Midnight Sun [Paperback]

Ben Towle (Author, Artist)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 2007

In 1928 an Italian airship expedition to the North Pole mysteriously disappears. As the stranded crew of the airship prepares for an extended stay on the drifting icepack where they've crashed, a dispassionate American newspaper reporter is dispatched to cover the event from aboard a Russian rescue ship.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At first the facts sound like an alternative history concept, but the basics are true: in May 1928, an Italian airship on its way back from exploring the North Pole (where the crew had dropped an Italian flag and a cross blessed by the pope) crashed before lifting off again with part of its crew. The ship disappeared forever, leaving nine crewmen stranded on the ice. Weeks later, after a massive international search followed intently by world newspapers, eight of the men were rescued by a Russian icebreaker. Towle's cleanly illustrated tale adds impact to these events first by inventing a gin-soaked New York reporter (was there any other kind?) with a need to prove himself and sticking him on the icebreaker heading north. More intriguing, though, is Towle's imagining of what the airship's crew goes through on the ice, arguing over whether to search for land (drifting ever further away) or stay still and wait for rescue, though the ice appears to be cracking. Somewhat too brief but vividly imagined, this is high-quality graphic historical fiction, bringing an obscure but colorful page of history to dramatic life. Suitable for young teens. (Dec.)
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Review

His sparse linework does wonders in portraying stark, arctic climes, and his use of grays gels flawlessly to transform his otherwise barren outlines into smoggy, urban settings. The dialogue is spot-on and the characters expressions are gleefully readable ... a masterful work of historical fiction by a soon to be established champion of the field. --Dave Baxter, Broken Frontier

At first the facts sound like an alternative history concept, but the basics are true: in May 1928, an Italian airship on its way back from exploring the North Pole (where the crew had dropped an Italian flag and a cross blessed by the pope) crashed before lifting off again with part of its crew. The ship disappeared forever, leaving nine crewmen stranded on the ice. Weeks later, after a massive international search followed intently by world newspapers, eight of the men were rescued by a Russian icebreaker. Towle's cleanly illustrated tale adds impact to these events first by inventing a gin-soaked New York reporter (was there any other kind?) with a need to prove himself and sticking him on the icebreaker heading north. More intriguing, though, is Towle s imagining of what the airship s crew goes through on the ice, arguing over whether to search for land (drifting ever further away) or stay still and wait for rescue, though the ice appears to be cracking. Somewhat too brief but vividly imagined, this is high-quality graphic historical fiction, bringing an obscure but colorful page of history to dramatic life. Suitable for young teens. --Publishers Weekly, 12/24/07

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: SLG Publishing (December 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593620888
• ISBN-13: 978-1593620882
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 5.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #605,530 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and Well-Drawn, February 18, 2008

By 

Charles Finch (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Midnight Sun (Paperback)

Midnight Sun, about a group of stranded Italian airmen near the North Pole and the reporters and sailors tracking them, is fascinating and well-drawn; small gestures fill out even passing characters, and there's comedy in nearly every frame, even when the tone is somber. But the book could have used ten more pages, if not for further explanation than at least for a fuller picture of our characters' lives, and its ending felt abrupt, if apposite.

4.0 out of 5 stars Historical graphic novel, September 3, 2008

By 

Steven E. Higgins "vacuumboy9" (Florissant, MO United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Midnight Sun (Paperback)

Ben Towle's graphic novel Midnight Sun is a work of historical fiction set in the Prohibition era that tells the true story of the ill-fated airship the Italia's Arctic expedition. The book focuses on the rescue efforts of a Russian icebreaker called the Krassin, searching for survivors after the blimp crashes near the North Pole.

The aforementioned events are factual, and Towle documents the painstaking research he did into the story in an afterword. But in that brief essay, he also freely admits that the book blurs fiction with reality in that the story's main character, an American reporter named H.R. who is placed onboard the Krassin to get the scoop on what happened, never actually existed. This character simply serves as a narrative device to draw us into the story.

Still, despite his role in the story being entirely made up, H.R. still feels real to us because Towle does his best to show us the personal drama in this tragedy. On the ship, H.R. is often left helpless due to the language barrier between himself and the ship's Russian crew. He does make a few friends, however, including another journalist, a Russian woman whose fiancé was one of the Italia's missing crew. H.R. is drawn to comfort her in her time of hardship, and gradually he finds himself more and more attracted to her. All of these emotions are conveyed beautifully by Towle in the merest of moments and glances, and these events help us to fully comprehend the cost of this accident.

As the events on the ship slowly unfold, Towle cuts back and forth between those scenes and scenes that show the fate of the Italia's crew, trapped on the ice for weeks without food or water. He wisely chooses to begin the story in medias res, with the men already crashed on the ice, so that we can see the interpersonal dynamics between these crew members fighting to survive from the first page on. Several of the men are injured, and each of them has their own conflicting ideas for how to deal with the harsh conditions and how best to seek rescue. Again, these character moments allow us to truly feel how they must have as they fought to survive.

Towle then slowly reveals the incidents of the crash through a variety of flashbacks, deftly handling these jumps back and forth in the timeline of events as well as between the two locations. One scene in particular wonderfully juxtaposes H.R. preparing to depart on the Krassin with scenes of the men on the ice combing through the wreckage in search of supplies.

Towle's art is relatively uncomplicated, but it is also beautiful in its simplicity. The facial expressions of the characters are conveyed through minimal lines, and despite the fact that the characters' eyes are mere dots, even these are incredibly expressive. Towle's overhead images of the Arctic landscape skillfully convey the sense of scale of their surroundings and the hardships the crew are confronted with. The men on the ice are gray shadows on a white background, with just a few black lines to delineate the horizon or various ridges in the ice.

At other times Towle's art can be extraordinarily detailed, especially in its depiction of the icebreaker or the dirigible. These details illustrate the efforts Towle took to accurately portray the time period, paying special attention to how these ships look in an attempt to draw us into the narrative and make it feel real to us. Through this same imagery, Towle also conveys the sharp contrast between the comfortably sheltered, slow-paced voyage of the icebreaker and the stark reality, fraught with tension, of the men on the ice waiting nervously for rescue.

Originally, SLG began publishing Midnight Sun as a five-part miniseries, but only three issues were released before the company's move from single issue comics to digital serialization, releasing the final chapters as downloads on the website EyeMelt.com. Now that the full story has been collected in print for the first time, it is definitely worth seeking out. The rich storytelling found in this story make it resonate despite any minor historical inaccuracies, and the creative liberties Towle takes with the story only serve to help the reader understand the circumstances better.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic piece of historical fiction - good art and great pacing, June 24, 2008

By 

K. T. Webster - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Midnight Sun (Paperback)

Ben Towle does some very interesting stuff with this lesser known historical event. The storytelling is paced beautifully and the art 'feels' right for the subject matter - a nice blend of 'real' and 'comic-book' imagery. I highly recommend this book. Last note - the size is lovely and it somehow makes the book feel like a collector's item.