Nikola Tesla

This comic is a graphic biography of Nikola Tesla that was originally published in Italy in 2021. Tesla was a contemporary of Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse. Author Sergio Rossi poses a question for the reader: was Tesla a brilliant inventor or a visionary detached from his time? It is one of five historical fiction graphic biographies published in March 2023 of famous Europeans by Comixology Originals. Comixology partnered with Italian publisher Becco Giallo to translate each of these comics into English. 

Tesla was raised in Austro-Hungarian Empire during the mid-nineteeth century. While his family was poor, he was able to study and become an engineer. Searching to make a fortune Tesla emigrated to France and then the United States. While in America he obtained a job in Thomas Edison's laboratory where the War of the Currents began. Edison was a proponent of direct current for energy while Tesla believed in an alternate current. Tesla won the war as his alternating current was chosen to be used on a national scale.

The story was told in black and white drawings, usually two to a page. The narrators were two men who were discussing Tesla while driving in a car. One of them was a scientist and the other was a documentary film maker. This format was easy to read and understand. Note, though, that this comic is not a complete biography. Rather, it offers a good starting point for further reading about Tesla.

5 out of 5 stars.

Mary Shelley: The Eternal Dream

This comic is one of five historical fiction graphic biographies published by Comixology Originals in March 2023 through a collaboration with Italian publisher Becco Giallo. Mary Shelley is the daughter of feminist Mary Wollstonecraft through whom she was able to meet many well known authors and artists. When Mary was 17 she eloped with romantic poet Percy Shelley. She later visited Europe with him, her step-sister Claire and her lover Lord Byron. While staying in a villa in Geneva the four of them combatted boredom by writing stories involving true terror. This is where and how Mary created Frankenstein.

I did not like this comic much. The writing was awkward and the artwork seemed to be horrifying. While the characters wrote horror stories in their villa, the biography itself is not a horror story. I am not sure whether the art matches the story. A few of the panels have red ink on them. I am not sure why as the emotion in similar panels were drawn exclusively in black. 

These historical fiction graphic biographies are not meant to be complete biographies. So much is left out of Mary Shelley's life that I didn't see a point to the comic. No rating.

Socrates

Socrates is another one of Comixology Original's historical fiction graphic biographies of famous European people. It was translated into English through a partnership with Italian publisher Becco Giallo and published in March 2023.

The publisher's summary:

Athens, 399 BC. In what may be remembered as the first trial for crimes of opinion, Socrates is sentenced to death. Accused of corrupting youth with atheistic doctrines, the philosopher's line of defense is uncompromising and defiant. He is thus sentenced to drink hemlock by an even larger majority of jurors, and once in prison, awaiting execution, he refuses to flee lest he violate those laws to which he has always been devoted.

Socrates was not only one of the best known and most influential philosophers in human history, but also the first martyr for his own ideas.

His trial tells how the greatest democracy of the time could have sentenced the best of its citizens to death. 

I found this comic hard to read. I had to concentrate on the words in order to understand what was going on. The style of writing fits with the philosophy of the era though. The author included a note in the back of the book stating that he based the book on Plato's writings. 

While philosophy lovers will enjoy the comic, I did not. It was just too heavy for me. No rating.

Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh Sadness Will Last Forever is a graphic biography written by Francesco Barilli and illustrated by Sakka. It was published in Italy in 2019. In March 2023 Comixology Originals published it in English. The comic was written as an intense and uninterrupted dialogue between Vincent Van Gogh and his madness. From his relationship with his brother Theo to his famous quarrel with Gauguin, resulting in the partial self-mutilation of his ear, to the extreme act of self-harm that led to his death.

I didn't know much about Van Gogh's life story before reading this comic. The writing was crisp and the illustrations were very French with an attractive French script font. With just 129 pages, it is an easy and fast read. There was a 70/30 split between dialogue and narration. A few times I needed the narration in order to figure out what was happening. All in all this was a fantastic biography of Van Gogh. I am rating it 5 out of 5 stars.

Frontera

This stunning account of a fictional teenager crossing the Sonoran Desert for Arizona was written for young adults aged 13 through 17. Mateo makes the dangerous journey back home to the United States through the Sonoran Desert with the help of a new friend, a ghost named Guillermo in a supernatural borderland odyssey. Mateo grew up in Phoenix but his family was deported back to Mexico in the summer before his senior year of high school. All he wants in life is to be able to take his SAT test and finish high school. It is the debut graphic novel of Julio Anta and Jacoby Salcedo.

As long as he remembers to stay smart and keep his eyes open, Mateo knows that he can survive the trek across the Sonoran Desert. That is, unless he’s caught by U. S. Border Patrol. Just a few moments after Mateo sneaks across the border fence he is caught. However, he is able to escape but at a huge cost. He loses his backpack and gets lost in the desert. Mateo also is ill-prepared for the unforgiving heat. Enter the ghost, Guillermo, who leads him through the desert.

While a border crossing story is usually an ugly one, the magical realism brought by the ghost gives the novel a light feel. The colorful artwork contributes to this. It has been rendered in a four panel comic strip style a d colored with bright colors.

I think the book would be helpful for teens to understand what is happening on our southern border. It is definitely a must read! 5 out of 5 stars.

Family Style

Thien Pham's debut graphic novel is a moving young adult memoir about his search for belonging in America. Thien left his native Vietnam at age five and together with his family emigrated to the U. S. His family spent several years in a refugee camp in Thailand before getting permission to travel to America. The family struggled both in the camp and in California where they began their new lives. 

Thien's first memory isn't a sight or a sound. It's the sweetness of watermelon and the saltiness of fish. It's the taste of the foods he ate while adrift at sea as his family fled Vietnam. Through each chapter of their lives, food takes on a new meaning. Strawberries come to signify struggle as Thien's mom and dad look for work. Potato chips are an indulgence that bring Thien so much joy that they become a necessity. Behind every cut of steak and inside every croissant lies a story. And for Thien Pham, that story is about a search - for belonging, for happiness, for the American dream. The story ends on a happy note with a fortysomething Thien becoming a U. S. citizen and registering to vote. 

The author originally published this memoir serially to Instagram. His artwork is done in traditional six-panel comic strip panels and he used Procreate to do the drawings on an iPad. The drawings are colored with a muted brown palette. If you loved Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese and Thi Bui's The Best We Could Do you will want to read Family Style.

5 out of 5 stars.