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Second Avenue Caper: When Goodfellas, Divas, and Dealers Plotted Against the Plague
A Village Voice Best Graphic Novel of 2014
The renowned graphic-book author Joyce Brabner’s Second Avenue Caper is the true story of a tight-knit group of artists and activists living in New York City in the early 1980s who found themselves on the front lines in the fight against AIDS.
Struggling to understand the disease and how they could help, they made a deal with a bona fide goodfella, donned masterful disguises, piled into an “A-Team” van, and set off for the border, determined to save their bedridden friends by smuggling an experimental drug into the United States from Mexico.
With their community in crisis and the world turned against them, this impassioned gang of misfits never gave up hope as they searched for ways to raise awareness and beat the plague. Fast-paced, poignant, and beautifully illustrated by the award-winning illustrator Mark Zingarelli, Second Avenue Caper is a heartfelt tribute to the generation that faced down AIDS.
The renowned graphic-book author Joyce Brabner’s Second Avenue Caper is the true story of a tight-knit group of artists and activists living in New York City in the early 1980s who found themselves on the front lines in the fight against AIDS.
Struggling to understand the disease and how they could help, they made a deal with a bona fide goodfella, donned masterful disguises, piled into an “A-Team” van, and set off for the border, determined to save their bedridden friends by smuggling an experimental drug into the United States from Mexico.
With their community in crisis and the world turned against them, this impassioned gang of misfits never gave up hope as they searched for ways to raise awareness and beat the plague. Fast-paced, poignant, and beautifully illustrated by the award-winning illustrator Mark Zingarelli, Second Avenue Caper is a heartfelt tribute to the generation that faced down AIDS.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published November 18, 2014
3 people are currently reading
155 people want to read
About the author
Joyce Brabner
14 books13 followersJoyce Brabner and her family are the subject of the 2004 HBO film American Splendor about her and her late-husband, Harvey Pekar, and their life spent expanding the comic book medium beyond superheroes. She is the author of numerous books, including Our Cancer Year and nonfiction comic collaborations with Alan Moore, among many others. She lives in Cleveland, OH.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
November 17, 2016
A group of gay men band together in the early 80's to withstand the growing death rate that is overtaking their community. They start to make trips across the border to Mexico to buy Ribavirin to self medicate and help friends. Touching backstories sketch in the human element to the beginning of the AIDS epidemic.
April 18, 2015
I think this will probably be one of the best, if not the best graphic novel that I will read this year.
This true story, set in the early 80's is about a gay couple who decide to boost their income selling weed. Yes weed.
As their 'business' develops, the Aids crisis emerges and begins to cut a swathe through their friends and through the gay community in the US. They then realise that they have an opportunity to help and together with other friends they begin to smuggle early 'untested' versions of Aids drugs to the US from Mexico. This is a fantastic but simple story which reminds us how far we have come from those early days of fear, deaths and panic, and Government complacency, stigma and discrimination.
Back in the early 80's the Anti retroviral treatments that we have today were not available. Drugs were in the early stages of trial and unavailable in the US but some early untested drugs were available in Mexico.
In this story a group of friends, neighbours and even the local Mafia work together in order to get these drugs for people who had no insurance, no access to these drugs or no money.
I know that these drugs were limited in what they could deliver for people but they extended the lives of some people and gave people hope. It is amazing to see this story told in a really simple way in graphic form. It is important for humanity that the lessons from the early days of the AIDS pandemic are not lost.
Thirty years later Aids is a critical illness for many people instead of being the death sentence it once was. Of course we shouldn't forget that people still die in many countries where access to treatment remains challenging, but Governments now know what prevents the HIV virus from progressing to full blown AIDS. There is still much that can be done to improve access to treatment and to prevent the transmission of the virus but Aids does not have to be the death sentence it once was (if Governments keep doing what they are supposed to do).
It was interesting to see the way in which the WHO released some early versions of ebola drugs during the recent out breaks. Although these drugs had not been fully tested the WHO decided it was worth the risk. I like to think that perhaps some of the lessons from the AIDS crisis helped in the fight against ebola and it is graphic novels such as these that keep the stories alive in easy form for us to remember.
The art work is simple. Clearly lined drawing in simple black and white. The speech bubbles and text are also clear with just the right amount of words to tell the story and it does this in a powerful way.
I came across this comic quite by chance and as a AIDS activist I was curious to see how the graphics would present this story. It was excellent and I shall definitely recommend this novel to my comic book club.
A brilliant story and a brilliant graphic novel, brilliantly put together.
This true story, set in the early 80's is about a gay couple who decide to boost their income selling weed. Yes weed.
As their 'business' develops, the Aids crisis emerges and begins to cut a swathe through their friends and through the gay community in the US. They then realise that they have an opportunity to help and together with other friends they begin to smuggle early 'untested' versions of Aids drugs to the US from Mexico. This is a fantastic but simple story which reminds us how far we have come from those early days of fear, deaths and panic, and Government complacency, stigma and discrimination.
Back in the early 80's the Anti retroviral treatments that we have today were not available. Drugs were in the early stages of trial and unavailable in the US but some early untested drugs were available in Mexico.
In this story a group of friends, neighbours and even the local Mafia work together in order to get these drugs for people who had no insurance, no access to these drugs or no money.
I know that these drugs were limited in what they could deliver for people but they extended the lives of some people and gave people hope. It is amazing to see this story told in a really simple way in graphic form. It is important for humanity that the lessons from the early days of the AIDS pandemic are not lost.
Thirty years later Aids is a critical illness for many people instead of being the death sentence it once was. Of course we shouldn't forget that people still die in many countries where access to treatment remains challenging, but Governments now know what prevents the HIV virus from progressing to full blown AIDS. There is still much that can be done to improve access to treatment and to prevent the transmission of the virus but Aids does not have to be the death sentence it once was (if Governments keep doing what they are supposed to do).
It was interesting to see the way in which the WHO released some early versions of ebola drugs during the recent out breaks. Although these drugs had not been fully tested the WHO decided it was worth the risk. I like to think that perhaps some of the lessons from the AIDS crisis helped in the fight against ebola and it is graphic novels such as these that keep the stories alive in easy form for us to remember.
The art work is simple. Clearly lined drawing in simple black and white. The speech bubbles and text are also clear with just the right amount of words to tell the story and it does this in a powerful way.
I came across this comic quite by chance and as a AIDS activist I was curious to see how the graphics would present this story. It was excellent and I shall definitely recommend this novel to my comic book club.
A brilliant story and a brilliant graphic novel, brilliantly put together.
June 24, 2015
Comics history of the early days of AIDS, told through the words of Brabner and a guy she interviewed who were part of a merry band of activists (Brabner calls them "misfits") in NYC in the eighties. Some drugs that were known to have some disease-slowing effects were not yet available in the states, so the group schemes a trip in an RV to Mexico, complete with drag queens dressed, for the caper, as white bread, flyover Grandma and Grandpa. The caper was successful, though the drug didn't turn out to be that effective, but people were dying like crazy and people felt they had to take things in their own hands.
Sound fun and important? Maybe it could have been fun, and more interesting. We know Brabner and her old friend are in a del, she is tape recording, and that this tale is based on transcripts of the conversation. It lacks immediacy. It lacks narrative drive and humor. The drawing by Mark Zingarelli is fine. Maybe it can function as one small chronicle of these days and one small sad and funny story. But it feels distant and slow and more reported than lived, as a good story should be. I read this because Brabner was Harvey Pekar's wife, worked on Our Cancer Year with Pekar, and I saw Zingarelli did some drawing for American Splendor. I didn't have high expectations for this, thought it was all right.
Sound fun and important? Maybe it could have been fun, and more interesting. We know Brabner and her old friend are in a del, she is tape recording, and that this tale is based on transcripts of the conversation. It lacks immediacy. It lacks narrative drive and humor. The drawing by Mark Zingarelli is fine. Maybe it can function as one small chronicle of these days and one small sad and funny story. But it feels distant and slow and more reported than lived, as a good story should be. I read this because Brabner was Harvey Pekar's wife, worked on Our Cancer Year with Pekar, and I saw Zingarelli did some drawing for American Splendor. I didn't have high expectations for this, thought it was all right.
December 29, 2015
The tragedy and heartbreak of the 1980s AIDS epidemic is a story that needs to be told, and there are many really great books that tell it. This book however was not one of them. It recounts the true story of a group of artists and activists living in New York City who find themselves on the front line of the AIDS battle, but the detached way this story is told did not work for me.
October 2, 2019
Emocional y cálido cómic <3
August 25, 2019
“Trapicheos en la Segunda Avenida” cuenta la historia de algo que el colectivo LGBT parece haber perdido para siempre: la sensación de comunidad, la unión ante las dificultades, la existencia de auténticas tribus urbanas entretejidas entre los que eran marginados por el resto de la sociedad. Imagino que la mayor aceptación social ha hecho que esa voluntad de unión en los comienzos del movimiento por los derechos se fuese dispersando conforme la aceptación de las personas LGBT fue avanzando y conforme la heteronormatividad se fue abriendo paso dentro del estilo de vida de las personas no cisheterosexuales.
Emociona, pues, ver a esta familia urbana de marginados unida ante la adversidad y metiéndose en negocios turbios para poder así conseguir las medicinas que parecían la solución a la plaga que asolaba las filas de los hombres gays en Estados Unidos y que, por falta de resolución del gobierno norteamericano, sólo se vendían en México.
Este libro es un recuerdo cronológico del inicio y la expansión del SIDA y está narrado en forma de entrevista por un activista a favor de los derechos de los infectados, en un momento en el que su seguridad, su atención sanitaria e incluso sus funerales no recibían ninguna atención gubernamental a pesar de los miles de muertos.
Aunque la historia es muy interesante y artísticamente es muy atractivo (un cómic de trazo grueso, muy clásico, muy naturalista) los personajes están algo desdibujados y la historia parece demasiado apresurada. Aún así ha sido una experiencia muy interesante y creo que este es un cómic muy necesario para no olvidar nuestra propia historia.
Emociona, pues, ver a esta familia urbana de marginados unida ante la adversidad y metiéndose en negocios turbios para poder así conseguir las medicinas que parecían la solución a la plaga que asolaba las filas de los hombres gays en Estados Unidos y que, por falta de resolución del gobierno norteamericano, sólo se vendían en México.
Este libro es un recuerdo cronológico del inicio y la expansión del SIDA y está narrado en forma de entrevista por un activista a favor de los derechos de los infectados, en un momento en el que su seguridad, su atención sanitaria e incluso sus funerales no recibían ninguna atención gubernamental a pesar de los miles de muertos.
Aunque la historia es muy interesante y artísticamente es muy atractivo (un cómic de trazo grueso, muy clásico, muy naturalista) los personajes están algo desdibujados y la historia parece demasiado apresurada. Aún así ha sido una experiencia muy interesante y creo que este es un cómic muy necesario para no olvidar nuestra propia historia.
November 24, 2018
“We are all stars together,
And so long as you hold me tight,
We will end our lives as stardust
Streaking across the night.
We are all stardust.”
There are few things I enjoy more than a graphic memoir, especially one such as this that focuses in on a small but truly significant period in someone’s life. Beautifully written and drawn. Heartbreaking and hopeful. Highly recommended.
And so long as you hold me tight,
We will end our lives as stardust
Streaking across the night.
We are all stardust.”
There are few things I enjoy more than a graphic memoir, especially one such as this that focuses in on a small but truly significant period in someone’s life. Beautifully written and drawn. Heartbreaking and hopeful. Highly recommended.
December 4, 2018
This is a story about a heart-breaking time in history, but the book itself is full of humor and love. It tells the tale of a bunch of LGBTQ friends who sell pot to raise money to buy AIDS drugs in the early years of the AIDS epidemic, as well as helping out friends in other ways. Touching. I think a little more context would have been nice, but overall, I really enjoyed this.
June 1, 2015
I loved the history and the voice, but felt they were slightly let down by the art and the somewhat rambling storytelling. If there had been a dramatis personae to help keep the different and first name only people straight it would have helped me immensely.
Read
December 22, 2014The story of a group of people in NY in the early days of the AIDS crisis, supporting each other and smuggling drugs for the sick.
February 6, 2015
A stark reminder of a bleaker time, which wasn't so long ago. An important read.
April 18, 2022
What a fine piece of comics memoir of the 80s, AIDS, and a heroic set of capers in response.
Joyce Brabner and Mark Zingarelli do this just right.
Thanks to them both, to publisher Hill and Wang, and to the GSU Clarkston Library for the loan.
Highly recommended.
Joyce Brabner and Mark Zingarelli do this just right.
Thanks to them both, to publisher Hill and Wang, and to the GSU Clarkston Library for the loan.
Highly recommended.
January 3, 2015
Joyce Brabner's Second Avenue Caper is important mainly for telling the story of a tragedy which, because it only affected a small and unpopular minority, is seldom told at all, much less as well as she has in this book. For those who grew up in the late 1980s when, thanks to the efforts of C. Everett Koop and others, AIDS had become a relatively well-understood public health matter of general concern, and the first effective treatments had become possible, it is easy to forget the devastating impact that the disease had among the small community of gay men among whom it first spread rapidly, and whom it killed within months. The effect of the disease was magnified by public ignorance and hatred, which Ms. Brabner expresses very well, particularly in a scene where one desperately ill man is nearly prevented from boarding an airplane by a panicked clerk.
Set against this situation, Ray Dobbins, desperate effort to smuggle an unapproved, experimental antiviral drug from Mexico appears both deeply humane and tragic. The fact that the entire operation is bankrolled by his -- similarly illegal -- medical/recreational marijuana business only adds sad irony to this story.
Artwork by Mark Zingarelli, who previously worked on some American Splendor stories, is almost photographically well-executed and, while it might not add to the emotional expression of the story, it certainly does not detract from it.
Set against this situation, Ray Dobbins, desperate effort to smuggle an unapproved, experimental antiviral drug from Mexico appears both deeply humane and tragic. The fact that the entire operation is bankrolled by his -- similarly illegal -- medical/recreational marijuana business only adds sad irony to this story.
Artwork by Mark Zingarelli, who previously worked on some American Splendor stories, is almost photographically well-executed and, while it might not add to the emotional expression of the story, it certainly does not detract from it.
October 16, 2015
When people think of comics journalism, names that come to mind include Ted Rall, Joe Sacco, Guy Delisle ... But in some ways Joyce Brabner belongs on that list as well. Or at least her work is similar. She may not be on the front lines, but she has aided those who have been in telling their stories in comics form. In this book, the war is more metaphorical: the fight against HIV in the 80's. A group of New Yorkers formed a buyers club to bring pharmaceuticals and drugs from Mexico. It's a fascinating story, involving various colorful characters. The book seems like a lost volume of American Splendor, partially due to Joyce's association with Harvey Pekar, and partially due to Mark Zingarelli's art, as he worked on some AS stories as well. Folks who know her only as Harvey's wife may be surprised at how good this is. They shouldn't be, as she's done quite a few books over the years--Real War Stories and Brought To Light spring to mind, and she did co-write Our Cancer Year, one of the best graphic novels I've ever read. Anyway, Second Avenue Caper is a fine book, well worth your time, and I commend it to your attention.
December 26, 2014
I'm new to the graphic novel genre and to happen upon Joyce Brabner (author) and Mark Zingarelli's (illustrator) collaborative effort to bring to light an accurate and enlightening depiction of the efforts of a small group of New York City activists who, in the early 1980's, took on the fight against AIDS was powerful. I have friends who are HIV+. This book resonates on a very personal level; I can't recommend it highly enough. FIVE STARS (I'd give it more if I could).
December 24, 2014
This is a great story that deserves to be told in an easily-read format like this; it starts in the early days when gay men were falling sick but nobody really knew why, and is told from the point of view of someone who was there on the front lines, centered around trips some of them took to Mexico to smuggle in medication to help their friends who were dying. Engaging and honest, the story and artwork work well together.
September 30, 2015
Beautiful monochrome illustrations help tell a sensitive and sometimes humorous story set during the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in New York City. Like MAUS it deals with a very serious subject and thanks to the Illustrations of Mark Zingarelli captures the personas involved. A truly wonderful graphic novel.
November 20, 2015
As non-fiction should, this doesn't really follow much of a plot. Events happened. Lots of people died. The survivors endured to tell the tale.
And it is a desperate, outlandish story. Outcasts band together and break the last to get palliative drugs for their sick friends.
It's sad, and beautiful, and stories like this made the world we live in today.
And it is a desperate, outlandish story. Outcasts band together and break the last to get palliative drugs for their sick friends.
It's sad, and beautiful, and stories like this made the world we live in today.
September 17, 2016
Enjoyed this touching slice of the history of the AIDS epidemic during the 1980s, though "enjoyed" isn't quite the correct term.
I was not remotely aware of the details of what was going on during that decade beyond what the news media shared.
At tonight's book club, we got to enjoy (for real) discussing this book and the writing of it with the illustrator, who is a friend.
I was not remotely aware of the details of what was going on during that decade beyond what the news media shared.
At tonight's book club, we got to enjoy (for real) discussing this book and the writing of it with the illustrator, who is a friend.
February 6, 2025
When you're already marginalized, hated, abused, and even hunted, and then your only community starts dropping dead for mysterious reasons, and the establishment gives zero fucks, what do you do?
You break the fucking law and do what you have to do to care for each other and stand up to senseless death. Let it be a lesson. When drugs are illegal, only outlaws will receive medical treatment.
We are all stardust.
You break the fucking law and do what you have to do to care for each other and stand up to senseless death. Let it be a lesson. When drugs are illegal, only outlaws will receive medical treatment.
We are all stardust.
May 6, 2023
Interesante narración del comienzo de la epidemia de VIH, muy fluida y sin perderse en los detalles, se limita a narrar la vida de un grupo de amigos y como afrontaron una epidemia inicialmente marginal.
August 1, 2024
el tema interesantísimo pero me ha faltado que la historia fuera mejor contada
January 21, 2025
A personal and engaging memoir of friends lost in the early years of the AIDs epidemic.
A caper? Well, if money is needed to help, then odd alliances can form.
This is much more about a supportive core group and the extent to which they work to find medications, healing, and hope.
The images make it easy to keep track of the people, show connections, and add to the 'feels.'
A caper? Well, if money is needed to help, then odd alliances can form.
This is much more about a supportive core group and the extent to which they work to find medications, healing, and hope.
The images make it easy to keep track of the people, show connections, and add to the 'feels.'
February 28, 2015
About the early years of the AIDS epidemic, when people didn't know what or how to fight. The time period is important to know about, it is too often glossed over, when it was some strange thong happening to "those people. " In this book, the story is disjointed, going too quickly from the personal to the political, and from the story of the "dealer" of the title. Also, the end is rushed, rrying to het the main character's story to the present.
The illustrations by Mark Zingarelli are fantastic though.
The illustrations by Mark Zingarelli are fantastic though.
July 31, 2015
A very quick read and informative, but I also wish the format had been different. It was told in a detached manner despite being told as a story. It might've felt stronger had we been living in the moment along with the cast, rather than a retrospective. People also leapt in and out of the main circle of characters, so it was difficult to get attached to them, having only seen them in a panel or two.... But, overall, it's an important topic and the speed of reading could make it more accessible to some.
January 17, 2017
Terrific graphic novel about a real-life gay couple during the 80s AIDS crisis that sets up a clandestine drug trade in order to fund medical treatment for their afflicted friends. Not sure if it's just a common thread with graphic novels, but this one -- like so many others -- ends too soon, without the sort of resolution one would hope for. It almost feels like the author ran out of time before her deadline and kind of just slapped together an end. Not a huge problem, but you can see the exact place where this work falls just a bit short.
May 30, 2020
No tenía ni idea de qué iba esto y me ha fascinado. Podría hacerse una película o una serie, literalmente, con las aventuras de estos chicos. Flipante lo que tuvieron que pasar, y encima pueden contarlo aquí con toques de humor para sobrellevar la tragedia.
¿Y esa valentía y ese altruismo? No quiero ni imaginarme tener que vivir en esa época. Solo puedo quedarme pasmado por lo que tuvieron que pasar y agradecido por lo mucho que ayudaron a miles de personas del colectivo (y de fuera de él).
Otro libro maravilloso de Dos Bigotes 💛
¿Y esa valentía y ese altruismo? No quiero ni imaginarme tener que vivir en esa época. Solo puedo quedarme pasmado por lo que tuvieron que pasar y agradecido por lo mucho que ayudaron a miles de personas del colectivo (y de fuera de él).
Otro libro maravilloso de Dos Bigotes 💛
June 24, 2024
Part crime caper, part look back at a very specific moment in the history of the queer community, this book's greatest asset is how it wears its heart on its sleeve. I've seen abd read a fair amount of media about the AIDS epidemic and this is one of the most joyful. It's still dark and quite sad, but it's also joyful, and it shares the stories of the vibrant personalities taken much too soon. Both in this specific community and in a much larger sense.
January 9, 2015
A story that needed to be told. Could've been fleshed out and made into more- that was a little disappointing.
February 2, 2024
A quick review: I read this as part of a February reading challenge sponsored by our library and one of the goals was to read a graphic novel (my husband was able to check one of his goals in the same challenge by recommending the book).
I'm not a fan of the genre and for no other reason than they are expanded and more complicated comic books. When you have whole pages that are nothing but rendered images in cells and those images are designed to move the story forward, that's the basic concept of a comic book. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I loved comic books as a kid and they certainly hold a place in American literature (and this now includes graphic novels). I'm just saying it's not a genre I would gravitate toward unless required to read it.
I did find an appreciation for this story though, the recounting of the early days of the AIDS epidemic, and in using the graphic novel format, perhaps some of the younger generations of gay and lesbian community will learn a little bit about what those days were like. I lived through it. I've lost many friends and acquaintances to the disease, including my partner of 21 years in 2011.
It also tells of the heroes of those early war days, the underground drug channels, the local gay communities (especially our lesbian sisters) who stepped up to provide care and housing and so much more for men who were being shunned and forced into the street and left homeless to die.
For that, I give the book huge props. It did make me angry about those years. It made me sad to think of Daryl, and Tucker, and Jeff, and Christopher, and Randy, and so many others. And we're still dying. We're still preyed upon by the drug companies. We're still stigmatized despite improved long-term survival rates for those with HIV. In fact, HIV is now easier to control than diabetes.
We can do better.
I'm not a fan of the genre and for no other reason than they are expanded and more complicated comic books. When you have whole pages that are nothing but rendered images in cells and those images are designed to move the story forward, that's the basic concept of a comic book. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I loved comic books as a kid and they certainly hold a place in American literature (and this now includes graphic novels). I'm just saying it's not a genre I would gravitate toward unless required to read it.
I did find an appreciation for this story though, the recounting of the early days of the AIDS epidemic, and in using the graphic novel format, perhaps some of the younger generations of gay and lesbian community will learn a little bit about what those days were like. I lived through it. I've lost many friends and acquaintances to the disease, including my partner of 21 years in 2011.
It also tells of the heroes of those early war days, the underground drug channels, the local gay communities (especially our lesbian sisters) who stepped up to provide care and housing and so much more for men who were being shunned and forced into the street and left homeless to die.
For that, I give the book huge props. It did make me angry about those years. It made me sad to think of Daryl, and Tucker, and Jeff, and Christopher, and Randy, and so many others. And we're still dying. We're still preyed upon by the drug companies. We're still stigmatized despite improved long-term survival rates for those with HIV. In fact, HIV is now easier to control than diabetes.
We can do better.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews