gotofritz reviewed Louis Riel by Chester Brown
Impeccably put together but bland history of Manitoba's rebels
3 stars
I gotta stop reading comic versions of biographies and historical books. They're almost always real bland, since the author rarely has the space to do anything but just tell the facts. The only exceptions I can think of are the biography of Buddha - which was 9 volumes - and Maus, which is a personal story. Louis Riel is neither extensive nor emotionally charged. It's well narrated and drawn, like you'd expect from the author. It's also somewhat informative - I didn't know shit about the history of Canada and its Native-French people. But none of the characters come alive, nor their communities. I'm always conscious I'm reading a history book. In the end, Brown fails by treating the subject matter with too much reverence and not bonding emotionally with it. If the author don't, neither will the reader.
