Pyongyang #[nn]

Guy Delisle's Pyongyang presents one of the most quietly striking images in graphic memoir: a lone, small figure strolls casually past the towering Monument to the Founding of the Korean Workers' Party — three enormous stone hands gripping a hammer, sickle, and writing brush — with Korean text emblazoned across its base. The stark contrast between the solitary, unhurried person and the monumental propaganda architecture says everything about the outsider experience Delisle captures in his spare, confident linework. This 2017 Scratch Books edition is a compelling entry point into documentary comics at its most understated and observant.