FREE LOUIS RIEL - A COMIC-STRIP BIOGRAPHY PDF Chester Brown | 152 pages | 08 Nov 2006 | Drawn and Quarterly | 9781894937894 | English | Montreal, Canada Slings & Arrows Chester Brown creates nonchalantly brilliant comics books. Seemingly growing tired of autobiography, Brown diverted into something stranger with his, eventually abandoned, series Underwaterbefore turning his clear-headed, dispassionate style to something different — a biography of Canadian politician Louis Riel. Originally serialised in comic form over four years, Louis Riel - a Comic-Strip Biography collection of these ten issues into a single volume is by far the best way to experience the initially perfunctory feeling Louis Riel. Louis Riel is an oddly bloodless book, particularly given it covers a particularly violent period in the early history of Canada. Its characters all somehow come across as miniature people racing across a dioramic landscape. No head ever fills the frame. Brown places us in a God-like position, encouraging us not Louis Riel - a Comic-Strip Biography make human connections with the unfolding story, but to find a sense of absorption through omniscient observation. Beautiful, understated cross-hatching crops up all over the place and the artist has a wonderful way with an aerial view. Release date: Format: Black and white. UPC: Contains adult content? Does this pass the Bechdel test? Positive minority portrayal? Categories: BiographyHistory. Chester Brown. Like this? Try these. Paying for It. Ethel and Ernest. My Friend Dahmer. Newspaper Rock: Review of Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography Goodreads helps you keep track of books Louis Riel - a Comic-Strip Biography want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for Louis Riel - a Comic-Strip Biography us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Louis Riel by Chester Brown. Brown coolly documents with dramatic subtlety the Louis Riel - a Comic-Strip Biography rebellion on the Canadian prairie led by Riel, who some regard a martyr who died in the name of freedom, while others consider him Louis Riel - a Comic-Strip Biography treacherous murderer. Get A Copy. PaperbackFirst Paperback Editionpages. Published August 22nd by Drawn and Quarterly first published December 9th More Details Original Title. Other Editions 9. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Louis Rielplease sign up. Lists with This Book. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Jul 25, Seth T. Biography is always a tricky thing to pull off well. Ignoring the matter of interpretation, the biographer still has to grapple with the reality that there are not really any such things as brute facts. The biographer is never simply representing What Happened, but instead puts forth Louis Riel - a Comic-Strip Biography version of what happened—a story that conforms more or less plausibly with the ultimately unknowable way history actually spun itself out. See, the thing of it is: biographers are every bit as much storytellers as Dickens or Gaiman or Hemmingway Louis Riel - a Comic-Strip Biography Stoppard. They not only have a responsibility Louis Riel - a Comic-Strip Biography the historical record, but perhaps more importantly, they are beholden to the attentions of their readers. The biographer, on the other hand, is more like a film editor who has to craft a compelling story with found material he had no hand in creating. As if truth and history even belong in the same sentence. Often in his research Brown is confronted with conflicting reports, some from recollections published well and many years after any of the involved incidents. To this end, Brown supplies the reader with a gratifying section of endnotes, in which he is allowed to explore questions that his straightforward narrative is unable to ask. He will often use this as an opportunity to show how the history he presents is an amalgamation of reports conflated again with fictionalization to help the story spring to life. As an example, Brown shows a scene in which historical figure Thomas Scott and several others beat a Canadian aboriginal named Parisien. Neither Sutherland [another casualty] nor Parisien died immediately. Stanley p. This is just one example among over a hundred. He is unshackled enough that he can tell the story he is going to tell in the way he wishes to tell it. Visual space is used to create story beats, punctuating decisions or underscoring the humour in a given situation. The pacing and storytelling is excellent throughout. Hollow, pupil-less eyes float detached in wide-open faces. More insidious, however, is the blunt scheming of the Canadian prime minister to force Riel into open rebellion for the sake of some lucrative rail contracts. And his version of things might be more compelling anyway. Oct 18, Michael rated it it was ok. This is an ambitious effort to deal with a very complex part of Canadian history. The artwork is excellent, but unfortunately the resulting story is over-simplistic. Brown compensates for this somewhat in the extensive notes at the end of the comic book, where he goes so Louis Riel - a Comic-Strip Biography as to admit that he made John A. MacDonald appear more villainous to improve the story. Not sure it's a good idea to take such liberties with important historical figures i. Canada's first prime minister for something th This is an ambitious effort to deal with a very complex part of Canadian history. Canada's first prime minister for something that doesn't explicitly present itself as fiction. Moreover, the reader doesn't come away with an adequate view of the real complexity of Riel as a historical figure. Perhaps this would be best described as historical fiction or fictionalized history? Either way, if you do read this comic book without any prior knowledge of Riel, you'd better also read the notes at the end. Sep 04, Aloke rated it it was amazing Shelves: non-fictioncanadaownedcomixhistory. A must read for those interested in Canadian history. Being a graphic novel it does have obvious trade offs between completeness and artistic license. The cool thing is that Brown is upfront about that in the intro and the very thorough endnotes in true graphic novel these are handwritten very neatly but somewhat hard to read. These along with the bibliography make it a great starting point to learn about Louis Riel's tumultuous life and his role in history. I thought it was the perfect fit to represent both the time and the subject matter. The layouts are clean and clear with about nine panels per page to tell the Metis story. The first being his leadership of what would become Winnipeg, the Red River Settlement, and the establishment of Manitoba. The second part concerns his return to Canada following his complete mental breakdown. Having spent time in a Montreal insane asylum, Riel believes himself to be a prophet sent from God and his ensuing actions lead to increased hostility between both the Metis of Manitoba and the Canadian government. Jul 31, Sam Quixote rated it liked it. Brown retells the history of Louis Riel using his unique drawing skills. Each of the characters are given blank eyes and expressionless faces, as well as enormous hands and small heads - deliberate choices by the artist. The story is a bit dusty for most of the book. This law was passed which meant this border changed which meant this happened which meant people had to move until this law was passed, blah blah. Unless you're really into 19th century Canadian history regarding the Metis people yo Brown retells the history of Louis Riel using his unique drawing skills. Unless you're really into Louis Riel - a Comic-Strip Biography century Canadian history regarding the Metis people you'll gloss over these sections. Maps are included to show the shifting borders. What's interesting is when Louis Riel loses his mind and believes he's a prophet from God. There are some brilliant sections like the siege or when Louis and his men are held captive. There's quite a comedic scene with one of the racist prisoners shouting expletives you just see "XXX" in the caption baloon and coupled with his blank face and cavernous mouth it made me laugh. It's a good, thorough read and reminded me of Rick Geary's work which is also brilliant. Apr 29, Andrew rated it it was amazing Shelves: alternative-comicscomics. Throughout, Riel was both inspired and hampered by his own religious fanaticism. Chester Brown tells this incredible true story in a unique way. He uses rigid formalism and minimalism each page is a 2 x 3 panel grid with wide margins and gutters; the characters' faces are often blank and affectless to heighten both the humor and the heartbreak of this desperate, small-scale rebellion. He then shoots an innocent bystander. The soldiers Louis Riel - a Comic-Strip Biography him and hack him to death with an ax, while the bystander bleeds to death nearby. The scene blends comedy and horrific violence in a way that reminds me Stanley Kubrick or the Coen Brothers. Louis Riel is a fascinating character. He's a man who believes he communes with God and knows all the secrets of the universe, but he cannot grasp the scale of what he's up against, or how to deal with the combined forces of the Canadian government, the Canadian Pacific Railway, and the Hudson's Bay Trading company.