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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing artwork should be noted too., September 26, 2004
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.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The story of a Canadian rebellion, January 6, 2004
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.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Innovative and Beautiful, January 18, 2006
Noted Canadian graphic artist Brown here mines his country's less distinguished history to tell the captivating story of Lous Reil, a late 19th-century Metis (mixed French and Indian) leader. The story begins in the 1860s, a time when only a small portion of present-day Canada was actually known by that name, the middle third of present-day Canada (Manitoba and Saskatchewan) was claimed as the property of the British Hudson Bay Company, and the Western third of present-day Canada was claimed by Britain. In the middle of the Hudson Bay Company land, about 50 miles north of the Minnesota border, a loose cluster of English and French parishes known as the Red River Settlement was home to several thousand settlers. When the Canadian government struck a deal with the Hudson Bay Company to purchase their land, it upset the Red River locals. These settlers, many of whom were of mixed French and Indian blood, and some of whom had been there for generations, were concerned (and rightly so) that they would loose their land under this arrangement. They embarked on a course of self-rule that put them in a state of rebellion against the Canadian government, and the educated, bilingual Louis Reil emerged as their leader. Brown does an admirable job of retelling the fairly complex story of the settlers' 16 year struggle to stave off rule from Ottawa. There's a lot of to-and-fro, as Reil and other key figures move around a lot, including trips to Ottawa, Montreal, Washington, DC, and London. There are also some major time shifts that make the story a bit choppy, but there's no doubt that history comes alive in Brown's hands. Despite dropping out of sight for years at a time, Reil remains the figurehead of the "rebels" (mostly Metis, but also some disgruntled Irish Fenians), even as he descends into bouts of religious madness and is committed to a mental institution by his friends. The final portion of the book becomes tragic, as the Canadian government sends troops to crush the rebellion, and Reil resists all advice to wage a guerrilla war which might have made things quite difficult for the government. His reticence to use "Indian tactics" results in a total rout of the Metis, and he is captured and hung after a show trial. There's are strong themes of cultural and economic imperialism, capitalism, and racism that will interest those interested in the less heroic side of North American history. For example, one plot point shows how politicians schemed with the rail barons to send troops by rail as a way of raising public support for railroad funding. The artwork is fantastic, contained in a formal grid of six square panels per page. It will strike many as old-fashioned in its sparse, 2-dimensional style (which Brown attributes to the influence of Little Orphan Annie). The panels are expertly balanced and calm, showing a mastery of tone and mood. And as with all works published by Drawn & Quarterly, it's beautifully produced, with top-notch printing on a rich cream stock and great two-tone printed cloth cover. One minor quibble I have is with the use of the word "biography" in the title. Given that Brown's excellent annotations to the story make it clear that he's changed a great number of details from the historical record, it seems somewhat misleading to subtitle it this way. It is a fictional account based on real history, but not entirely faithful to it, and so might be better termed "A Historical Fiction" or "A Fictional Biography". No one would ever write a prose biography and have footnotes indicating that they had changed details. Still, it's an extensively researched work, and a great place to start learning the story of a Canadian folk hero.
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