After parachuting from a Boeing 747 with $200,000 in 1971, the never-caught D.B. Cooper entered into the late 20th century American mythology, the impetus for numerous stories including Churilla's surreal comic The Secret History of D.B. Cooper. In a conspiracy theorist twisted dream of reality, Cooper with the aid of a talking one-eared teddy bear wages a psychic war against the Soviet enemies of the United States. Along aside his government assigned mission, Cooper hunts for his missing daughter, whom he believes resides in a mysterious dimension known as the Glut. Meanwhile, enemy agents and even supposed allies attempt to destroy the troubled Cooper. Churilla further enhances the uniqueness of his tale by relying on a non-linear framework and art that ranges from cartoony to terrifying. The Secret History of D.B. Cooper, at times creepy and disturbing but always intriguing, delivers a magnificent and original revisionist history. ( )

The media tells us that in 1971, an unknown man hijacked a Boeing 727 in the PacNW and threatened to blow it up. We are told that with a load of cash strapped to his chest, he bailed from the plane, and was never seen again. The media had no name for him, creating the moniker D.B. Cooper to help sell stories and apply a name to the penciled sketches of his face..

These statements are fiction.
D.B. Cooper is not actually missing, he is not what he appears to be.
The media does not know that they were fed the truth disguised as a nickname.

Cooper is a ghost, a nobody, an educated guess, a mythological being. As with any good ghost, Cooper has been recruited into the CIA, becoming one of the alphabets top tier spook assassins, Soon to be on another alphabet most wanted list..

'The Glut', a playground space in the communal human subconscious. Following the disappearance of his daughter, Cooper finds himself able to spend near endless time in The Glut, no longer requiring hallucinogens to make the jump. Armed with a Japanese style samurai sword and his wits, Cooper searches The Glut taking out targets and unknowingly looking for his daughter Donna.

D.B. Cooper is an American Hero, not a folk hero or underground revolutionary, but a capital "H" Hero. His efforts kept the Coldwar at bay so that we might all own iPhones and take everything for granted.

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This Oni Press omnibus is pretty stellar. The story is well put together, unfortunately I didn't know about this until after the monthlies were already completely finished. Hopefully the hardcover compiled story will get a bit more press and word of mouth.

Freakishly cute one eared naively smart mouth red teddy bear. Delusional unhealthy unhinged CIA man fighting amorphous blobbish evil in the visual vein of Pink Floyd's "The Wall" animation? Yeah, this was solidly enjoyable. I could go for more.. Why is there no more? ( )

After jumping from a Boeing 727 on November 24, 1971 with $200,000 and a parachute somewhere between Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington, D.B. (Dan) Cooper entered American history as one of its most mysterious figures. Even with an exhausting manhunt and continuing FBI investigation, the fate of the hijacker, and his ransom, remain unknown to this day.

Author Brian Churilla plays on this mystery in his new graphic novel, ostensibly telling is the "secret history" of D.B. Cooper. In this interpretation, Cooper is actually a CIA secret agent and assassin working in one of the famed MK-ULTRA projects known as Project Oculus during the height of the Cold War. Using psychotropic drugs, Cooper was able to enter into another plane of existence where he was able to fight demons with the aid of a one-eared teddy bear sidekick and his own samurai sword. In reality each demon he was able to slay in the alternate reality was a Soviet target who would then meet his end in a very similar, and ofttimes gruesome fashion in this world. Using these methods, Cooper has been able to assassinate over 60 high ranking Soviet officials.

Problems begin to arise for Cooper when it is revealed that he has entered and worked in this demonic alternate reality so often that he is no longer able to separate this world from that in his mind. Add to this formula Cooper's own personal mission/vendetta, a Soviet agent on his tail in the demonic world, and an internal CIA investigation of double agents in this one, and you have the whole formula for The Secret History of D.B. Cooper.

All in all this was a very fast paced, visually appealing novel. As long as the reader is able to wholly suspend belief and embrace some of the conspiracy theories surrounding the MK-ULTRA project and CIA then it will be a very enjoyable one as well. Don't go into this graphic novel looking for theories and the history of the actual D.B. Cooper, although the real life events do tie nicely into this fanciful interpretation. My only critique is that the story did seem a little rushed and forced at times; some revelations are a little cliche and others merely seemed there only to cut a page count.

I give The Secret History of D.B. Cooper 3 stars out of 5 because it is a fantastic premise and a well written and drawn story, but I really wanted it to be a little longer. More time on Cooper's personal life, which is key to understanding his motivations with the CIA, as well as the Soviet counter project would have been very welcome and would have fleshed out the story quite a bit more for me.

I would only recommend The Secret History of D.B. Cooper to higher-level Young Adult readers and adults because of the gore and mild language. ( )

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