Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography by Chester Brown

Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography Reviews

• 
  Seth T.

  Biography is always a tricky thing to pull off well. Ignoring the matter of interpretation, the biographer still has to grapple with the reality that there are not really any such things as brute facts. The biographer is never simply representing What Happened, but instead puts forth a version of what happened—a story that conforms more or less plausibly with the ultimately unknowable way history actually spun itself out.
  
  
  
  
  In my response to Christopher Frayling’s biography of Sergio Leone, I wrote:
  
  

  Oh, certainly in the abstract sense, there could exist some ultimate record of events free from the colouring of memory, vanity, or nostalgia, but that would require an impartial, omniscient observer. And biographers, even if they had access to such an impossible (barring the metanatural) source, probably wouldn’t wish to make use of it for fear of losing some of the more outrageous possibilities in the unveiling of their respective subjects.
  

  
  
  See, the thing of it is: biographers are every bit as much storytellers as Dickens or Gaiman or Hemmingway or Stoppard. They not only have a responsibility to the historical record, but perhaps more importantly, they are beholden to the attentions of their readers. The occupation of a straight fictionalist almost must be easier—for the simple novelist may take a story in any direction and pace it in a manner that will drive readers to continue until story’s end. The biographer, on the other hand, is more like a film editor who has to craft a compelling story with found material he had no hand in creating. So it’s understandable that biographers might take some license with the truth.
  
  As if truth and history even belong in the same sentence.
  
  Chester Brown, as he unfurls the history of Manitoba’s founding rascal-hero, carefully chooses which directions to have Riel’s story take and which paths the man should tread. Often in his research Brown is confronted with conflicting reports, some from recollections published well and many years after any of the involved incidents. As interesting as Riel’s decisions and circumstances are, it may be still more fascinating to chart Brown’s own choices as to which of these to portray—and how.
  
  To this end, Brown supplies the reader with a gratifying section of endnotes, in which he is allowed to explore questions that his straightforward narrative is unable to ask. He will often use this as an opportunity to show how the history he presents is an amalgamation of reports conflated again with fictionalization to help the story spring to life. As an example, Brown shows a scene in which historical figure Thomas Scott and several others beat a Canadian aboriginal named Parisien. Scott, in the scene, is unhinged and savagely hacks away at Parisien’s head until he is dead. Brown, in his endnotes, discusses the seemingly straightforward scene:
  
  

  During the beating of Parisien, “Thomas Scott was particularly vicious; he struck Parisien on the head with an axe,” Siggens, p. 154). Still, my depiction probably exaggerates Scott’s viciousness. I don’t know whether his axe hit Parisien once or many times. The way I’ve written the scene virtually implies that Scott alone killed Parisien, and in reality it’s likely that the murder was more of a group effort. Neither Sutherland [another casualty] nor Parisien died immediately. Parisien lingered “a few days” (Howard, p. 159), “several weeks” (Bumsted, p. 153), or “a month and a half” (Siggens, p. 154) before expiring. (Stanley (p. 106) agrees with Howard, while Siggins is corroborated by Charlebois (p. 64), who gives Parisien’s date of death as April 4th [Brown in this book has Parisien die on February 16th].
  

  
  
  This is just one example among over a hundred. So Brown is forthright about his biographer’s role in the fabrication of Riel’s historical record—and really, that just makes the work that much more intriguing. Knowing that the author is not bound overly by, quote-unquote, historical fact draws more attention to Brown’s skill as a storyteller. He is unshackled enough that he can tell the story he is going to tell in the way he wishes to tell it. And while there is certainly some subjectivity at work, I can say that at least from my reader’s perch, Louis Riel is an unqualified success.
  
  With its abrupt and overly simplified style, Louis Riel is able to present Riel’s story in a way impossible for a prose novel. Visual space is used to create story beats, punctuating decisions or underscoring the humour in a given situation. Entire conversations, discussions, and arguments occur over two or three panels, with dialogue as spare as Brown’s art. The pacing and storytelling is excellent throughout. Brown attributes the drawing style he employs across the book to his love for Harold Gray’s Little Orphan Annie. Hollow, pupil-less eyes float detached in wide-open faces. Brown’s rendering of these historical figures is iconic and indelible.
  
  
  
  Louis Riel explores the founding of Manitoba, the insurrection by the French-speaking half-native, half-European settlers of Rupert’s Land against their fresh landlords, the Canadian government. Brown’s book follows the numerous twists, turns, and double-crosses that littered that historical landscape. What Brown accomplishes by hopping from one vantage to another, unbound by the usual narrative constraints is to draw out very succinctly just how amazing it was that Riel’s rebellion failed. At any number of points, the Métis people (Riel’s group) could have successfully stymied the unprepared and disorganized Canadian government, but always little details conspired against that fate. At times, Riel’s own personal conflicts (both with his given role and with his psychological state) work to thwart the Métis’ goals. More insidious, however, is the blunt scheming of the Canadian prime minister to force Riel into open rebellion for the sake of some lucrative rail contracts.
  
  Things could have been greatly different, but that’s not the story Chester Brown chooses to tell. And his version of things might be more compelling anyway.
  
  
  
  [review courtesy of
  Good Ok Bad]
• 
  Aloke

  A must read for those interested in Canadian history. Being a graphic novel it does have obvious trade offs between completeness and artistic license. The cool thing is that Brown is upfront about that in the intro and the very thorough endnotes (in true graphic novel these are handwritten very neatly but somewhat hard to read). These along with the bibliography make it a great starting point to learn about Louis Riel's tumultuous life and his role in history.
• 
  Billie Tyrell

  DNF
  
  Feel bad giving this a low rating as I simply found it hard to engage with, not necessarily due to it being bad, but more due to not being interested in the subject material.
  
  One funny aspect of this is that (I think) this is the book that Chester Brown gives to a sex worker in Paying For It. It was either that or some other highly technical historical book he'd made. So there's a lot of humour in the idea that - after having sex with Chester Brown - she was given a really odd but fairly boring comic.... I wonder what she'd think of him if he gave her a copy of Ed The Happy Clown? Personally speaking, I'd probably ask him to marry me or at the very least start offering him a discount. Whereas if he'd given me Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography then I'd probably start charging him more... especially if he needed me to read the whole thing.
  
  One thing I found highly amusing in this book is the way that Chester Brown draws charging horses which look like old 19th century paintings where horses would run with all their legs in the air at once, as if they are flying. I thought that was a really funny touch.
• 
  Sam Quixote

  Brown retells the history of Louis Riel using his unique drawing skills. Each of the characters are given blank eyes and expressionless faces, as well as enormous hands and small heads - deliberate choices by the artist.
  
  The story is a bit dusty for most of the book. This law was passed which meant this border changed which meant this happened which meant people had to move until this law was passed, blah blah. Unless you're really into 19th century Canadian history regarding the Metis people you'll gloss over these sections. Maps are included to show the shifting borders.
  
  What's interesting is when Louis Riel loses his mind and believes he's a prophet from God. There are some brilliant sections like the siege or when Louis and his men are held captive. There's quite a comedic scene with one of the racist prisoners shouting expletives (you just see "XXX" in the caption baloon) and coupled with his blank face and cavernous mouth it made me laugh.
  
  "Louis Riel" shows a more confident storyteller in Brown and his drawing style has developed since "I Never Liked You". It's a good, thorough read and reminded me of Rick Geary's work which is also brilliant.
• 
  Brandon

  Although I’m certain I would have been exposed to Louis Riel during my time in school, I have no recollection of learning about the man until I read Bastards & Boneheads earlier this year and his story blew my mind.  While author Will Ferguson wrote a compelling summary of his life in Bastards & Boneheads, I spotted Chester Brown’s comic strip biography and decided to check it out.
  
  Brown’s artwork here is tremendous in its simplicity.  In the foreword, the author notes that many assumed his style was influenced by Hergé, the artist behind The Adventures of Tintin.  While that’s a valid comparison, he says it was Little Orphan Annie that provided the inspiration - and it shows.  I thought it was the perfect fit to represent both the time and the subject matter.  The layouts are clean and clear with about nine panels per page to tell the Metis story.
  
  Riel’s life is a strange one as it more or less exists in two parts.  The first being his leadership of what would become Winnipeg, the Red River Settlement, and the establishment of Manitoba.  Brown details the trials and tribulations of Riel’s role in the battle between French and English Canada as both battle for control of the fledgling province.  Brown showcases Riel’s quest for a peaceful resolution and a hope that both the anglo and francophones can come together to fight for their rights against what they felt was a tyrannical Prime Minister, John A. MacDonald.
  
  The second part concerns his return to Canada following his complete mental breakdown.  Having spent time in a Montreal insane asylum, Riel believes himself to be a prophet sent from God and his ensuing actions lead to increased hostility between both the Metis of Manitoba and the Canadian government.  That’s not to say the aggression was his fault - the existing population of Manitoba clearly got the short end of the stick - but it was a big departure from what he seemingly stood for before.
  
  With Louis Riel, Chester Brown has provided an accessible look into Canada’s past that even those who find Canadian history “dry” will enjoy.  Riel’s story is a tragic one that highlights the struggles that Canada’s aboriginal population have gone through - and continue to go through - to achieve even equal footing to English speaking Canada.
• 
  Andrew

  In 1870, the Canadian government incorporated Manitoba, and the Powers That Be sought to disenfranchise the territory's French-speaking Métis population. Louis Riel petitioned for equitable Métis representation in the Canadian government, and when that failed, he escaped to the United States to organize an ill-fated armed rebellion. Throughout, Riel was both inspired and hampered by his own religious fanaticism.
  
  Chester Brown tells this incredible true story in a unique way. He uses rigid formalism and minimalism (each page is a 2 x 3 panel grid with wide margins and gutters; the characters' faces are often blank and affectless) to heighten both the humor and the heartbreak of this desperate, small-scale rebellion. In an early sequence, a Métis captive escapes from Anglo soldiers by breaking through an outhouse. He then shoots an innocent bystander. The soldiers recapture him and hack him to death with an ax, while the bystander bleeds to death nearby. The scene blends comedy and horrific violence in a way that reminds me Stanley Kubrick or the Coen Brothers.
  
  Louis Riel is a fascinating character. He's a man who believes he communes with God and knows all the secrets of the universe, but he cannot grasp the scale of what he's up against, or how to deal with the combined forces of the Canadian government, the Canadian Pacific Railway, and the Hudson's Bay Trading company. In this way, he's a classic Western hero - a strong man made obsolete by capitalist progress.
  
  The extensive handwritten end notes make this an even richer reading experience. In them, Brown obsesses over his text's historical inaccuracies and questions how his own political/philosophical biases shaped the story. The comic is an engrossing, one-of-a-kind history, and the end notes are an impressive historiography and self-critique. That Chester Brown provides both in under 300 pages is a truly remarkable achievement.
• 
  Paul

  Being French-Canadian, Québécois, and Acadian, this story hit home for me.
  
  I don`t know if I had family in Manitoba back then... quite possibly, as the deportation of the Acadians took part a little prior to the story in Riel, and many Acadians did 'flee' West. One of the sad things about deportation, is that you tend to loose touch with family members and Neighbors, and they tend to be `forgotten` after a generation or two.
  
  Stories like that of Riel to help to `refresh` our memories... and although I obviously had heard or maybe even read about Riel in high school... no history course made it as clear as this poerwerful litlle book.
  
  Thank you Mr. Brown for this glimpse into our ancestros` lives.
  
  Your book is now on my 'prioritiesed' shelf... in good company, as it is right next to Spiegelman's Maus.
  
  Do you know another book that'd look really nice up there... on telling the history of the Acadian/Cajun people... hint hint hint
• 
  Emmkay

  Interesting graphic novel treatment of the North-West Rebellion, focusing on the figure of Louis Riel. Very simple black-and-white graphics in a distinctive style, coupled with simple, casual dialogue, but augmented with interesting maps and fascinating endnotes about the narrative choices and historical liberties taken by the author.
• 
  David A Townsend

  Luv me some more Chester Brown
• 
  Dustin Stump

  This is a really great, moving biography of Riel. While I'm sympathetic to the task of trying to cover so much history in a relatively short amount of space, my main issue with this book is that Brown didn't show Riel's brilliance as a politician - opting instead to show his leadership in the Red River as consisting of intimidating his opponents through force.
• 
  Dario

  Having already read Maus by Art Spiegelman, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, Palestine by Joe Sacco, Jimmy Corrigan by Chris Ware, Fun Home by Alison Bechdel and more recently Epileptic by David B., this was another one in a long list of acclaimed graphic novels that I had to read - and I’m glad I did.
  
  This “comic-strip biography” is a triumph. To me, it succeeds in narrating a complex historical figure in the most simple way possible.
  It achieves this in two ways: firstly through a script that despite it being informed by hours of varied research has been boiled down to a story that is detached and captivating, aided by dialogues that are easy to follow. You don’t have to be an expert in Canadian history to understand what is happening. The trial scenes in Part Four alone took my breath away.
  Secondly, through the art: the cartoonish features of the characters (big hands, comical noses, white eyes), minimal details to the scenery that are both cold and clear, the excellent use of shading and darkness, the omissions, and the voluntary limits of using only square panels (like a comic strip, no less - safe for the two Map sections) are just some of the features that make me think of Chester Brown as an artist that is risk-taking in his embracement of simplicity. The outcome of such limits is rewarding enough for it to strike a chord with me.
  
  This 10th anniversary edition contains the Notes (which I haven’t read as I wanted to read the story all the way through, but will certainly do in the future), Index and Bibliography of the first edition, as well as sketches, illustrations, covers and drafts of the comics along with further notes by Brown. The essay by Sean Rogers is also a great addition and gives further insight.
• 
  Sam - Spines in a Line

  Glad to have received a copy from the publisher at the OLA Conference!
  I have been meaning to read this one for SO LONG! It’s a graphic novel non-fiction account of Louis Riel, a leader of the Métis in what is now known as Manitoba, focused primarily on the events in his life that led to the Red River Resistance. But it’s unique as a graphic novel because it has pages and pages of footnotes – which are very useful! The author details the sources he references and additional information that doesn’t necessarily fit nicely into his panels.
  
  What I really enjoyed is that the author is very honest about his research and the struggles of writing a purely non-fiction take of this story. Brown shares when the sources he’s consulted differ in opinions (as with those that favour the Canadian government’s story vs the Métis), explaining these differences and why he’s chosen to follow a particular source. It’s definitely the most researched graphic novel I’ve ever read, and even though I learned about this history in school, there was a lot more in the details of how everything came to a head that I had never known about. I’d really like to read more about the resistance but preferably accounts by Indigenous authors so I can continue to learn more about this history.
  
• 
  Amélie

  Je ne connaissais pas grand-chose de Louis Riel & des Métis avant de lire ce livre. & même si j'ai aimé les petites cases souvent à moitié vides de Chester Brown, ses personnages trapus, son Riel ébouriffé & naïf, je me demande un peu si, pour moi, la bande dessinée est vraiment un médium satisfaisant pour remplir les trous qu'ont laissé les cours d'histoire du secondaire. Ça n'a peut-être pas aidé que ce soient les dialogues qui propulsent l'action, presque sans mise en contexte. Tous les personnages finissent par avoir l'air un peu simplets, quand leurs interactions doivent incarner à elles seules des courants de fond, des décisions politiques, des conflits entre factions. Riel, avec son charisme ambitieux & sa propension au mysticisme, est le seul qui donne l'impression d'être une vraie personne -- un être particulier à un moment charnière de l'histoire de l'Ouest canadien. Au-delà des particularités de l'homme, ça donne surtout envie de mieux connaître la communauté qu'il a voulu défendre.
• 
  Sarah

  Really nice to re-learn this chapter of Canadian History, but as a novel, it didn't work for me.
  The visual style was very static, so it didn't convey the movement and chaos that I would expect to accompany an armed rebellion, and the dialogue was very stiff and emotion-less. It gave me the impression of an illustrated list of facts, as opposed to a dramatic re-telling of fascinating real-world events. I didn't feel connected to any of the characters, like they were all two-dimensional comic strips, as opposed to real people with twisted, or confused motives. In general I saw so much potential for this book to be better than it was, so I was disappointed with what was actually in front of me.
• 
  Sotiris Makrygiannis

  A factual, historical comic book about the early days of Canada and the story of Louis Riel. He fought about the rights of the native people, with a bit of megalomania, a big of insanity that is needed to curry such a cause against the government. Again the Rail road and financing the lines that connect the country and subsequently the money needed for such effort, was behind his execution. Now days is a national hero for Canada, back then an insane.
  
  A very good, fast, Sunday morning coffee read.
• 
  Margaret Sankey

  This is a brilliant re-telling of the metis uprising led by Louis Riel against the Hudson's Bay Company and the British Empire, as laid out in graphic novel form. This is historically well-researched and thoughtfully illustrated to draw out all of the complexities of this event's religious, racial, economic and colonial implications.
• 
  John

  Where was this when I took grade 8 history?
  
  Seriously though, considering this was a "comic-strip" biography, it was quite comprehensive. Though I was quite surprised with the depiction of Sir John A. MacDonald, who was clearly made to be the main villain of the story.
  I read it in a single sitting, so I clearly enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend this this title.
  
  Quick anecdote regarding my Grade 8 Canadian History class, Louis Riel and the Red River Rebellion. On the day that roles were chosen for our Grade 8 Louis Riel mock trail, I was sick and didn't go the school. When I returned a few day later I was given the role of Judge Hugh Richardson! If I remember correctly, the jury in our mock trail found Louis Riel not guilty of high treason.
• 
  Gail Amendt

  Kudos to Chester Brown for taking a complex piece of history and making it understandable. I never would have thought of using a graphic novel to tell the story of Louis Riel, but it works brilliantly. The pictures and dialog are very simple, but this might be the most complete overview of Riel's story that I have ever read. I love Sir John A. MacDonald's giant nose and Gabriel Dumont's resemblance to a bird. Some liberties were taken with the story, and for that I am deducting a star, but the author partly redeems himself by including some very detailed end notes that explain the things he changed. This would be a great way for high school students to be introduced to Louis Riel.
• 
  Przemysław Skoczyński

  Świetna pozycja oparta na biografii Louisa Riela i jego walce o niezależność. Bez kolorowania rzeczywistości, bez wybielania bohatera, który byłby pewnie wdzięcznym materiałem do analiz psychologów i psychiatrów. Brown wie jak poprowadzić fabułę, by czytelnik nie chciał się od niej oderwać. Jego rysunki nawiązują do tradycji Herge, bez nadmiaru szczegółów, z bardzo klarowną kreską, czasem wręcz pustymi tłami. To wszystko wpływa na płynność i przejrzystość tej niebanalnej historii.
• 
  Brandon Forsyth

  I think my expectations for this one were too high. Graphic novel biographies are a tricky thing to do well, I think, but you have to give Chester Brown points for trying. I highly recommend those who want to delve further into this story check out Jean Tiellet’s THE NORTHWEST IS OUR MOTHER (which hadn’t been written at the time of Brown’s bibliography) for a Métis perspective on this important historical moment.
• 
  Sabrina

  WOW, this book was incredible. I don’t know why this book isn’t being taught in every high school English class in Canada. It really showcases the Canadian government’s maliciousness in the 19th century for their colonial gains. It portrays the complexities of Riel but definitely shows us his perspective. Ugh, I just want this as an HBO style TV show.
• 
  Sarah

  I love nonfiction graphics but as an Atlantic Canadian we covered 0 mainland history in school growing up. This was a really informative and accessible way to learn a bit about Canadian history I had no idea about before. I may read some of the other biographies mentioned by the author after this.
• 
  Kristin Boldon

  I was led to this by the repeated mentions of Louis Riel in Louise Erdrich's Plague of Doves. An engaging history in comic book form of a fascinating person. The old fashioned, iconic art was a good fit for the story, though I found the text tiny, and hard to read.
• 
  Andrew Allison

  I fucking love Louis Riel. Get fucked Sir John railroad-lovin ass. You look like a bitch.
• 
  Stewart Tame

  An interesting and impressive graphic novel. Not being familiar with Canadian history, I had never heard of Loius Riel before. Brown tells the story of his life. The clear line and simple drawing style serves the story well, and Brown's footnotes at the end are worth reading, detailing his sources as well as pointing out where he took liberties for narrative purposes. Well worth reading.
• 
  Jason

  Really fantastic- I loved the art and the extensive notes at the end with additional information. An excellent example of comics' ability to marry fact and fiction.
• 
  Joy

  Good artwork, interpretation of history left more to be desired.
• 
  Joshua

  Although Louis Riel is a well recognized name in Canada, as school aged students we barely scratched the surface for the time period of Canadian westward expansion and the Manitoba Act. This book was a great introduction to the issues, Metis grievances, and important players of the time.
  
  The biography is broken into 4 main parts: Canadian gov't expansion into the West resulting in displacement of the Metis and the first rebellion, Riel's exile, Riel's return and the 2nd rebellion, and finally Riel's trial and execution. Brown has certainly done his research and the content is well referenced, but as expected for a comic-strip biography, he takes certain artistic liberties to keep it both interesting and concise (ie. PM Macdonald character represents both actions of Canadian gov't, as well as himself; multiple priests are represented by one; PM Macdonald and the CPR are generally cast as the villains) but these seem justified and if you read the whole book and endnotes, Brown acknowledges each of these so it shouldn't be considered misleading. I did find myself augmenting facts and details from other sources as I read, but that's only because Brown's presentation heightened my interest in the whole affair. This was a real page-turner that often had me laughing, angry, or incredulous, and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in an engaging and fresh take on Canadian history.
• 
  Pamela J

  While I enjoyed the historical transparency and creative liberties Hines takes with Riel's role in Canadian history, I am not as over-the-moon as many as the critics were in their reviews.Gor the record, I've avidly read & taught graphic narratives. My criticism falls under stylistic and structural preferences. Just comes down to what I find aesthetically pleasing. I appreciate the endnotes and bibliography; they are there for those of us who want to consult them. Hines does lean on Tom Flanagan's texts; Flanagan may not be sympathetic to the Métis claims, but Hines seems to show how the Métis were totally silenced by Ottawa & its power brokers.
  Sure, religious zealots are fascinating--to a point--, but maybe legendary figures are not always heroic just out of the ordinary?