

He successfully walks the thin line between cynicism and romanticism in this presentation of Riel's attempt to protect the people of the Northwest from expansionist Canada's unfair rule. "Brown has taken a brave step into what one hopes will be a popular new genre: historical/biographical graphic novels.

It's a credit to Brown's plainspoken artistry and flair for narrative that it's a page-turner till the end." - The Boston Phoenix

of a crucial figure in Canada's history-yet one whom most Americans have probably never heard of. "If you love to read a gripping story, if you are awed by the talent of an artist, then look no further: Chester Brown's Louis Riel is comix history in the making, and with it, history never looked so good." - The Globe and Mail Book Review Louis Riel is destined to become a Canadian classic."- The Calgary Herald " Louis Riel is gripping reading, filled with drama and poetry, in which plain words and stunning images carry equal weight in telling the story.

Louis Riel has too vivid a personal spin to pass as documentary, but it's not quite historical fiction, either-Brown's not interested in making things up."- The Village Voice Literary Supplement "Brown has invented a biographical form unique to his medium. Louis Riel, as told by Chester Brown becomes a deeply personal, utterly compelling page-turner in the guise of a 19th-century history book."- Time " Louis Riel ties together all the ideas Chester Brown has explored before in disparate ways: the capriciousness and injustice of authority, the relationship between religious fervor and madness, and the relative 'truth' of nonfiction. Reviews About the Author Reviews Praise for Louis Riel Renowned cartoonist Chester Brown here provides the full story of this charismatic, and perhaps mad, nineteenth-century Métis leader in "an impressive work of art that delivers the narrative goods with a cinematic punch" ( The Montreal Gazette). The Red River Rebellion of 1869-70 was the first, followed by the North-West Rebellion in 1885-where he was quickly captured, tried for treason, and hanged. Riel regarded himself as a divinely chosen leader and returned home to lead the Métis people in two resistance movements against the Canadian government. He was elected to the House of Commons to represent the grievances of the Métis to the Canadian government, but was later expelled and declared an outlaw and exiled to Montana. Riel, one of the most controversial figures in Canadian history, was born in the Red River Settlement (now Manitoba) and educated for the priesthood in Montreal, though he would never graduate and an attempt at law would find a similar fate. Louis Riel presents a hybrid of two distinct-but in no way opposed-forms of storytelling: historical biography and the graphic novel.
