Lizard in A Zoot Suit by Marco Finnegan is a story of displacement, anger and in the end, family.
Based on the cover alone, one might think that this was a silly story, filled with music and dance possibly. But no. No, this story has a solid dose of anger and bigotry, there is an unscrupulous navy man, and even more unhinged doctor, and then there is the lizard. In a zoot suit.
I had sorta hoped for an irreverent story, but I got hit majorly in the feels instead and that is cool too. Aside from the lizard, the main characters are a pair of sisters who are trying to live in a world that doesn’t seem to want them. Cuata and Flaca are Latino sisters living during the Zoot Suit Riots in LA. The sisters are a study in opposites, Cuata is short and sweet, cute, while Flaca is tall, lean and almost masculine. Together they find themselves mixed up with a lizard who lost his family and is being hunted by a governmental lackey.
The mixture of the real history and the sci fi makes a interesting story that will have you angry and hopeful in turns. I said the story wasn’t what I expected, but it was good. Solid story telling and good art make this graphic novel absolutely worth your time.
* as an aside, I don;t speak a lick of spanish but I could figure out most of it through context clues.
