Sep 17, 2009

Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography

Posted by Noam Ash

One of my all-time favourites. Chester Brown has an extraordinary gift for using spare, simple illustrations to convey a depth of human emotion and complexity. He portrays individuals not caricatures, and offers unique insights into the minds of historical figures on both sides of the Red River Rebellion. Highly entertaining, this is a must read for anyone interested in Canada's campaign of Western Expansion during the early years of confederation.


Drawn & Quarterly

Chester Brown reinvents the comic book medium to create the critically acclaimed historical biography Louis Riel, winning the Harvey Awards for best writing and best graphic novel for his compelling, meticulous, and dispassionate retelling of the charismatic, and perhaps insane, nineteenth-century Metis leader. Brown coolly documents with dramatic subtlety the violent rebellion on the Canadian prairie led by Riel, who some regard a martyr who died in the name freedom, while others consider him a treacherous murderer.

"It has the thoroughness of a history book yet reads with the personalized vision of a novel."--Time Magazine

"If you love to read a gripping story, if you are awed by the talent of an artist, then look no further: Chester Brown's Louis Riel is
comix history in the making, and with it, history never looked so good."--The Globe and Mail Book Review

"The starkly told story of a crucial figure in Canada's history--yet one whom most Americans have probably never heard of. It's a credit to Brown's plainspoken artistry and flair for narrative that it's a page-turner till the end."--The Boston Phoenix

"This is an ingenious comic and a major achievement." --Publishers Weekly Starred Review

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