OK, everyone's already mentioned the obvious - Maus, Watchmen, etc., so I'll add some more off-the-beaten-track titles. Some background:
Back in the 60s, a guy from Texas worked in the Texas Capitol building in the capitol press. In his spare time he self published some of the first hippie underground comix - kind of ironic they are called underground and the Capitol Press was located in the basement - they were called God Nose. He then moved on to San Francisco and co-founded Rip Off Press and was art director for Family Dog, the folks who produced all those glorious psychedelic posters. His name was Jack Jackson, and his pen name was Jaxon.
He was an amateur historian, and after returning to Texas, he studied Texas history, and his own genealogy. He became well known as an historical illustrator, and wrote books about early Texas history.
He also created several graphic novels - all in black and white - about Texas history.
Commanche Moon, the story of Quanah Parker
Los Tejanos - the Juan N. Sequin story
Lost Cause: John Wesley Hardin, the Taylor-Sutton Feud, and Reconstruction Texas
Indian Lover: Sam Houston & the Cherokees
The Alamo: An Epic Told from Both Sides
Now Jaxon's stories are totally historically accurate - they depict the clothing, buildings and most importantly the attitudes of the people and the times. He has been accused by some reviewers as being racist because of his use of terms of derision (the forbidden N word among others) and racial stereotyping. There is also nudity and of course violence. But the world he depicted was racist and violent.
Jack was himself not racist (I knew him for years), and was in fact sympathetic to all the different peoples' points of view. Commanche Moon was from the Indian's point of view, Los Tejanos from the Spanish/Mexican settlers' point of view, and Lost Cause from the point of view of the post-Civil War southern anglo settlers. He wanted to do a tale of Texas from the point of view of the black settlers, maybe the Buffalo Soldiers, or the famous black cowboys, and was researching the subject when his health deteriorated.
He sank into depression upon learning about his prostate cancer - he already suffered from extreme arthritis and diabetes - and ended his own life in 2006.
I'll add these graphic novels to the reading list. They may not be everyone's cup of tea, but they are real, gutsey, and worth reading.
posted 12 months ago. ( reply )