SISTER MIDNIGHT

David Valente

SISTER MIDNIGHT

SISTER MIDNIGHT artwork, design and story

by David Valente

‘eurocomic’ font designed by nate piekos http://www.blambot.com/font_eurocomic.shtml

www.valentepencil.com © 2010 David Valente

it’s been 3 days...

‌it’s been Three days since my sister left for work and never came home.

when they finally let me file a missing persons report, the detective smirks and asks if he can keep the polaroid.

someone needs to turn the tables on these Cucarachas.

the cucarachas paid to protect us are paid more to close their eyes to rape...

‌ and murder... ...Femicidio.

since 1993 there have been over 400 women murdered in ciudad JuĂĄrez..

this is not the real Mexico...

...all border towns attract crime but ciudad Juárez is a war zone...

in ciudad Juárez, it’s hard to tell the hunter from the hunted. There is a ‘war on drugs’. The federal police dress in black and wear masks to protect their identities and to intimidate criminals.

The narco-traffickers have started wearing the same uniform but carry bigger guns...

...Here life is considered to be as cheap and disposable as a comic book.

I drive a taxi in a city that has no tourists.

Nearly 2000 people were murdered here last year. After a while it becomes just a number and We close our eyes to the carnage just to get by. my sister is not just another number.

like a lot of people here we were just strays looking for work...

... a stray dog only sees what he chases.

if I follow the bus close enough I can drive through the factory gates and try to talk to the drivers...

...there is a shift change at midnight.

in the border town maquilas, almost 80% of the workforce is made up of women.

the factory bosses believe that a female workforce is docile and easy to control...

...they send buses to the shanty towns to bring workers to the maquilas; the american factories that operate close to the border. The women of Juรกrez work hard for a chance at a better life. my sister is not someone who would be easily controlled.

calling sister midnight...

...can you hear me call...

...can you hear me well...

...can you hear me at all?

prohibido el paso.

I find myself on the wrong side of the border fence...

...just another stray dog...

...waiting to be put down.

“The American mirror, said the voice, the sad American mirror of wealth and poverty and constant useless metamorphosis, the mirror that sails and whose sails are pain.�

-Roberto BolaĂąo, 2666

hey kid...

I got a new delivery of comic books today...

...and come back when you want to buy a newspaper.

… don’t stare.

here... this one’s free. go and learn how to read...

www.valentepencil.com