Marjane Satrapi

Marjane Satrapi is one of the greatest comic book writers of this generation. As far as I'm concerned, her works "Persepolis" and Persepolis II" belong in the canon of comics right next to Art Speigleman's Pulitzer prize winning "MAUS." Both works are strongly autobiographical and are about daily life during turbulent times.

I'm bringing this up now because Persepolis has been turned into a movie. This clip's in French so let me just describe the end of the clip for those nonfrancophones. The old ladies are harassing little Marjane because she's wearing western devil culture in the form of a punk jacket and pop music pin. She escapes punishment by pretending that Micheal Jackson is Malcolm X.

Finally, a comic by someone other than Frank Miller will be accurately translated into film. I can't wait to see it.

Marjane is essentially the opposite of Frank. She kicks ass. Here's the beginning of an interview that she did in the New York Times Magazine:

Interviewer: You’ve just turned your acclaimed series of graphic novels into a full-length animated film, “Persepolis,” an oddly charming tale about the brutal subject of growing up in Iran during the Islamic revolution. Would you still describe yourself mainly as a graphic novelist?

Marjane: I don’t very much like this term of graphic novel. I think they made up this term for the bourgeoisie not to be scared of comics.

That's the polite equivalent of giving the New York Times the finger. Here's how she ends the interview:

Interviewer: In the end, there will be just one country left that allows smoking, for all the nonquitters in the world.

Marjane: Yes, and I will go there. Smoking kills you, but life kills you, and if you don’t want to die, go into a freezer when you are born and nothing will happen to you.