Operation Pedro Pan was an unusual mission, even by the standards of the early days of the Cold War. Facilitated by a partnership between the US government and the Catholic Welfare Bureau, Operation Pedro Pan helped sneak 14,000 minors out of Cuba following the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. This largely consisted of the children of upper-class Cubans who, while not affiliated with the Batista government, were fearful of what the Castro regime might do as it slowly took over the school system.
We Are Pan examines this moment in time through the eyes of several Cuban teens from different walks of life. Their lives are detailed both before and after Fidel Castro’s rise to power. There is Antonia, a judge’s daughter who dreams of becoming a movie star like Elizabeth Taylor. There is Wilfredo, who cares for his alcoholic musician father, hoping someday he will finally remember to give him the guitar lessons he promised. There is Rosa, who works as a waitress while waiting on a future with Cesar, the son of her boss. And there is Eugenio, who dreams of attending art college in Prague with the boy friend he hopes might become a boyfriend.
Writer Andre R. Frattino keeps the focus of the novel firmly upon the teens. Apart from one interlude showing how the real-world figures behind Operation Pedro Pan came together, the story is more concerned with the fictionalized accounts of these composite characters. Comparison to Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood and Kim Hyun Sook and Ryan Estrada’s Banned Book Club is appropriate and, perhaps, inevitable. However, Frattino simultaneously goes further than those works in acknowledging the problems leading to totalitarianism, even as he glosses over the flaws of Operation Pedro Pan.
For instance, it cannot be denied that Castro closed the religious schools in Cuba and attempted to turn the government schools into indoctrination centers. However, the excesses of the Batista regime and the role the United States played in them are largely ignored. Indeed, the only acknowledgement of this comes from Ernest Hemmingway (who is a fan of Wilfredo’s father) speculating that the rise of someone like Castro was inevitable after Americans “turned this place into our own little playground… at the expense of the people who actually live here.”
We Are Pan also glosses over the problems many of the refugee children experienced in the United States. Chief among these is systematic racism, which saw children determined to be “black” being separated from their lighter-skinned siblings. Racism is briefly acknowledged, as an airport security guard questions why the dark-skinned Wilfredo is in the company of the lighter-skinned Rosa, whom he befriended on the flight out of Cuba. However, these omissions are minor notes in an otherwise excellent narrative that drives home one key fact: whenever there is a war, of combat or ideology, it is always the children who suffer the most. And enough of the issues are still made clear to facilitate discussion in a classroom setting.
The artwork by Yasmin Flores Montanez is simple and serviceable. The character designs are distinct, with a variety of body types, shapes, and sizes. This prevents confusion in keeping the large ensemble of characters straight. The colors by Fabi Marques are similarly streamlined, with little in the way of excess shading or tinting.
Top Shelf Comics rates We Are Pan as being for readers ages 12 and up. I consider that to be a fair assessment. There is violence, with protestors of Castro’s revolution being shot in the street and one self-ending gunshot that takes place off camera. There is one scene of Eugenio painting a nude model, but this is limited to a single page, and nothing is shown, with her hands concealing that which must be concealed.
There is no on-panel sexual content and Eugenio’s romance is limited to holding hands with his beloved once. Even Rosa and Cesar are limited to chaste kisses and longing glances. There is, however, a frank discussion of upper-class teenage girls being conscripted to teach illiterate farmers how to read and write and being sent home after “mysteriously” being impregnated. Apart from one sinister looking man placing his hands on the shoulders of a young girl, the molestation is only spoken of in the text. However, this scene is uncomfortable enough it may be triggering for some readers.
We Are Pan
By Andre Frattino
Art by Yasmin Flores Montanez, Fabi Marques
Top Shelf, 2026
ISBN: 9781649363947
Company Age Rating: 12+
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18), Teen (13-16)
Creator Representation: Brazilian,
Character Representation: Cuban, Gay,
