Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

This is all while he's in Kansas, researching the Clutter murders, and it's fictionalized.   This is admitted in the afterword, where the author talks about why he dismissed Harper Lee earlier on than in real life, and it's because he felt it was necessary to the story.  I appreciate the transparency, and the acknowledgement that fictionalized stories don't necessarily stick to the truth.   (Just like I felt with Quills, the play and the movie.   The writer - the same for both - admitted that he was trying to use a historical fiction to tell a story that could only be told by warping history itself.  And I loved Quills!)   He also addresses the fact that so much of what Capote did would be impossible without Lee's assistance.   

However, I'd be more upset if this was done simply to erase the woman's presence.   However, another female character is introduced, and it's through her that so much of the intricacy of this story comes into play.   And she'd be impossible if Lee had stuck around.   In my opinion, the author was correct: Lee was sent out early so that the story could be told in the way he had seen this.   It's incredibly intense, all the more so for the amazing black and white illustrations that highlight the starkness in, well, everything in this.   It's a hard read to be honest, but so worthwhile. 

Capote must charm a small Kansas town, something he's not very good at.   He manages it, and he manages to convince them he wants to do them and their lost members justice.   But he also gets drawn into the world of Perry Smith, a surprisingly sympathetic character given that this graphic novel doesn't shy away from the atrocities he committed.   Still, his childhood is hauntingly similar to Capote's, and he's shown in the most vulnerable of positions.   It's shocking and humbling how the author manages to convey this character, to provoke such conflicting emotions...

And the one thing that detracted, for me, and that I skipped were some of the extras.   The afterword, deleted scene, and sketches were lovely, but the breaking down of themes and characters were not helpful.  I saw what had been going on anyway, and I felt like they were trying to Cliff Notes me here.   Did not like, if only because it made me feel as if the author wanted me to know how clever he was.   It was kind of insulting, making me feel as if they needed to tell me just in case I wasn't smart enough to figure it out on my own.   I could see how brilliant this was without them slapping me in the face with it at the end.   I think I might have felt this way, though, because no other graphic novel I've read has really done this quite this way.   I just want to read the graphic novel, and if I need help deciphering, I can google it, thank you very much.