Market Day is the latest graphic novel by James Sturm, published by Drawn and Quarterly in 2010. Sturm, a Xeric- and Eisner Award-winner, was born in New York City and currently lives in Vermont.
He is perhaps best known for his trilogy of historical fiction comics, The Revival, Hundreds of Feet Below Daylight, and The Golem's Mighty Swing. These were later collected an republished as the graphic novel James Sturm's America.
Market Day Tells of One Day in the Life of an Artisan
Market Day is the story of an eastern European Jew, Mendleman, living in a small village in the early 1900s. Mendleman is a skilled artisan who makes carpets and takes them to be sold in a nearby town each week – on the titular market day.
Sturm's graphic novel deals with one particular market day, during which Mendleman's outlook is radically altered. Mendleman, so proud of the craftsmanship of his carpets, discovers that Finkler, the shopkeeper who had long supported his work, has retired. The new owner of the store has no interest in buying Mendleman's carpets.
Mendleman takes his wares to other vendors in the marketplace, but no one is interested in such expensive rugs. When Mendleman sells his carpets at a loss to an emporium outside of town, he makes a discovery about Finkler that throws his entire worldview into doubt.
James Sturm's Art and Storytelling
Sturm's art in Market Day displays a firm grasp of the needs of the story. The linework is simple and clear, but thick blacks give Market Day the necessary foreboding and stolid atmosphere. Sturm's research on the period is evident in the details, though these are presented sparingly. The Old-World environment is conjured up, rather than exhaustively catalogued.
Sharp-eyed readers will notice some similarity between Sturm's style and layouts in Market Day and those of Art Spiegelman in Maus. This is not surprising, as Strum worked as a production assistant on Spiegelman's RAW magazine early in his career.
The use of color is also notable. Market Day employs a somber palette: muted greens and blues, pale yellows, and dull browns. These colors are put to good use as Sturm shows Mendleman imagining autumnal sunrises or marketplace crowds morphing into possible carpet designs.
Market Day an Elegy to Craftsmen
James Sturm's Market Day is a meditation on artistic integrity at one level, but it is also a commentary on the economic forces arrayed against simple craftsmen as well (Mendleman isn't the only one in the story to be undercut by cheaply-made competition). As such, its themes are timeless.
That the story of Market Day is far from upbeat is perhaps itself a testament to Strum's own artistic vision. It is easy to imagine this elegy to craftsmen as analogous to comic book artists or writers. Like Mendleman, many of them toil on worthy projects which receive scant praise and little money – a fate Market Day will hopefully avoid.
Luke Arnott - Luke Arnott has a Master's Degree in Comparative Literature from the University of Western Ontario, where he is currently enrolled in the ...
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