Johnny Hiro by Fred Chao

31st July, 2009 by Christina - 1 Comment

When I was finishing up Scott Pilgrim, I needed a recommendation. Amy Adams of Bergen Street Comics was happy to oblige and suggested a book by a fellow Brooklynite; Johnny Hiro by Fred Chao. I did a little Google-searching to see what I was getting into and the write-ups all sounded Scott Pilgrim-esque in the surrealist “pop culture references come to life as 20-something has adventures and learns to grow-up.” Fun.

I had barely gotten in the door of my apartment when I started reading. Literally. Close door, hang up key, sit on floor in entry-way. And what those other reviewers were drinking when they read this book was beyond anything I’ve ever had; it was like they completely missed the point of the entire book. Amazon* has the book listed as “Action/Sci-fi”–my internal record needle just scratched reading that.

So what’s it really about and why did I love this book so much that I’ve opened it again? The artwork is beautiful and definitely helps you fall in love with a book, but it’s this stunning story and the fact that every review I’ve read since doesn’t seem to get it makes me wonder if the reviewers actually read the book or just looked at the giant lizard or hoard of samurai. It hurts to realize that they didn’t find in this book what I found and thus could not do it justice; the subtlety of the story makes this one of the most beautiful contemporary pieces of fiction I’ve ever read. For all its depth, the book remains fun–a nod to the hope it harbors.

I kind of get the Scott Pilgrim comparison beyond the pop-culture crazy, there’s just a nuance that separate the two–Pilgirm is a young twenty-something trying to make the transition into becoming an adult and learning what responsibility means. Hiro is slightly older; he’s made the transition and has gone about making a life for himself. But somewhere along the way his dreams got put on hold to just get through each day.

There’s all this imagery of the unreal and fantastical and if you’re not actually spending time on the story, that’s all you see and that’s how you end up only seeing the alterna-reality commonalities. But Johnny Hiro really hits you right in the gut because this is your life. It’s about being browbeaten by daily existence and wondering if the dreams your younger self had were all futile–but still enjoying the magic in silent moments.

It’s not just Hiro wondering how he’s ended up at this place in life. Even the celebrity cameos–Gozadilla and David Byrn**–have moments of wanderlust, contemplation about the “what-ifs” and of how they got to this spot this moment. How many people have become the person their teenage self imagined? Was there any one moment where it all went wrong that has left us trying to figure out how to get back on track or wondering if life is conspiring against us? And finally, how nice would it be to have a rock like Hiro’s girlfriend, Mayumi, who will support and love you through all the craziness?

All the craziness that happens to Johnny is explained in a series of one-off panels that are included for fun at the end of the book. Johnny has some of the usual variety adventures and sums up his day as being nothing exciting. That’s this beautiful metaphor of it all, the struggle to make it through each day is an adventure but it’s also the same-ol’-same-ol’ humdrum of daily existence.

So what makes Hiro a hero when he’s really just like the rest of us trying to make it through? The fact that he has hope, learns from his experiences, and keeps pushing on.

* Yes, we have other concerns and issues with Amazon as it is, so this wasn’t surprizing, but I guess it’s sort of like The Princess Bride –how do you categorize a book like this?
**Not Alton Brown though, he’s just there for the seriously good eats.

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