Displacement #[nn]
In "1," Kiku Hughes delivers a quiet, piercing portrait of displacement as her protagonist is uprooted to the Topaz internment camp in Utah, where she finds herself once again living near her grandmother’s family. The story unfolds in intimate, observant detail—listening to a violin through the wall, overhearing arguments in a language she can’t understand, and watching neighbors grapple with a divisive loyalty questionnaire that stirs fear, hope, and deep uncertainty. With every page drawn, inked, colored, and written by Hughes herself, the emotional weight of memory, silence, and identity takes shape in a powerful, personal narrative.
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Kiku and many others are transferred to the camp in Topaz, Utah, where she rooms with a family of three women. Once again she is lodged next door to her grandmother's family. Once again she listens to Ernestina's violin practice, and their arguments in Japanese, which she does not understand. Once again, she makes no approach to them. Community members quarrel over a new loyalty questionnaire. Some think it's entrapment for self-incrimination, and others fear they will be declared stateless. Others hope that it opens an entry into the U. S. armed forces.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).