This graphic narrative neither illuminates geopolitics nor simply reinforces what the world already knows: that the Khmer Rouge perpetuated violence in the name of “anti-imperialism” at a scale largely unimaginable. If Veasna makes clear that trust is no guarantee of survival or happiness, he also shows that without trust-of those we know well and those we do not-we are lost. Despite a steady beat, mostly unseen or off in the distance, of cries, gunshots, explosions, and mass graves, a remarkably quiet story unfolds-about the small ways people managed not only to meet basic needs but also to maintain personal connections under conditions of forced relocation and despair. The intimate images of everyday life coupled with spare, concrete dialogue anchors these people to the center of their own stories. Avoid carrying the following,” “A Day in the Life of the New People,” “Market value under the Khmer Rouge.”Ī small child at the time, Veasna learned the details of how his own family experienced the Khmer Rouge regime only later, through interviews with his surviving relatives. The narrative’s deliberate pacing is punctuated by full-page maps and survival “guides”: “To Avoid Trouble. Fine-lined pen-and-ink drawings are colored in pastels, with the occasional startling red-as in crosshatching of the symbolic Khmer Rouge uniform scarf. Author and artist Tian Veasna, born just three days into the brutal regime of Democratic Kampuchea (1975–79), meticulously documents the daily lives of his parents and extended family during this period. THIS GRAPHIC NARRATIVE begins in the uncertain days after the Khmer Rouge takeover of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Year of the Rabbit by Tian Veasna