2023-07-01 00:15:12
Ryan Lang is considered one of the most creative and promising American visual developers of the decade.
Indeed, having worked in animation at Disney, where he collaborated in several blockbusters such as Doctor Strange or Avengershe now works as an independent artist, which allows him to combine his passion for animation techniques and the narrative structure specific to comics.
In this exercise in style, Ryan Lang published in 2022 Issunboshi[1]a first graphic novel which is translated into French by Éditions Le Lombard[2] in 2023.
Issunboshi
Issun-bōshi in Japanese means one inch boy. It is also the title of a Japanese folk tale that exists in many variations. The most well-known starting plot tells the story of an elderly country couple who lived in feudal Japan. Having never had children, they prayed to the gods to have one. Their wish was granted and the couple was blessed with a little boy no bigger than an inch whom they named Issun-bōshi.
Ryan Lang’s Little Samurai
As the editor’s summary mentions: “The gods used the celestial spear, theAme no Nuhoko to move the oceans. The first Japanese islands were then born and it was at this time that the gods took fright: the power of this spear was such that they decided to hide it so that it would never be used for evil purposes. Its handle became a tree, its hilt a flower, its blade a stone, and its essence reached the heavens. The various elements of the spear remained untraceable for centuries, until the day when a they, a demon, set out on a quest to gather them and reforge the weapon. The spirit of the blade, frightened, made the decision to reincarnate…into a little boy only a few centimeters tall”.
This is how Issunboshi grew up with his parents without reaching the height of men.
A day without a father said to him:
We knew as soon as we found you that you weren’t the answer to our prayers, but something much more important than. That you were our son, but something and someone much more than that…I know that you are destined for great things, to be a great man. All I ask, all I will ever ask of you, is that no matter the challenges, you never give less than your best.
Issunboshi replied:
But what if the best of me isn’t good enough? If I can’t be who I’m meant to be?
The father added:
You don’t have to be the best to be a great Issunboshi man. You become so by giving the best of yourself.
These words, which will resonate deep within Issunboshi, will prove to be precious in his inner quest. His training alongside Noboru, Sen and Kenta will be necessary before he can face the demon. they.
We will say no more about the unfolding of events in this work, which is skilfully structured in five chapters.
Ryan Lang, who adds his personal touch, is nevertheless inspired by Japanese manga at the graphic level to produce this work, which is entirely published in black and white. The author also manages to create a balance between certain plates where the action takes precedence over the text, without neglecting the importance of the words, which allows him to tell a story against the backdrop of a moral and depth that is cleverly inspired by Japanese culture.
Finally, it should be emphasized that if in Japan the works around the character of Issunboshi are legion, we find in the West audacious adaptations such as that of Ryan Lang and in different registers the book-theater of shadows by Nathalie Dieterlé, or even Issunbôshi , the little samurai which is signed meanwhile by Alice Brière-Haquet and Sanoe.
Reda Benkoula
[1] The work was published in 2022 in English by Éditions Oni Press
[2] Issunboshi – The little samurai | Lang Ryan (Screenplay, drawing) | The Lombard | 2023 | 200 pages
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