Words and Reality in Szymon Kudranski’s “Something Epic”

Last post, I wrote about reality in Szymon Kudranski’s Something Epic #1. Today I want to continue that discussion by looking at the beginning of issue #2 where Danny confronts his mother’s cancer diagnosis and discusses the semiotic nature of words, specifically the manner in which words only represent a part of reality, not the whole. When we read words on the page, we take them in with our eyes or ears and our brain transforms those symbols into images, reconstructing them within our minds. In this manner, we form the reality from the words.

When I read Julie Orringer’s The Flight Portfolio before heading to Marseille, I had no clue or geographical context for the spaces that Varian Frye and others traversed in the novel; however, when I read Anna Seghers’ Transit after returning from Marseille, I could see, albeit through a contemporary lens, the Canibere, La Joliette, and other districts in Marseille. My mind recreated the space from my own experiences in the city. This act of creation within our minds is what Danny examines in the opening of issue #2.

The issue begins much as issue #1, with various panels depicting a hospital scene. The first issue shows Danny’s brith, and the first page of the second issue, broken down into twelve panels, shows Danny’s mom’s in the hospital. The panels show the exterior of the…