Graphic Classics Volume 24: Native American Classics

I was not familiar with these authors, but loved this graphic classics presentation.

A

OK , but it could have used better artists for drawings. The last story had much better artist and story felt good.

Tom Pomplun's brilliant Graphic Classics series has traditionally focused on old Sci Fi/Fantasy/Horror/Adventure writers like HP Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe, Bram Stoker, and Ambrose Bierce. He's also done a few anthologies, like Adventure Classics, Western Classics, and Fantasy Classics. But he took a new turn into social consciousness when he published African-American Classics, a volume focusing on forgotten and lesser know African American writers and poets from the turn of the century. That's the road he continues down with Native American Classics.Of all of Pomplun's books, Native American Classics may be the toughest to enjoy. Because as important as the book is--and I think this might be the first of its kind--it is full of recrimination and bitterness. For the most part, these are not happy stories; don't expect light-hearted japes of Coyote and Raven. These are the stories of a vanishing people seeing their land and culture taken from them by force by a people who preached a loving God with one hand and practiced murder with the other.It's hard not to read these stories--actual stories written between 1850-1914, buy people who lived through what they are writing--and not feel some sense of guilt. I always had my "Get out of guilt free card" because I am part-Cherokee. My Grandmother is a Cherokee Indian born and raised on the reservation in Oklahoma. But that didn't help me here. Reading these stories I felt the burden of heritage and ghostly fingers of shame point at me from the distant past.Even with that burden, I love that Pomplun made American Classics. It's the kind of book that should be available in every school library across America. (Actually all of his Graphic Classics books should be, but that's another issue). Just as he did with African American Classics, Pomplun has drug some of these silenced voices out of history and paired them with modern creators. Almost all of the creators have some connection to Native American history, either by interest or by blood. The creators biographies are as interesting as some of the work here.My favorites in Native American Classics are:Anoska Nimiwina (1899) by William Jones - Adapted by Joseph Bruchach; Illustrated by Afua Richardson - This is really the stand-out piece of the collection, in both art and story. It tells the origin of the Ghost Dance, the sad last attempt by the Native Americans to appeal to the spirits to drive out the White Men who were stripping them of livelihood and dignity. Richardson's art is stunning here. It's simple line drawings, but the coloring gives it a painterly quality that is beautiful. And the story also, sadly, illustrates why the Tribes lost so much. They couldn't put aside their tribal quarrels to band together and fight.How the White Race Came to America (1912) from the teachings of Handsome Lake - Adapted by Tom Pomplun; Illustrated by Roy Boney Jr. A fable about a deceived priest of good intentions and the Devil who couldn't stand to see a land as blissful and sin-free as America. Pomplun puts it together in a good adaptation, and Boney Jr's art--while a little bit unpracticed and crude--lends a nice fable quality to the piece.The Stolen White Girl (1868) by John Rollin Ridge - Illustrated by Daryl Talbot. A fanciful poem, and one of the few with a happy ending. Daryl Talbot's art has an almost Stan Sakai-feel to it, and even though the subject is horrendous it's carried off in a way that lets you believe it.A Prehistoric Race (1920) by Bertrand M.O. Walker - Adapted by Tom Pomplun; Illustrated by Tara Audibert. One of the few myths in the volume, this finally answers the question why turtles taste so much like every other kind of meet. A light, happy story this is a breath of fresh air amidst the heaviness, with brilliantly fun art by Audibert.The Soft-Hearted Sioux (1901) by Zitkala-sa - Adapted by Ben Truman; Illustrated by Tim Truman, Jim McMunn, and Mark A Nelson. There is nothing fun or light-hearted about this tale of an Indian boy who turns his back on his people and heritage in order to become a Christian and teach Christianity. But the boy soon finds himself abandoned by his new faith, and has no one to turn to as he is neither White nor Indian. The Father/Son team of Tim and Ben Truman do an amazing job as always, although some fill in artists stepped in when Tim Truman was sick.The Story of Itsikamahidish and the Wild Potato (1914) by Buffalo Bird Woman - Adapted by Tom Pomplun; Illustrated by Pat. N. Lewis. Another fairy tale, this talks about the dangers of eating too many wild potatoes--the gas that will take you to the skies. Lewis does a great job with this story in a cartoony style that had me cracking up. A nice, essential laugh in the midst of the gloom.

The latest book in this series is rather unique in that it focuses on Native Literature written mostly in the mid-late 19th century. The stories have been adapted to the graphic format and from what I can tell most of the writers/artists involved are either Native or of Native descent. Several poems are also presented; a few one-pages, others more epic in their telling. The collection of stories throws a blanket of bitterness these "Indians" felt toward the "white man" and make some depressing reading. In contrast, when reading African-American literature of their impoverished hard times there often seems to be a point of redemption, some qualifier that not all of one race are evil or oppressed, there are exceptions. However, the first half of this book was "us against them" and bitter reading. At page 54 the stories started to introduce myth like elements, humour, not so dark tales and the "white man" who wasn't the source of all evil.My favourites were "How the White Race Came to America", which shows how the Devil can enter one's heart and here even the Devil laments at his great evil. "Prehistoric Race" is a comical "turtle/hare" type of plot but quite different, great illustration and laugh out loud ending. Same thing goes for the hysterical "Itsikamahidish and the Wild Potato". Funny farting myth with hilarious art. The art throughout the whole book is fantastic, not a single artist I didn't get on with. My only complaint is that too many of the stories focused on the bitter history of the Native-American. While certainly necessary and appreciated in the collection, more diversity mixed with the successful man and family today, along with the myth like tales would have made for more diversified reading.