At 17, Katah is the youngest child and only one in his family of three that hasn’t seemed to inherit his late father’s gift for cooking. His father, who passed away when Katah was still a baby, was a famous Hye Empire chef who worked for nobility in the Pars Empire—something unheard of because of the complicated history between the two nations.
When Katah’s mother’s illness worsens, the siblings turn to Az, a powerful, cheeky and potentially manipulative magical being known as a div. Az is the same div their father made a deal with as a child in exchange for perfect taste abilities. Az agrees to lend the siblings his power to cure their mother, but only if they can make him a dish as good as their father’s. Could Katah’s dreams that feel more like his father’s memories hold the key to winning the bet?
In the author’s note of Fustuk, debut author Robert Mgrdich Apelian explains that he set out to write the kind of book he lacked as a child: “a tale of Middle Eastern joy and magic.” Stories often center on tragedies in the Middle East, so Apelian instead focused on family and food, channeling Armenian and Persian mythology to create this magical realist graphic novel. The fictional Hye and Pars empires showcase the beauty of these two real-life cultures through Apelian’s illustrations of clothing, artwork and of course, the tantalizing cuisine.
Apelian’s art is gorgeous, expressive and dynamic. Each of the three timelines is illustrated in a particular color palette, and the panels of past timelines are framed with gorgeous patterns, which are stark against black gutters, setting them apart in a notable way. Apelian utilizes the Armenian and Persian languages untranslated for sound effects throughout, which, as a fan of manga, he knew would still be impactful and easily discerned through context.
Fustuk combines the family dynamics and mythological inspiration of Trung Le Nguyen with the magical realism and character development of Wendy Xu. Readers will be drawn to Apelian’s art, stay for the magical joy throughout and walk away feeling full of familial love, but hungry for delicious food.
