The editor-in-chief of ABC magazine, Zdeněk Ležák, and the artist Štěpánka Jislová have jointly attempted to present the life story of Milada Horáková to young readers using a comic book form. Their effort to responsibly and comprehensively cover the fate of one of the leading female personalities of Czechoslovak history came true. However, to what extent the narrative is engaging or engrossing is debatable.
Those who are actively interested in the personality of Milada Horáková will not be greatly enriched by new knowledge. For the general reader, however, Zdeněk Ležák manages to bring the details and the context of the monster trials to life and to enrich them with lesser-known stages of Horáková's life, such as her childhood or her activity in the Social Welfare Department during the First Republic. Particularly for upper elementary school students or high school students, for whom the book is primarily intended, the book offers a superior insight into the topic. It manages to cover Horáková on a small scale on several levels - as a resistance fighter, activist and politician, but also on a personal level. Admirably, it does not lack a socio-historical context, supplemented by more than 50 condensed medallions of people who played an important role not only in Horáková's life, but also in Czechoslovak history as such.
However, this brings with it a large amount of text that does not belong in a simplistic comic, but acts as a pictorial biography with an educational overlay. Always dignified, but at times lengthy. This is primarily due to the minimal use of direct speech - speech bubbles with characters speaking. These are mostly replaced by windows in which a detached narrator describes the story, rather than the illustrations, or the characters themselves, telling it. The static visual aspect of the book is similarly affected.
The choice of colour, drawing and overall aesthetic by Štěpánka Jislová does not lack detail and care. The production design is clear and functional; however, she sticks rather close to the ground with her ideas. It suits Ležák's narrative style, but again it detracts from the dynamism of the story and brings it closer to the form of a more digestible textbook.
Milada Horáková fulfils exactly the requirements that most readers probably expect from a quality picture biography. It is packed with information and successfully puts an extraordinary life story into a contemporary context without slipping into unnecessary pathos. But it lacks the comic ability to tell a story through images and does not take full advantage of the appeal of the genre.
Tomáš Kulhavý
LEŽÁK, Zdeněk a Štěpánka JISLOVÁ. Milada Horáková. Praha: Argo, 2020.
The review was created at the Department of Journalism of FSV UK under the supervision of PhDr. Jana Čeňková, Ph.D.
