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koreilly's review against another edition
4.0
If you've ever wondered what a just-the-facts, fully sourced biography of a Candian frontiersman would like if drawn by someone influenced by early 20th century newspaper comics then look no further.
While a bit dry, it's an easy read and the art itself is very well done. I had little to no knowledge of Louis Riel or the conflicts in Wester Canada thanks to my "World History begins with the Pilgrims and ends wit World War II" midwestern schooling, so it was also a fun educational read.
While a bit dry, it's an easy read and the art itself is very well done. I had little to no knowledge of Louis Riel or the conflicts in Wester Canada thanks to my "World History begins with the Pilgrims and ends wit World War II" midwestern schooling, so it was also a fun educational read.
saidtheraina's review against another edition
3.0
Story of the man largely responsible for the creation of Manitoba who fought for the rights of the first peoples-descended residents.
Truly horrifying stories of the many ways the Canadian government tried and generally succeeded at screwing over the homesteaders.
I was fascinated, although when Riel started going off the deep end, I started to lose interest and considered not finishing. It becomes a bit less of a story vindicating the little guy and more tragic tale of a mad man. At least in my eyes. Brown seems to stay pretty neutral, so it's hard to settle on a lens on the events.
Truly horrifying stories of the many ways the Canadian government tried and generally succeeded at screwing over the homesteaders.
I was fascinated, although when Riel started going off the deep end, I started to lose interest and considered not finishing. It becomes a bit less of a story vindicating the little guy and more tragic tale of a mad man. At least in my eyes. Brown seems to stay pretty neutral, so it's hard to settle on a lens on the events.
demy_giant's review against another edition
Am I crazy about this? Not really. But I had fun while reading it.
As a comic, the novel adheres strictly to a 6-panel-per-page format that feels comforting (almost boring), but the content within is anything but. The form imposes a symmetry while the representational strategies diverge asymmetrically. Despite the black and white print of the novel, most of the characters, the story, and the moral are greyer than grey. The formal symmetry couches the narrative at a critical distance away from Louis Riel as an affective character, while the asymmetry of light and dark demystifies him but never humanizes him. This dialectic energy creates a special reflective engagement between the reader and Louis Riel's narrative. We never quite get a hold of his interiority or "true self." The flatness (I don't mean it as a dig) of both his character and the art style does not satisfy any curiosities about figuring out Louis Riel as a Human Being. He remains a portrait framed within Canadian history. A historical figure rather than a person.
As a comic, the novel adheres strictly to a 6-panel-per-page format that feels comforting (almost boring), but the content within is anything but. The form imposes a symmetry while the representational strategies diverge asymmetrically. Despite the black and white print of the novel, most of the characters, the story, and the moral are greyer than grey. The formal symmetry couches the narrative at a critical distance away from Louis Riel as an affective character, while the asymmetry of light and dark demystifies him but never humanizes him. This dialectic energy creates a special reflective engagement between the reader and Louis Riel's narrative. We never quite get a hold of his interiority or "true self." The flatness (I don't mean it as a dig) of both his character and the art style does not satisfy any curiosities about figuring out Louis Riel as a Human Being. He remains a portrait framed within Canadian history. A historical figure rather than a person.
michael5000's review against another edition
3.0
I am strongly drawn to histories in cartoon form, but almost always a little disappointed by them. The problem is that the leading work in the genre -- Larry Gonick's many-volumed Cartoon History of the Universe -- is so outrageously good that it is hard for anyone else to compete. Gonick's books are treasures, and I would never wish them away, but the field of non-fiction cartooning might be a little more healthy if its pioneer hadn't set the bar quite so high.
Louis Riel is the biography of a Canadian populist, rebel, and, arguably, nut-job who was involved in two local conflicts during Canada's late 18th Century expansion onto the prairies. He led working-class, French-speaking, Metis inhabitants of the prairie provinces in their struggles against the great powers of the Canadian government and the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Students of westward expansion anywhere in the Americas will not be suprised to learn that minorities and those who opposed the expansion of capitalism and its attendant systems, here as elsewhere, end up with a fairly raw deal.
Brown's treatment of this history attempts a factual, relatively "literal" retelling, and makes no particular effort to be funny. Me, I'm old-fashioned -- I prefer comics that are, you know, comic, so as a matter of taste Louis Riel is not especially my cup of tea. I can attest that it is well-drawn in a style reminiscent of Tintin, albeit in stark black and white. As far as I can tell it is quite well researched. The incidents in question illustrate some of the real concerns and conflicts of "The West," which is nice; Western history has been so buried under more than a century's worth of competing mythologies that any glimpse at actual documented incidents is always full of surprises. Learning about the expansionist phase of Canadian history, furthermore, is a good exercise for those United Statesians who always imagine a halo floating up there above the Maple Leaf.
This particular work of "comix history" did not ~wow~ me, especially, but it illustrates the strength of the form: in a short evening, I went from total ignorance of a historical episode to having a comfortable layman's understanding of what happened and why it was significant. Thanks, Chester Brown! I salute Louis Riel as a successful effort in an important and underdeveloped genre. I would love to see many, many more books like this one.
Louis Riel is the biography of a Canadian populist, rebel, and, arguably, nut-job who was involved in two local conflicts during Canada's late 18th Century expansion onto the prairies. He led working-class, French-speaking, Metis inhabitants of the prairie provinces in their struggles against the great powers of the Canadian government and the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Students of westward expansion anywhere in the Americas will not be suprised to learn that minorities and those who opposed the expansion of capitalism and its attendant systems, here as elsewhere, end up with a fairly raw deal.
Brown's treatment of this history attempts a factual, relatively "literal" retelling, and makes no particular effort to be funny. Me, I'm old-fashioned -- I prefer comics that are, you know, comic, so as a matter of taste Louis Riel is not especially my cup of tea. I can attest that it is well-drawn in a style reminiscent of Tintin, albeit in stark black and white. As far as I can tell it is quite well researched. The incidents in question illustrate some of the real concerns and conflicts of "The West," which is nice; Western history has been so buried under more than a century's worth of competing mythologies that any glimpse at actual documented incidents is always full of surprises. Learning about the expansionist phase of Canadian history, furthermore, is a good exercise for those United Statesians who always imagine a halo floating up there above the Maple Leaf.
This particular work of "comix history" did not ~wow~ me, especially, but it illustrates the strength of the form: in a short evening, I went from total ignorance of a historical episode to having a comfortable layman's understanding of what happened and why it was significant. Thanks, Chester Brown! I salute Louis Riel as a successful effort in an important and underdeveloped genre. I would love to see many, many more books like this one.
pentlacj's review against another edition
4.0
Brown presents a fascinating way to engage with history. The story can seem over-simplified at times, but overall this is a neat way to learn about Riel.
robkoechl's review against another edition
4.0
A fascinating read. I had mostly known only of Riel in name, and a few details of his life, but not really knew much beyond that. I was pleasently surprised and intrigued by how dramatic the events were. It really opened up many details of the life of this well known Canadian and those Canadians around him. It portrayed well the tension that existed at that time between the French and the English, the Natives and those coming into the new country, the Catholics and the Protestants, and how Riel represented so many of those characteristics which were not what those in power in Ottawa were. Also fascinating was the way that war is portrayed as really anticlimactic and executed by those who really don't know what they are doing. A good read that makes me want to research more into Riel's life.