Barrier

A parable about barriers and empathy with echoes of The Defiant Ones.

A proud and angry Texas woman confronts a determined but humane Honduran man who has just crossed the Mexican border that abuts her ranch. In the midst of their stand-off a third party arrives on the scene and turns their differences into something to be overcome rather than resented and fortified.

The obstacle of the language barrier between the main characters is amplified by the book offering no translations for those of us who speak only English or only Spanish. I read it on split-screen with Google Translate and did a whole lot of typing.

It's heavy-handed but engaging and unfortunately still very timely in this age of Trump resurgent and ICE unleashed.

Disclosure: I show more received access to a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.com.

FOR REFERENCE:

Contains material originally published digitally as Barrier #1-5. show less

One of the best graphic mini series I've ever watchread.
Offers lots of thought challenges about immigration, communication, and differences/similarities between every human (and maybe between every terran and non-terran).
Half of it in Spanish language (of which I have a very limited vocabulary), the story succeeds in putting an (exclusively) English reader right in the middle of a situation where they have to keep in mind first and foremost that the being in front of them is not the enemy just because they can't understand it.
The unknown is not the enemy; fear is.