A to Z Reflections, 2013

May is here and so, A-Z is over.  As always, the opportunity to make new friends and enjoy their alphabetical explorations has been wonderful.  A big thank you to all on the A-Z team for another fine year.

Some final comic book thoughts: given how little advance planning went into selecting my scavenger hunt comics, I've been both surprised and delighted by a few exceptional finds.  I felt all five of the following were strong enough to inspire further exploration of their series:

Atlas
Louis Riel
Next Men
Pathfinder
Yummy Fur

Less surprising, at least to me, is that three of the titles are published by Drawn & Quarterly, a Montreal-based outfit which specializes in offbeat comics and graphic novels.  They also operate a bookstore in Montreal which has become our family favorite.

As much fun as the challenge provided, it's also nice to get back to regular programming.  I hope you'll all come back to visit for Family Movie Night and Baseball Tunes next week.  Also, I've started a bloggers' book club which is holding its first "meeting" on Friday, May 31st.  See details here.

Be sure to check out the A-Z reflections of other participants. You'll find the bloghop list here.

See you 'round the 'sphere!

On the Coffee Table: Louis Riel

Title: Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography
Writer and Artist: Chester Brown

Image via Drawn and Quarterly

I first discovered Chester Brown's Louis Riel as part of this year's A-Z Challenge.   While intended as a single graphic novel, Brown's biography of Riel was originally serialized.  The one issue I read inspired me to read the entire collection.

I've developed a strong interest in Canada recently.  The Vermont/Quebec border is under an hour's drive from our house and we've paid quite a number of visits to our northern neighbor over the past year.  Louis Riel is one of many reminders that my knowledge of Canadian history is embarrassingly lacking.

Riel (1844-1885) was a political and spiritual leader of the Métis people of the Canadian prairie.  The Métis are technically of mixed-race heritage: First Nations and European.   Their resistance to Anglo-Canadian domination played a crucial role in the formation of Canada's western provinces, beginning with Manitoba, Riel's home. 

Riel enjoys widespread folk hero status today but was far more controversial in his own lifetime - celebrated by French Canadians, mistrusted by the English speakers. In the end, the Canadian government hanged him for treason.  Brown's work is certainly sympathetic to Riel and his cause.  However, this well-researched biography also documents Riel's history of mental illness (diagnosed posthumously as megalomania by historians) - an important theme of Chester Brown's other books as well.

Louis Riel is very highly regarded within the comics industry, considered a ground-breaker for non-fiction graphic novels in English.  As I wrote in my A-Z post, much of the book's effectiveness derives directly from Brown's minimal artistic style.  If anything, the dialogue is rather dry and to-the-point but the drawings afford the reader an intimacy with the historical figures that few text-only renderings could allow.

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Louis Riel

Title: Louis Riel
Issue: #4
Release: May 2000
Writer and Artist: Chester Brown
Store: Drawn and Quarterly (Montreal)

Image via Comic Collector Connect

This was the second Chester Brown title I read for my scavenger hunt.  While I was quite disgusted by Ed the Happy Clown, Louis Riel piqued my more positive interest from the first page.   Louis Riel was a rebellious figure in Manitoba in the 19th century.  I knew nothing about him before picking up this book and I will not pretend to know much about Canadian frontier history in general.  However, I have long been drawn to stories of native resistance to oppressive governments so I immediately felt that I should learn more about this man.

Somehow, Brown's minimalist style brings levity to an otherwise serious subject.  Months can pass between panels.  Faces offer little expression.  Dialogue is very dry.  And yet, I am ever eager to see what comes next.

I had fun comparing Brown's renderings to photographs of the historic figures.

Louis Riel:

Photo via Wikipedia

Image via Akimbo

There's something rather Yellow Submarine-ish about that latter image, too.

John A. MacDonald:

Photo via Wikipedia

Image via maybe edmonton

Any interest in joining a bloggers' book club?  Please visit my link here.

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find single-issue comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here.