Displaced Persons

San Francisco, the twentieth century: In 1939, a privatedetective searches for a missing heiress.

In 1969, twin brothers approach a drugheist from opposite sides of the law. And in 1999, a woman slowly comes torealize the terrible danger she faces in her own home.

From the Eisner-nominatedwriter Derek McCulloch (Stagger Lee, Gone to Amerikay) and artist AnthonyPeruzzo comes DISPLACED PERSONS, a riveting tale of murder, love, crime,friendship, betrayal, and just the slightest bit of timetravel. "A mammoth, sprawling family saga-bothenchantingly surrealistic and cruelly realistic- with a dazzling array ofhaunting and resonant characters all drawn together through an unlikely paradox. Derek McCulloch delivers an ambitious, complex work that's not afraid to takechances, and the art by Anthony Peruzzo is richly detailed and evocative."-Karen Berger, Vertigo foundingeditorThis graphic novel timetravels through three generations of one family, whose connections aresymbolized, and realized, by a house in the hills of San Francisco.

The themesof politics, family, and crime are showcased in the intertwined narratives,changing through the years only in the details.

During the Great Depression, aloving father, pressed by economic forces he's unable to control, makes a shadydeal to keep his loved ones together.

Grandiose or ambitious, there's a lot hereto consume, and digest; readers may have to check the proffered time lines morethan once to keep their bearings.

The sins of the past destroy some charactersand cast off others, leaving a faithful few to find their way home.

Drug use anddealing cast a pall in the 1960s chapters, and Cesar Chavez gets amention through a well-meaning in-law as things fall apart in the 1990s.

Itseems a bit random, but in an interesting play-within-a-play conclusion, afriend writing a book and a time traveling relative find each other and someanswers to the family saga.

The work's narrative held together by the art:Shaded in multiple sepia tones to signal different time periods, the drawingsare roughly chiseled and remarkably detailed; whole rooms, complete with clues,appear in single frames.

This part mystery, part sci-fi graphic novel wascrafted over ten years. - School Library Journal (StarredReview)