La Perdida: Part Five Reviewed

REVIEW by Nora McCrea ~ La Perdida: Part Five by Jessica Abel (Fantagraphics Books, 2005)

The La Perdida series is finally coming to a close, more with a whimper than a bang. This five-part mini-comic is narrated by Carla, a young Anglo-Mexican American... 

... raised entirely Anglo, who sets out for Mexico City to reclaim a part of her father’s background, Frida Kahlo-style.  It’s both touching and painful to watch her revisit the pyramid of Tenochtitlan, put her hair up in braids and collect Mayan pendants while struggling to learn Spanish and make the ends meet for herself and her mooch boyfriend. Told in flashback, the finale lacks the sense of inevitability of our first glimpse of Carla in a Chicago bodega, fearing for her life if a D.F.-connected cholo sees her but unable to resist one last taste of the Mexico she was forced to flee.  Like the hole of the bullet that killed Burrough’s wife found in her rico first boyfriend’s parkside apartment, Carla’s downfall is seen a long time coming, starting with her deepening involvement with would-be Commie agitators and thugs and culminating in her ex’s kidnap-ransom.  With pitch-perfect Spanish dialogue and Abel’s signature immediacy of drawing, this installment is well worth reading for series followers but new readers are advised to start at the beginning.