The Poe Clan ポーの一族
(Reposted from June 21, 2009 - http://matasaburo.livejournal.com/3033.html)
I started reading Hagio's The Poe Clan (Poh no ichizoku、ポーの一一族), which was tough to get into, but after the first 20-30 pages or so, I found to be quite fun. Still reading Volume 1 (of 3). My goal is to finish volume 1 by the end of June. I typically read one of the stories over 1-2 days in downtime. Sometimes the stories are long, like the most recent one I read, called "Penny Lane." The same-sex love element or (doosei-ai, 同性愛) of course is intriguing all the more because a young girl, named Maribel, also plays an important role in the first volume's emphasis on Edgar (vampire) and Alan (human). Maribel forms a third point in their love, making it a love triangle. Even after she is dead (sorry, SPOILERS), she continues to haunt Edgar. "Penny Lane" is interesting because while Alan is gestating as a vampire (sorry, SPOILERS), Edgar immediately turns to his feelings for Maribel, thus, the wrinkle in the story at this point is that Alan may function as a kind of replacement (or: upgrade) for Maribel. I never understood Edgar's feelings for Maribel in the first story, the origin story "The Poe Clan" until I reached this point. In the first story, Maribel seems too childish to be of any real interest to Edgar, who, although his body is 14 it is clear that he is much older: why would a mature man indulge in a fantasy of love with pure, innocent Maribel. Is he merely going through the motions as Maribel's "guardian"? By "Penny Lane," I think it is clear that Edgar has trauma associated with Maribel -- not only his connection with her as a fellow locked-inside-a-child's-body frustration -- but that Edgar was the one who initiated her into the Clan, and at that, poorly. He is somehow responsible for her weakened state as a vampire. The clues in "Penny Lane" suggest (to Edgar) that it is his being "different" (--> homosexual?). So, in this story, it is crucial that Alan awaken from his sleep. If Alan dies, then Edgar knows that his foster father's claim is right. He is damaged goods.
And for some reason I cannot understand, Edgar ravages another family and adopts a little girl, Liddell. Probably fodder for a new story...
I'll post an image or two of the striking layouts from "Penny Lane" that demonstrate Hagio's skill at portraying the struggles for interiority.
(The first: Edgar blames himself for what he's done...twice.)
(In the next spread, Edgar blames himself using the words of others, and reveals an interesting aspect of his past as a young vampire.)