Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography

Rating:
Summary: The story of a Canadian rebellion
Review: Chester Brown spent the better part of five years on this comic book biography. It was worth the effort. Louis Riel was a religious leader of an uprising in Canada in 1885. Brown describes the events leading to the uprising, he shows how it played out, and then he wraps up the story with Riel's final fate. Along the way he touches lightly on issues of religion, political conspiracy, and insanity. For those readers who want additional information --- or who want to double-check Brown's accuracy --- there is a bibliography and extensive footnotes.

What sets this book apart is the fact that it's a big comic book. Brown tells the story using silent pictures whenever possible. Characters are drawn in a flat but beautiful way. No one is depicted as a cartoon, but the tone never matches a straight history book, either. Brown goes further by using the footnotes in a surprising way: He tells you that he got things wrong. Then he says he isn't sure why. At first, these tiny confessions seem strange, but then you realize he's just being honest.

If you're looking for a great graphic novel, this is the book to buy. Chester Brown has taken the story of a historical figure very few Americans have heard of and presented it in a unique way. Although it was written for adults, Louis Riel is a perfect gift for a young reader --- it's a comic book, but a very sophisticated one.

Rating:
Summary: The Riel Deal!
Review: Chester Brown's drawings are stark and sparse. The six-panel format used consistently throughout the biography is an excellent frame for telling history. The evenness of the presentation suggests that a flat and neutral point-of-view is used to tell the story of an apparently controversial figure. Not that you should necessarily trust such an assertion about Brown's telling, but it is highly effective.

It strikes me as highly unfortunate and typical that I have to come to this fascinating bit of Canadian frontier history this late in life and in such a format. Still, this is what I find myself looking for in comic books these days. Interesting stories about unusual topics.

Rating:
Summary: An ideal biography
Review: For many years I had little interest in the story of Riel. It seemed obscure, irrelevant, and uninteresting.

Reading this excellent comic book changed all this. Brown's book makes Riel's story come alive in a very clear, and easy to understand way. Prior to reading this, all I knew about Riel were some vague facts about him being a Metis leader who staged a rebellion of some sort. I know know him to be the modern founder of the province of Manitoba, a foe of Sir John A. MacDonald, and savvy political leader with democratic ideas ahead of his time.

Brown makes Riel's story fast-paced, interesting, and even contemporarily relevant. Unlike many other Canadian historians, Brown is not a snob to his audience. You don't need to know much about Riel before reading this book, the author goes out of his way to give all relevant information whenever nessisary.

This book is an excellent educational material for anyone interested in this key period of Canadian history. It is a perfect example of the diverse medium of comics, and proves the art from is suitable for a wide variety of story-telling, even the very serious.

I would love to see more comic book history books of this style. I hope Brown writes another someday.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing artwork should be noted too.
Review: Most of the previous reviews have touched upon how well this book has covered its subject matter and there is no disagreement here.
A few mentioned the artwork but not enough. Brown's work is astounding. In the introduction to Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography, Brown mentions the influence of Herge's Tintin and Harold Grey's Little Orphan Annie on his work and his wondrous black and white, six panel pages are truly an homage those great comics he cites.
For both story and artwork, five stars are too little for Brown's beautiful comic-strip biography. This book belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in either history or graphic novels/comic strips.

Rating:
Summary: More Please!!
Review: We NEED more Canadian stories told this way. What a great way to turn young people on to the stories of our country!
Great stuff!