Victory Parade

by Leela Corman

AN NPR, WASHINGTON POST, GUARDIAN, AND PW BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • The author of the Eisner-nominated graphic novel Unterzakhn now gives us a heart-wrenching, phantasmagorical tale of love, loss, and trauma both personal and global, set during World War II in Brooklyn, New York, and in the newly liberated Buchenwald concentration camp.

One of a group of women working as welders in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Rose Arensberg has fallen in love with a disabled veteran while awaiting the return of her husband, Sam, a soldier in the American army serving in Europe. As we follow the bittersweet, heartbreaking stories of Rose and her fellow Rosie-the-Riveters, we’re immersed in the day-to-day challenges of life on the home front as seen through the eyes of these resilient women, as well as through the eyes of Eleanor, Rose’s impressionable young daughter, and Ruth, the German Jewish refugee Rose has taken into their home.

Ruth’s desperate attempt to exorcise the nightmare of growing up in pre-war Nazi Germany takes her into the world of professional women wrestlers—with devastating consequences. And Sam’s encounters with the horrors of a liberated concentration camp follow him home to Brooklyn in the form of terrifying flashbacks that will leave him scarred forever.

Victory Parade paints a deeply affecting portrait of how individuals and civilizations process mass trauma. Magnificently drawn by Leela Corman, it’s an Expressionist journey through the battlefields of the human heart and the mass graves of genocide.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Historical Fiction, Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, War, LGBT

176 pages, Hardcover

First published April 2, 2024

About the author

LEELA CORMAN has illustrated books on subjects ranging from urban gardening to the history of the skirt, and her work has also appeared in The New York Times, on WNET/Thirteen, and in The Boston Phoenix, Lilith, Bust, and Tikkun. She studied painting, printmaking, and illustration at Massachusetts College of Art. Leela is also a professional belly dancer. Her radio show, "Ecstacy to Frenzy" airs weekly on GROWRadio. She lives in Florida.

Reviews

[Sujoya - theoverbookedbibliophile · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Many thanks to Pantheon Books for the gifted copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This book was published on April 02, 2024.*

Set in 1943, Victory Parade by Leela Corman is a brutal yet profoundly moving meditation on the horrors of war and trauma, the challenges faced by the women who contributed to the WWII effort back home while they waited for their men to return from the war front, Jewish refugees fleeing persecution and the physical and psychological scars left on those returning from home.

The narrative, presented in vivid watercolor, follows the cast of characters among whom are Rose, a married woman employed as a welder in Brooklyn who is involved in a relationship with a disabled veteran; Ruth, a German Jewish refugee taken in by Rose who finds a violent outlet to vent the simmering rage she harbors; and Sam, Rose’s husband who returns home destined to be haunted by visions of what he witnessed in the liberated concentration camps. Through haunting imagery illustrator Leela Corman presents their stories - perspectives from their past, present and beyond– real and surreal – cathartic, nightmarish and devastating.

Intense and dark yet brilliantly composed, this graphic novel is an experience that I would not hesitate to recommend to those who read WWII fiction.

Connect with me! ✏ Instagram ✏ My Blog ✏ The StoryGraph

[Kim Lockhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an emotionally difficult and excellent read. It tackles the fraught lives of women in WWII, trying to navigate limited independence, new temporary changes in gender roles due to the war effort, their complex interactions with chauvinusts and bigots, the inability of everyone to deal with the emotional impact of war, and the absolute horrors of The Holocaust. It's very well done and very affecting.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting failure.

In the closing months of World War II, a Jewish woman named Rose Arensberg works a factory job in Brooklyn and has an affair with a co-worker while her husband is deployed with a unit in Germany. She has a daughter, Eleanor, and has also taken in a Jewish refugee from Germany, Ruth Leib, a young woman who finds herself pulled into the world of professional women's wrestling when she is fired from her waitress job. The storytelling wobbles a bit with the dialogue and the overuse of dream sequences, but I was slowly engaging with this offbeat look at homefront struggles and relationships, especially Ruth's glorious but tortured wrestling career. But then the wrestling storyline ends in a most abrupt and unsatisfying manner. And before I could really process that unfortunate turn, the last section of the book basically dumps all that came before to suddenly center the story on Ruth's husband and a concentration camp in Germany with a crap-ton more hallucinatory and dream sequences.

There are some intriguing and powerful scenes, but it just doesn't comes together as a whole for me: too much dreaming, too little Ruth, and an ending that feels like it belongs in an entirely different book.


(Best of 2024 Project: I'm reading all the graphic novels that made it onto one or more of these lists:
• Washington Post 10 Best Graphic Novels of 2024
• Publishers Weekly 2024 Graphic Novel Critics Poll
• NPR's Books We Love 2024: Favorite Comics and Graphic Novels

This book made all three lists.)


FOR REFERENCE:

Portions of this book originally appeared, in different form, in Tablet in 2017 (https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/com...) and in The Believer in Spring 2018 [#118, April/May 2018] and Summer 2019 [#125, June/July 2019] (https://www.thebeliever.net/).

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suffused with death imagery, this is a dark and haunting graphic novel, set in 1943, examining the lasting damage of the holocaust. The last section in particular knocked me out.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25/5

Gifted by the publisher

following three individuals in NYC and a newly liberated concentration camp, Corman paints a heart-wrenching picture of those haunted by love & loss during WW2. I love the focus on Jewish women set in the US, where they aren't portrayed as damsels in distress waiting for the West to save them. Instead, each woman lives a rich inner life as they face challenges of antisemitism, sexual harassment, survival, and so much more. Corman utilizes gorgeous and affecting visuals to portray a civilization's mass trauma and the impact reverberating through generations.

--

initial thoughts

Gorgeous water color with absolutely harrowing and heartbreaking stories that follow 3 individuals during WW2. The story is nonlinear and the blend of reality/horror can be a bit disorienting to readers. But I think the author did a phenomenal job in demonstrating how grief and loss can consume someone

[Lila Kocieniewski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so glad that I got to read my Aunt Leela’s book and got to celebrate her book signing. I love that got to read this labor of love of hers!

[DALZ · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked this a lot! the way leela corman writes women (and sexism) is exquisite. 4.5ish stars

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this graphic novel, depicting Brooklyn during the latter part of WWII. Corman has a unique style and the illustrations are filled with death imagery, expressing the horrors of war.

[Raina · Rating 4 out of 5]

WWII, wrestling, feminism, sex, concentration camps, military, factories, New York, grotesque, struggle
Follows several women who are recruited to wrestle performatively during WWII. Gets real weird, surreal, and symbolic - toward the end especially.
I liked seeing what Corman does with color here, especially as a progression from the more limited color palette of Unterzakhn. The edition I read is also large-scale - pages that are larger than 8.5x11 which gives the reader great opportunities to swim in the vivid watercolors. I appreciate that she's building a body of work that tells parts of the midrash of early American history.

Read while watching:
Glow
A League of Their Own

[Hanna Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the artwork, except at moments I had a difficult time telling certain characters apart. I of course *loved* the spooky dream sequences and any visuals with death, but also they confused me at times. I absolutely loved the female wrestling plot of course, and I wish that had been more prominent and also not as suddenly cut off. There were actually several very jarring, disjointed transitions throughout and the ending kind of went off the rails and didn’t leave me feeling satisfied but overall very good!!

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Soteralzobooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8 (biblio)

[Jo Forresten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bør leses. Man blir dratt inn i historien og føler godt på hvordan det kunne vært under 2. verdenskrig.

[Samah Sharmin · Rating 5 out of 5]

like Corman’s other book, this story is filled with misery made beautiful through fantastical illustrations and complex characters. Like her other book, the narrative centers several different women, easily distinguished by their vibrant hair colors💁🏻‍♀️💁🏼‍♀️💁🏽‍♀️ Yhe book travels between Germany and America and spans nonlinearly through WWII, creating characters with rich backstories. The book explores how wartime forged new relationships between lonely wives, discharged soldiers, foreign women, and traumatized veterans that were challenged by the return to “normalcy” after the war. it’s a taboo topic put on full display by vivid illustrations that had me turning down the brightness on my IPad… I love how the story travels between Germany and America and spans throughout the

Corman also highlights how despite being Jewish and a war victim, Ruth’s German features mark her as a target in her new home in New York, where ironically, she was sent to be safe before the Nazis shut down Jewish emigration.

I also love Corman’s depiction of souls, like that of the Nazi general whose corrupt soul renders him “nothing” in the afterlife, or of the concentration camp prisoners finally escaping, albeit through death. The illustrations left me entranced by Corman’s conception of death, and the possible vixen that awaits us with open arms on the other side…

There’s so much happening in this story, it’s definitely worth a read.

[Rick Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Victory Parade by Leela Corman follows a community of Jewish women living in Brooklyn. Set in 1943 at the height of the Second World War, women lead the efforts of driving industry and society forward as the men have departed to the front lines. This graphic novel is a canvas for the collective trauma experienced by the women of this time, their suffering and their grit all in the face of one the greatest human tragedies of all time.

Much of the narrative centers on Rose who has taken to welding to earn a living and begins an affair with a disabled veteran, George, who provides comfort to her while her own husband in on the front lines. George for his own part deals with the trauma of a lost leg during the war and is often subdued, giving Rose an outlet to serve as a nurturer. Rose also cares for her own daughter Eleanor, who has found a friend in Ruth, a German Jewish refugee that Rose has taken into her home. Ruth's own story is enigmatic, but the trauma is clearly evident with her moody disposition and eventually finds her calling in women's pro-wrestling. Through the three main women leads, Leela Corman is weaving a tapestry of experiences that women of the time would go through, with all the highs and lows fully elucidated. Men are used sparingly in the narrative, mostly as plot points in service of the women leads, but it's clear that Corman wants to show the inflicted trauma on men as well. When the narrative briefly shifts to Rose's husband, Sam, who is a soldier aiding in the liberation of Buchenwald, we see in full view the horrors of the front line. War is devastating everywhere, and though Victory Parade is centered on the stories of those left behind, the potent impact on those who've seen it upfront and what trauma they carry back with them is made abundantly clear.

The melancholy nature of the story bleeds heavily into the artwork, most of which is convey with the moody watercolors which Corman describes as "the portal of life and death opened". The linework follows the style most attuned to post-expressionistic movements of the late '20s, a fitting choice for the period this comic is set in. The vivid and dynamic lines add to the moroseness, but can also have a level of playfulness that adds some much needed energy. Nowhere is the dynamic nature more felt than in Ruth's wrestling matches which evoke a comparison to Jaime Hernandez's work in Love and Rockets. It's very accomplished looking work that captures both brutality and banality in equal measure, and effectively delivers the poignant story of women who lived through a supremely challenging period of history.

[Peacegal · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars--Surreal, haunting, and disquieting are the words that come to mind for this intense and artistic graphic novel. In the shadow of WWII, no one is spared--either by the war machine itself or their own tormented memories.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It may be the best thing I’ve read in ages. And horribly, horrifically relevant.

This book deserves a more thorough review but I need a bit more time to gather my thoughts.

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I never found a flow reading it. Seeing the women working while the men were away was the most interesting part.

[Sabina · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely exquisite & haunting

[Hal Schrieve · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a good book about ghosts! I love Leela Corman's art!

While many books dealing with Jewish life in WWII focus on people in Europe/escaping Europe's Holocaust, this graphic novel is about women working in factories and boxing rings during WWII as their husbands, brothers, lovers and abusers fight over the ocean. The central narrative is about a woman cheating on her absent husband with a wounded veteran who has lost a leg, and her roommate Ruth, who escaped Germany in the 30s, losing her mother in the process, and is recruited by a delightfully scummy promoter of women's wrestling when he sees her strong-arm a sexual harrasser into a cafe table. Towards the end of the text, we also travel to the camps at liberation through the eyes of a now-traumatized Jewish American soldier. Ghosts are present in the text from the beginning, showing up as severed limbs in American Jewish dreams, and gradually streaming through the cracks more in abstract, artistic panels, finally rising to extinguish the deceased soul of a Nazi so he vanishes from the world forever. There's a lot of darkness and multiple deaths on both sides of the Atlantic. Corman follows up earlier works about Yiddishkeit and American diaspora with this one, which interrupts expectations of women's home front stories with brutality, gritty toughness, difficult love, and true ugly things. The waterfront, working-class world jumps in muted grey-blues and sallow greyish skin to reds and yellows that are livid and uncomfortable to look at. I LOVE this art style, its ziney traditionalism and its insistence on face-forms that don't allow us to imagine anyone here is remotely happy.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This is a story that takes a reader through the lives of several people who are all reckoning with the trauma of the Holocaust, all in a different ways. You follow Ruth, who finds a way to channel her anger and trauma through professional women's wrestling, but not without discrimination and consequence. Then there's Rose, who waits for her husband to return from war while working with other women who all have their own grievances and secrets, as Rose quietly reckons with the grief caused by her affair. You also see Rose's child, who learns about the state of the world through passing conversations, and desires truthfulness and clarity. When Rose's husband returns from war, reality and the horrors of his past blend together in a surreal terror, a waking nightmare. Still, everyone must continue on and find a way to march forward. The characters have their walls up, and it seems nobody knows quite how to come to terms with the current state of their lives (understandably so).

The watercolor is striking and the style of people's facial and body expressions is harsh, real, and emotional. There are many homages to other works of art within this time period that blend with the story beautifully. I didn't rate it higher because it sometimes felt disjointed, or unclear at points where reality and horror blend into each other. It's a style I enjoyed regardless, and I would recommend it for those looking for emotional and beautiful WWII fiction.

[Sharon Moores · Rating 4 out of 5]

We're inundated with WWII material, and I often stay away from it now -- it looms in world psyche for a reason, but personally I feel there's more history to discover. But I can't ignore the big deals, and I'm glad I read this. The artwork is great, and the use of other artistic reference to frame events and thoughts is fantastic. I usually hate dreams in movies and literature, but it works here, because of course everyone is haunted.

What didn't work for me is that it felt like two different storylines. One is the continual harassment and sexism women faced at the time and what that leads to, and one is WWII/the Holocaust and what that leads to. I think Corman is trying to connect the two as similarities, not as two separate things happening at the same time, but if so, it isn't quite coming together for me. The Holocaust was outright genocide. The abuse of women is not genocide for obvious reasons. It's horrendous and pervasive and has lastingly damaged a whole gender for centuries, but even as a feminist, I still don't know if it can be equated with trying to wipe out an entire people.

All that said, I'm going to be haunted for a while, too -- this book sticks with you.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Pantheon Books for my gifted copy. Victory Parade is a beautifully crafted, super intense and dark graphic novel set in 1943 in Brooklyn and the newly liberated Buchenwald Concentration Camp. It’s told through watercolor prints about trauma, the brutality of war, and the women who had to endure while their men were on the home front. This book brings you in like a body slam and holds you down till it finally ends and you can say uncle. Told through 3 different characters views Rose, her daughter Eleanor and Ruth a German Jewish Refugee that Rose has taken in. What we begin to see is that Rose has fallen in love with a disabled veteran while her husband has been away and Ruth who suffers from prewar nazi Germany finds solace/place for her anger in women’s wrestling. Through out this haunting narrative there is the psychological, and physical trauma, but in the end it does an exemplary way of showing the human heart/condition. What an intense, gory, raw and yet fervent read.

[Suzanne LaPierre · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a haunting, artistic graphic novel for adults about women working in factories in WW2, their husbands and lovers, and a young female German Jewish refugee who becomes a wrestler. "Victory Parade" is a tongue-in-cheek title, as no one comes away feeling victorious, unless you count dark revenge fantasies. In this harshly realistic book, there are no easy happy endings. Survival is the goal.

One of the characters is a Rosie the Riveter who falls for a disabled veteran while her husband is serving on the war front. Another is a young German Jewish refugee with a good heart but a bad temper who gets hired to wrestle other women for blood-thirsty audiences. Then we see Rosie's husband return from the war and struggle to adjust to civilian life with a young daughter while haunted by the horrors he witnessed in concentration camps.

If you like truly artistic graphic novels where at least half of the story is in the imagery, you can finish this is in one sitting. It will stick with you.

[Marcia Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leela Corman was a student of mine back in the 1980s, when she was in fourth grade. Even then, she was always drawing, dreaming, creating, and being unique among her classmates.

Several months ago, she took part in a book talk at Columbia University, so I made it a point to attend. We hadn't seen each other in decades, though we kept in touch via Facebook. Our reunion was joyful, and her talk was fascinating. So naturally, I knew I had to read her most recent graphic novel.

I found Victory Parade moving, terrifying, honest, painful, and ultimately brilliantly original. Her recognizable drawing styles work well to support a surreal yet authentic glimpse into the world of World War II exploring survival, loss, death, war, fear, memory, and women's wrestling!

I'm so very proud of her work, originality, courage, and style. Frankly, I kvell!! (Yiddish for being filled with pride)

[Taylor Hathcock · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this was a book that is completely out of my comfort zone. I can 100% say it's the first graphic novel I've ever read. I gave it a shot because of the World War II dynamic. It was interesting to have illustrations while reading... even if some of them were more revealing than I was expecting haha. I have to be honest and say that I have zero idea about what was happening in this story. I mean it seemed to showcase women who were just trying to survive in the only ways they knew how. It also showcased the trauma from the war that men experienced. I just found it really hard to follow and honestly spent a lot of time confused about what some of the panels were trying to get across.

[Shoshanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely phenomenal. Terrifying, heart wrenching, you will feel big feelings. Leela Corman jumps through time, place, and character, in what can feel like vignettes. There is no one main plot, all narratives are interconnected.

Warning: the images in this book can be quite horrifying, but it is essential reading. If you have loved the haunting art of Art Spiegelman, Ulli Lust, or Miriam Katin, you will love this. I absolutely love the melding of reality and dream, of death and life. I'd love to know so much more about many of the characters, but these are the clips we have.

I'm going to buy this book. We really need this in Jewish comics right now and Leela Corman never disappoints.

[Susannah Breslin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an absolute masterpiece. It's an electric, searing, beyond Spiegelman's Maus anatomical and artistic investigation of the twin traumas of war and violence, the nightmares that haunt survivors' waking and sleeping lives, and the banality of evil's horrifying consequences to the human soul. I read about this book in the Washington Post and read it in one day (I had to take a few breaks because it's so powerful). I can't recommend Victory Parade enough. It should win all the prizes and praises. Congrats to Leela.

[doowopapocalypse · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC from Netgalley.

Brutal and poignant, Corman shows us a side of WWII not often explored. It's a painful, harsh world. Nowhere is the noble patriotism we are so regularly served. Instead, we navigate a hurtful and hurting place. The women of this book are put upon in any way imaginable. Despite stepping up into vital war industries there is no halting of the misogyny, racism or sexism they endure. But endure they do, and we are left to wonder if it was indeed worth it.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some experiences can permanently affect people’s lives. That often causes a disconnection with their family and friends who are unable to understand how they have changed. Leela Corman explores this idea in her graphic novel “Victory Parade” (Schocken Books). The novel mostly takes place in Brooklyn in 1943, but the effect of having living during World War II underscores the action.
See the rest of my review at https://www.thereportergroup.org/book...