Trotsky: A Graphic Biography

Before he famously died at the hands of an icepick-wielding assassin, Leon Trotsky became synonymous with communism,the rise of the Soviet Union, and the escalation of the Cold War. This graphic biography details his work as a propagandist, writer, revolutionary, and leader of the Red Army. It also chronicles Trotsky's often rocky relationship with Lenin and the long and bumpy road that led to the establishment and government of the Soviet Union. In the end, his presence offended and threatened Stalin, leading to his doom.

Trotsky is the creation of Rick Geary, a prolific, well regarded, and long working comics artist who has produced a good number of historical graphic novels, including a number of books about Victorian era murders. Considered a master by his peers, he received the 1980 Inkpot Award from the San Diego Comic Convention and the 1994 Book and Magazine Illustration Award from the National Cartoonists Society. Geary provides a level of historical and artistic accuracy that sets him apart from other graphic novelists.

Unlike the contentious figure Trotsky cut, most reviewers agree on the worth of this graphic biography. In the course of a longer review of literature on Trotsky, the International Socialist Review's Paul Le Blanc called this book "simple, slender, remarkable." Boing Boing's Cory Doctorow commented that although it cannot cover everything and it suffers from a lack of Trotsky's own writing, this book does his story and thinking "great justice." John Hogan wrote that it "works wonderfully" as an introduction to Trotsky, adding that Geary "stays mostly impartial, presenting just the facts of Trotsky’s life along with his layered artwork." The Comics Journal's Marc Sobel was more critical, noting that those looking for a quick read or great artwork would be well served, "but for readers interested in delving deeper and getting to know what kind of man Trotsky was, this graphic biography has little to offer."

Trotsky was published by Hill and Wang. I could not locate any excerpt online, but there are a couple of representative panels from the book in this review by Elizabeth Hewitt.

Laika

In 1957, a stray dog became the first living mammal to go into space. Laika was nicknamed "Muttnik" in the US, a reference to the first satellite put into orbit. Nikita Khrushchev, the premier of the USSR at the time was famous for his dramatic actions as well as his antagonism toward the west. Sputnik took the world by storm, and he meant the Laika episode to add even more momentum to the view that the Soviets were technologically superior.

This book details Laika's transformation from stray dog to cosmonaut. Some parts are imagined, as tales of her life before she came into the space program are entirely speculative. Writer/artist Nick Abadzis creates a realistic and touching account and combines it with well researched stories about the main caretaker, Yelena Dubrosky, and the chief designer, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev. The result is an affecting story that combines love, duty, and determination to create one's own destiny. By the end of the book, the effects and sacrifices linked to this historic space mission are made clear. It is a dazzling combination of fact and fiction.

Nick Abadzis wrote and drew this work. He has worked on numerous comics projects since 1987, with work appearing in Marvel UK books and Deadline magazine. He also moonlighted as a writer for the Bob the Builder TV series. His work on Laika has won him many accolades, including the 2008 Eisner Award for Best Teen Graphic Novel. The book appeared on many different "best of" lists, including Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year, the Young Adult Library Services Association's Great Graphic Novels, and the New York Public Library's Books for the Teen Age Reader.

The book's publisher First Second is renowned for its quality graphic novels. Reviews of the book are overwhelmingly positive, as seen in this array here from the publisher and these from Goodreads. A short interview with Abadzis about his career and work on Laika is available here.

The book's official site has a wealth of resources. Additionally, some preview pages are available here.

T-Minus: The Race to the Moon

The race to put a man on the moon was one of the greatest competitions of the Cold War, and almost everyone is familiar with the end of contest and Neil Armstrong's famous speech from the lunar surface. What is not as well known is all of the hard work, calculations, and failures that preceded this great accomplishment. T-Minus captures many of the struggles that took place within both the US and the Soviet space programs beginning at T-minus 12 years before the first moon landing in 1969 (that would be 1957 for those of you who don't want to do the subtraction).

Movies like The Right Stuff and Apollo 13 show us the exploits of the astronauts, but they don't show as much about the engineers, technicians, and mathematicians who made space travel possible in the first place. Jim Ottaviani has almost cornered the market in terms of creating graphic novels about mathematics and scientists and here he shows just how much they contributed to the great success Armstrong eventually was celebrated for. However he does not give short shrift to the pilots and other space travelers. He paints a picture of them as people brave and capable enough to fly vehicles that were basically fancy projectiles.

This book contains a wealth of resources provided in an accessible manner. There is a time line of dates that runs parallel to the narrative, chronicling successful and failing launches. The important players in the story are identified clearly, credentials listed, and acronyms explained in footnotes. There is even a bibliography for further reading toward the end, neatly disguised as a newspaper page.

T-Minus would be a great resource for learning about Cold War positioning or aeronautic engineering. More information about the content of the book and Ottaviani's aims as an author can be found in this interview done by Tom Spurgeon. For all of the technical and historical information given, the narrative still flows well from moment to moment, capturing the wonder and spectacle of space travel as well as the tragic moments that often accompanied failure. Reviews online are frequently positive, noting the good blend between facts and drama, such as these by Ted Anderson and Jack Shafer.

The art is crisply presented in black and white. It was drawn by the Cannon brothers, Zander and Kevin, who are frequent Ottaviani collaborators. More about them can be seen at their blog Big Time Attic.

For more science-centered graphic novels, visit G.T. Labs, Ottaviani's official site.
On the T-Minus page, there are teacher resources, preview page links, and other links to space-related websites.