The Lost Colony, Book One: The Snodgrass Conspiracy (Bk. 1) [Paperback]

Grady Klein (Author)

Book Description

Series: Lost Colony | Publication Date: May 2, 2006

Set in nineteenth-century America, The Lost Colony takes place on a mysterious island unknown to the rest of the world. No one knows it exists except its citizens, a colorful and outrageous band of capitalists, inventors, hucksters, and freemen. They jealously guard the island's fantastic wealth from the prying fingers of the outside world, even as they attempt to conceal its captivating secrets from one another. The Lost Colony is a boiling concoction of slavery, patriotism, religion, and greed--in many ways, the story of America itself.

The first in an addictive new series for readers of all ages, The Lost Colony is a self-contained world filled with endearing and memorable characters, whose hilarious foibles overlay a plot that resonates with America's own historical struggles with issues such as profiteering, racism and slavery. Thoughtfully written, richly illustrated, and always hilarious, The Lost Colony welcomes you into a new world.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This somewhat perplexing book is ostensibly the story of an island cut off from the rest of colonial America. The island is populated by a variety of "characters" who are just that—sitcom stereotypes without real motivation. Add to that the strange combination of both faux historical language and modern terms like "dude" and problematic artwork, and you have a book that doesn't quite hit its stride. At its center, this book is trying to tell a story about America in transition, about slavery and technology and capitalism. An old inventor comes up with a machine that will replace slaves, while another man, Snodgrass, attempts to manipulate the local currency. But the reasons for these characters' actions remain vague. The thick black outlines in Klein's artwork are filled in with a vast amount of digital effects, which distract and confuse rather than describe and elucidate. His storytelling is similarly busy, with each page filled with odd-sized panels without apparent rhyme or reason. The Lost Colony stakes out ambitious and worthwhile territory, but it needs to find a focus. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–Edweard Stoop makes his way onto an island that isnt on any maps and proceeds to paper it with posters for an upcoming slave auction. This act and his very presence precipitate a series of hijinx on the part of the residents. The characters are all given amusing ways of talking, and many have a secret agenda in their interactions, but the main point of the story is to provide or provoke a comic perspective on race and slavery, ending in a resolution that literally comes out of a machine. The exaggerated characters border on offensive, with attitudes that would be easier to classify if the story or artwork, and not the cover flap, informed readers that the action takes place in the 19th century–a claim undercut by relentlessly anachronistic dialogue and situations. The artwork is clever, with marvelous colors and elegantly rendered backgrounds, but the characters have been reduced to an objectified simplicity that makes them difficult to read. Additionally, visual sequences are frequently interrupted by sudden vignettes, either of a flashback or a metaphor rendered literally. These seem to exist in order to inject an additional dose of comedy into the proceedings while breaking up lengthy expository narratives. What they serve to do, however, is jar readers and further fracture the reading experience.–Benjamin Russell, Belmont High School, MA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: First Second (May 2, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596430974
• ISBN-13: 978-1596430976
• Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 6.2 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,502,737 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Grady Klein is a cartoonist, animator, and graphic designer who lives in Princeton, NJ with his wife and two sons. He is the author of "The Lost Colony" series of graphic novels and the co-author with Yoram Bauman, of "The Cartoon Introduction to Economics." To see Grady's other work, including The Dust Bunny, his award-winning animated short about the terror lurking under your sofa, please visit his portfolio at gradyklein.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Distinctive Debut, June 13, 2006

By 

A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lost Colony, Book One: The Snodgrass Conspiracy (Bk. 1) (Paperback)

As I read this odd first volume in a projected ten-book series, there was a vague sense of familiarity I couldn't quite identify. The title is clearly an allusion to the real-life "lost colony" of Roanoke Island (circa 1650), and the book itself appears to be set in an isolated village about two centuries later -- a quasi-1850ish America. But there was something about the bright colors, setting, and cast of characters that rang some little bell in the back of my head. Finally, after reading an interview with the author, it all made sense -- I had grown up reading the Asterix series, and so had he. The isolated village, strange characters, and vivid coloring all find their influences in the Asterix series.

With that out of the way, it has to be said that the storyline is a little disorienting. A stranger arrives in town, having crossed over on the small ferry which links the island village to the mainland. His task is apparently to advertise (via posters) an impending slave auction in the nearby city of Port Succor. The young daughter of the town's banker, Birdy Snodgrass, is keen to buy a slave to take over her household chores. Her father, meanwhile, waxes on about various vague financial "shenanigans" whose relevance to the plot is rather unclear. However, the town's Chinese-Mexican pharmacist/alchemist, Dr. Pepe Wong, is keen to erase the stranger's mind so that the village's existence remains unknown. Unfortunately, he entrusts this task to his huge Frankenstein-like helper, a strongman who has a talent for messing up simple tasks (these two characters are reminiscent of Getafix and Obelix from the Asterix series). Eventually Birdy makes it to Port Succor and has various adventures, culminating in her acquisition of a storytelling slave boy. Meanwhile, Dr. Wong brews up various tinctures and potions in order to try and guide events. Meanwhile, the village's few free black people and Indians band together to chase off the invasion of slave-catchers they believe is impending. And then there's Rex Carter, the local plantation owner, whose invented some kind of clockwork robot so that he "can be free of his slaves." All of this culminates in a kind of zany pitched battle which more or less restores the balance.

The artwork is very striking and distinctive. Klein creates his work in Photoshop, which leads to beautifully crisp lines and a highly controlled palate. His style is to build layers of color against which his dense black lines pop. It's very pop-arty and a lot of fun to examine. The paneling is strictly rectangular, but has enough variation in sizing and placement from spread to spread to give it a lively feel. Klein's dialogue freely mixes period with contemporary language, which makes what might have been a stiff semi-historical tale much more accessible. There is a clear running theme concerning slavery and race, as well as less explicit treatments of capitalism, technology, and the development of America. It's not particularly clear what Klein means by it all, but it's certainly interesting and distinctive enough for me to look forward to the next installment.

5.0 out of 5 stars the lost colony, November 9, 2011

By 

scott - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lost Colony, Book Two: The Red Menace (Bk. 2) (Paperback)

As I read this odd first volume in a projected ten-book series, there was a vague sense of familiarity I couldn't quite identify. The title is clearly an allusion to the real-life "lost colony" of Roanoke Island (circa 1650), and the book itself appears to be set in an isolated village about two centuries later -- a quasi-1850ish America. But there was something about the bright colors, setting, and cast of characters that rang some little bell in the back of my head. Finally, after reading an interview with the author, it all made sense -- I had grown up reading the Asterix series, and so had he. The isolated village, strange characters, and vivid coloring all find their influences in the Asterix series.