Concrete, Volume 5: Think Like a Mountain

This book, one of my favorite volumes in the series, follows the protagonist as he is drawn into the circle of Earth First!, a group of radical environmentalists seeking to stop the clear cutting of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest. Written in 1996, this graphic novel hits many of the themes of the recent Pulitzer Prize winner The Overstory by Richard Powers, and Think Like a Mountain is depressingly relevant over 20 years later.

Chadwick does such a good job taking his central sci-fi conceit (man is abducted by aliens and has his brain implanted in a super-strong, rocky alien body) as a starting point, and then using that platform to examine ideas and experiences that are obviously near and dear to to the author's heart... In show more particular a multi-faceted engagement with environmentalism, on display most prominently in this volume but a major thread throughout the entire series. This look at the earth has been really moving to me... I know this work, which I first encountered in my teens/early twenties, has had a major influence on my own thinking about the natural world and the (human-created) problems facing it.

"Concrete" was a big revelation and influence on me in my teen years (1990s). I came to this work through individual, scattered stories in Dark Horse Presents, then I remember Killer Smile being the first miniseries I bought as it was coming out. I especially loved the short stories, the way Chadwick used his main character to explore such a wide variety of themes and ideas. Years later when the smaller paperbacks began coming out (Heights, Depths, etc) I bought them all and really enjoyed reading all the work in order. The other day, inspired by reading The Overstory I decided to reread this volume, Think Like a Mountain, one of my favorites. I think it might be time for me to do a big re-read of the work again!

Chadwick combines a great capacity for invention with a keen ear for human emotion and a wide-ranging interest in the world at large. He is also a consummate draftsman who creates gorgeous tableaus. If you've never read this underrated creator don't miss out! show less

Not the book I was expecting. The character was right and I was told to read "Think Like a Mountain" but the plot is not what was described. This is a really preachy environmental activist tale. The message is okay, I guess, but it's really in your face and if don't immediately accept my position, you're an asshole. I really doesn't work and is really off-putting, even if I agree with some of the positions.

The art is always beautiful and the stories are thought-provoking, even when they are a bit outdated.