Yet, Delisle finds hope, humor, and respect for the culture and people of Burma while examining evidence of a comically paranoid government. It is also the second leading producer of opium, accounting for an incredibly high rate of heroin use - and subsequently AIDS. Burma is a country where objectionable material is cut out of magazines with scissors, the newspapers report only the most optimistic national news, and there are seemingly more soldiers than private citizens. This leaves him ample time to observe the day-to-day workings of a country living under an oppressive military dictatorship. Soon after arriving, Delisle finds himself caring for his son and shopping while his wife is treating malaria in remote locations. Burma Chronicles - as the name suggests - is an account of the year he spent in Burma (officially Myanmar) with his wife, who is part of the “Doctors Without Borders” program, and their young son. In the case of a graphic travelogue, such as Guy Delisle’s Burma Chronicles, factual events and locations are symbolically recreated: allowing two languages to convey what one alone could not.ĭelisle is no stranger to documenting his travels in comic form: 2000’s Shenzhen and 2003’s Pyongyang chronicled his time in China and North Korea, respectively. Both textual exposition and visual depiction are processed almost simultaneously, giving the reader an intimate sense of someone else’s mind. One of the greatest strengths of the hybrid nature of the comics medium, is that it creates the ability to tell a story in a remarkably personal way.

Burma chronicles