In 1920, the People’s Republic of Mongolia was established
following a Soviet-backed revolution against Chinese dominance. However, the
country was nowhere near peace. We follow the rise and fall of Peljidiin Genden
over the course of the next ten years as he goes from young, hotheaded
revolutionary to Prime Minister to Soviet prisoner. As the country deals with dogmatic
revolutionaries, political turmoil, and an increasingly oppressive Soviet
influence, ending in the Great Purge and the death of tens of thousands, Genden is forced to reconcile his strong socialist philosophy and
fierce nationalism with the increasingly serious consequences of both his
actions and the actions of those around him. The character's moral nuances will force them to deal with the battle
between logic, dogma, faith, and empathy.
This is my third choice for our graphic novel. I think that it's a very interesting story with a compelling protagonist and a moral question at the heart of it that draws me in. However, I think that it needs to be substantially shortened if we are to proceed. I would even argue that cutting off all/most of Act 1 is appropriate.
ReplyDeleteI am drawn to the idea of illustrating a rising regime as a visual challenge, though. I see a lot of room for exaggeration.
The Long Red Road is my second choice, because I love the parallelism of the plot. The second act sends shivers up my spine, and honestly I think it would be hard to screw up. The first act may need to be shortened, because I’m worried that – because of the background information necessary for the story and the story’s length itself – the novel may run long. But the second act should absolutely stay. I personally found the names confusing while reading the pitch, so I suggest that we make the character designs very distinct (Genden’s mustache will help), or maybe provide an index. The questionable morality of revolutionary rhetoric is always relevant, and I think it would be amazing if at the end – during the ethnic cleansing of the Buryat – we overlaid it with Choibalsan’s speech from the beginning. We’ll have to finagle it so that the American reaction isn’t – at least at first – reflexively “Communism = bad,” even though ultimately basically all the communists are antagonists or anti-heroes. Still, I think the story has the potential to be action-packed and awesome.
ReplyDeleteI'm attracted to this project because of the epic, tragic scope of Genden's rise and fall, but what really excites about the story is how it ties into Sükhbaatar's. The analogy neatly wraps up a narrative that is punctuated with some compelling moments. I think Act I is important for Genden's arc to work, but I don't think [Genden rises to power]>[Sükhbaatar flashback]>[Genden in power, falls] is the most elegant way to handle it. For example, starting with a little bit of Genden's backstory then going into what is now the second half of Act II, interspersed with flashbacks to scenes from Act I and Sükhbaatar's story, could make for a shorter, more manageable story.
ReplyDelete