish girl living in Vienna. Her days are filled with art and ballet. Then the Nazis march into Austria, and Lily's life is shattered overnight. Suddenly, her own country is no longer safe for her or her family. To survive, Lily leaves her parents behind and travels alone to England. Escaping the Nazis is only the start of Lily's journey. She must escape many more times—from servitude, hardship, and danger. Will she find a way to have her own sort of revenge on the Nazis? Follow the story of a brave girl who becomes an artist of heroes and a true pioneer in comic books.”

This is a really interesting story because it’s not a fictional encounter of some made up character, it is, in fact, the story of a real person who existed and survived a terrible ordeal and came out as one of the first female comic book artists. She helped pioneer a whole new generation and I had no idea about her until I read this book.

While I did enjoy Lily Renée’s tale, written by Trina Robbins, I felt that the story was told a bit oddly. The story alone is incredible, but the dialogue and the actual tale don’t intertwine very well and leaves this sort of choppy effect. The illustrations are beautiful and well done and definitely make up for what the story lacks, but it jumps around quite a bit and when there isn’t something directly being said about Lily Renée, it pops in random war facts that sort of give off the vibe that you’re watching a cartoon being narrated by a child. I don’t think that what I’m saying quite makes my point about the narrative, but despite the flaws of the story, Renée’s story still had a massive impact on my views of comic books.

I only briefly mentioned the illustrations in the story and I’ll take a moment to mention the artist behind the book. The story is brilliantly captured with the illustrations provided by Anne Timmons and Mo Oh. I absolutely love this story is told and illustrated by a team of wonderful women. It seems fitting that this story of an extraordinary woman is told by more extraordinary women – and while as mentioned, I did have some general issues with it, I think that the story as a whole is full of an inspiring person that other people should definitely read and learn about.

Lily Renée, Escape Artist isn’t quite out for the public yet. It will be available for purchase later this year on November 1. You can learn more about the book and purchase it by visiting here.