Chester Brown’s “Louis Riel: a comic strip biography” is a creative way to depict an important figure in Canadian history. Although seemingly rather biased toward Riel as a positive figure, the comic book gives detailed coverage of many of the events that are prominent in the life of Riel. Because of the format, it was less a “learning experience” and more of a fun read.

I originally had to read this book as a part of a Canadian literature course and enjoyed it then. Now, re-reading it, I again enjoyed it very much. The reader almost gets lost in the format and doesn’t realize that they are actually learning! It is important for people to get to know Canadian history and the comic strip biography makes it a more accessible format for a much wider range of readers. I would, however, use discretion for younger readers as there is a lot of violence depicted and because of the author’s bias that has been written into the text and illustrations. I still believe that it is well worth a read and is an educational and valuable work. ( )

Louis Riel is an infamous Canadian personage. His story is very controversial and the story of what happened back then and what is politically correct to say happened can cause heated debate. In brief, Louis Riel tried to form a provisional government and negotiate with the Canadian government even though Canada had bought the land in which he and the Metis (half white/half Indian) lived. He captured English prisoners and executed one causing a furor in English Canada. Riel was eventually hung as a traitor.

This book is very biased to the Louis Riel, hero, side of the story. There are many things that I'm sure the author took license with and made up conversations between the Prime Minister and others to promote the big, bad, conservative, English government view point. However, even though the book is unabashedly pro-Riel, the author did manage to show the opposite viewpoint of him by showing Riel to be the man who thought God had talked to him and told him he would be resurrected three days after his execution. Whether he was a hero of the Metis people or a madman fanatic my person view is that either way he was a traitor to the country of Canada. This is what *I* was taught in school but a more revisionist point of view is taken nowadays to be politically correct.

While I laughed at many parts of the book that I think were supposed to be serious, I did enjoy reading the book. It was fun to read and the Canadian history aspect was great to see in a graphic novel. I'd love to see more in the same vein! If you are already familiar with the story of Louis Riel, I think you'd enjoy reading this. But don't start here if you know nothing of the history. Here's a website with a brief intro and a little video that was part of series shown here on Canadian television.

http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.... ( )

Fun Hergesque drawings and a fairly thorough (thorough enough that I didn't have to read all the endless caveats in the far-too-thorough appendix) retelling of the Riel story, presenting him as a hero of resistance to the State in a way that's compelling and convincing when the politics suggested are more of the anarchist variety and les so when it tips over into libertarian. Why are so many comic dudes fuckin' freaky libertarians? Anyway, I'm gonna use this in class. ( )

Witty and Informative

Both revered and despised, Louis Riel brings back all the emotions of ethnic nationalism in Canada. For one of the most complex and intriguing historical figures in Canadian history, Chester Brown does an admirable job in not only recounting the story of Louis Riel but also the major events of that period.

To be clear, Brown's version of events is biased by his own admission and certainly some elements were invented to fit the comic-strip. An example of this is the conversation between Lord Granville and Sir John A. Macdonald about sending troops to apprehend Riel. Brown admits that such a conversation never actually took place but certainly Macdonald did have to obtain permission from mother Britain.

Another interesting event to me was the meeting between Riel and then US President Ulysses S. Grant in 1875 to discuss plans to invade Manitoba. There were certainly some sympathies from some Americans such as in Minnesota who were pro-annexation but as Brown correctly points out Grant was in no position at the time to risk war, especially since the country was still amidst the reconstruction following the costly civil war.

Perhaps most controversial is Brown's characterization of Macdonald. The father of confederation, Brown portrays Macdonald as a ruthless conniving egomaniac hell-bent on expanding the railway (with kickbacks), ethnic cleansing of the Metis, and making an example out of Riel. Based on the sources that we have now, I would have to agree with Brown. Macdonald was a brilliant politician, he out-witted all his opponents including the British, the Americans and the natives. Macdonald was a master manipulator of which there has been no match since.

I've read a few comic-strip novels and I think that in certain situations they work extremely well. In this case, I would have to agree, the illustrations along with Brown's wit and choice of dialogue make this both an accurate historical representation and enjoyable reading. ( )

A very detailed biography of Louis Riel. The pictures and format are very plain, the text has a LOT of depth. Great for social project involving Riel Rebellion.
MIDDLE SCHOOL ( )

The way our government tricked people into backing their war was all too familiar. ( )

Louis Riel's struggles with the Canadian government were one of the few parts of Canadian history I found interesting in high school. Brown's biography of Riel is absolutely fascinating. I couldn't put it down. The artwork is simple, but beautiful in its own way, and the story itself is done in such a way that it flows very well. It can't, I imagine, be easy at all to make a comic biography of a man's life. Brown has also detailed where he departs from history, and recommends books to read for further interest (I appreciated both features immsensely) ( )

This is a 'comic strip biography' of an iconic Canadian political figure whom, I am sorry to say, I had never heard of before. Rather than parade my ignorance further, I will just say that Chester Brown does an amazing job here, working entirely within a strict and unvarying 6-panel grid, including pages of notes where he explains (among other things) where he has departed from the historical record.

This is also the only graphical narrative I've ever seen that includes an index! ( )