Eurasian Love #1
Anuj Shrestha
Reviewed by Darren Hick

Talk about wearing your cause on your sleeve. I'm typically loathe to judge the morals behind a book, rather than simply the book itself, but this one's an exception.

Eurasian Love presents the six-page story of an evening out with Ash and Raj -- the former a lithe, blonde girl of aryan descent; the latter, a young Indian man. We encounter them one Sunday morning, as they are driving off in search of lunch. By the third panel, if the title hadn't already made it apparent, the issue of race comes up. Raj, confronted by his girlfriend on his "sketchy" behavior, reflects, "Sometimes I think I'm too self-conscious about my race... last night was proof of that." Eurasian Love quickly dovetails into a world of black and white -- of "them" and "us." The world the author presents is one of "race-betrayers" and compliant minorities; of assholes and weaklings. Not one person is encountered in the course of the story who might be termed to be of desirable ethics -- except Ash and Raj, that is.

At the Burrito Barn (termed "Nice, authentic Mexican: American style"), Ash and Raj encounter a compliant Mexican girl serving a couple of dicks. The dicks' conversation follows:

Dick in classic Archie Bunker undershirt: "I hope these damn Mexicans get the order right this time... Always jackin' it up cuz they don't understand shit..."

Skinhead Dick in N.W.O. shirt: "Most of 'em are illegal anyway, what do ya expect."

Dick in classic Archie Bunker undershirt: "Hell yeah, Bra."

[High-fiving follows as Ash and Raj make for the door.]

A discussion ensues between Ash and Raj over the nature of passivity in the face of moral ineptitude. At this point, I thought that perhaps we'd get to some interesting (though, admittedly, I was expecting heavy-handed) ethical discussion. No such luck. The conversation is cut off as Ash and Raj arrive at another restaurant, a classic '50s diner this time.

My hopes for the work were dashed once again as the waiter arrived. A spittin' image of Archie Bunker -- undershirt and all. And yes, before long, he shows himself to be yet another racist in a world of racists. Ash and Raj, seemingly no longer in search of lunch, but rather of any person of acceptable moral prowess, up and leave.

On a park bench, Ash and Raj continue their discussion of passivity, when an elderly couple happen along on the sidewalk. The gent drops his cane, which Raj, kindly enough, picks up and hands back to him. After the couple thanks Ash, championing his moral stature, Ash and Raj give up the bench so the elderly folks can have a seat. After our heroes are out of sight, we close in on the elderly couple:

Elderly lady: See George! I told you we had nothing to fear from those people!!

George: You're right, those Orientals are a very kind people.

Cut to Ash and Raj driving off into the sunset, a Miss Saigon billboard to their south.

Jesus. Who exactly does Anuj Shrestha figure he's selling this to? Literally or figuratively? To actually believe that the world is made up of the good and the bad is terrible, but in a pitiful sort of way (though, admittedly, I'm not altogether sure where ol' George fits into this paradigm). To try and portray that "those Orientals are a very kind people" through this hackneyed attempt at ethical advocacy is another kind of mistake altogether. Obviously the target of this book isn't those children who might still believe in a black-and-white world -- not with phrases like, "Didn't you hear that bullshit?!" in it. Could the target be the world of racists portrayed in the book? Only if Anuj figures George's realization is likely to convince someone whose entire moral fiber is based on the separation of race.

No, Eurasian Love is a dismal failure. I'd like to say the author's heart was in the right place, but that would mean at least partially accepting belief in a world as black-and-white as the one Anuj portrays. I'm just not willing to do that. It's unfortunate that there aren't a lot of better-created comics works dealing with issues of race. If Eurasian Love is what we've got to work with, we could use some rethinking on the matter.

Eurasian Love, if you're interested, costs $1.00 (or a whopping $2.25 in Canada), and I imagine can be hunted down from its creator at shrestac@ucsub.colorado.edu.