The R Teacher

 

 

REVIEW
I come to graphic novels from a lit geek’s perspective rather than a comic book geek’s perspective (more MACBETH than Marvel in other words), so it tends to take a lot for costumed heroes to interest me. Kurt Busiek’s ASTRO CITY series, for instance, has enough complexity to intrigue even the most spandex skeptical, and something uncomfortably dark like Frank Miller’s DARK KNIGHT RETURNS can reinvigorate the genre. Still, it takes an effort.

However, reading SONS OF LIBERTY by Alexander and Joseph Lagos makes it clear that superhero comic books have inexplicably missed a huge opportunity: period piece superheroes. This story involves Graham and Brody, escaped slave boys of colonial America who, through a series of improbable misadventures, become imbued with superpowers when the evil son of Benjamin Franklin conducts mysterious electrical experiments on them. Their chief opponents are wicked slaveholders who employ slavering wolf dogs with very uncomfortable looking pointy collars to hunt escaped slaves. The Yoda role is played by Quaker Benjamin Lay (a real-life abolitionist who was apparently 4-feet tall and known for drinking only milk and water, ) who takes the boys in and teaches them an African form of martial arts. The first book explains their origins and even involves a massive kung fu fight with redcoats.
 

This is a classic tall tale of the powerful John Henry, a former slave who uses his brawn to help build a better America, and forge a better life for himself, only to be caught in a battle of wills against technology that arrives in the form of digging machines that will forever change the way work is done in the country.

Like Paul Bunyan, John Henry was special from the day he was born. Big, strong and full of curiosity, John Henry came out of the cradle with a hammer in his hand, ready to pound away. For all of the American tall tales, there are only a few that emerged from the stories of slaves, but the classic story of John Henry is one of them. This book, which is the tale retold by Stephanie True Peters, is just as I remembered it, with John Henry emerging as a hero of the working class at the end of the book, celebrated at his funeral not only for his hammer and his strength, but also because “...his heart was pure as gold.”

Earlier, on the day the family is freed from slavery at the end of the Civil War, John Henry tells his mother that he is going to “make my mark upon the world, Ma,” and you just know he is going to do it. If there is a complaint here, it is that the racism surely faced by freed slaves such as John Henry is barely mentioned. The color of one's skin isn't a factor in this story, even though his epic battle against the machine could be seen as symbolic of this struggle. But given the audience for tall tales, perhaps this is a wise move.

ART REVIEW
The illustrations in this book by Nelson Evergreen are wonderful to look at. The dark colors and pictures really capture the characters. John Henry, in particular, is a glorious sight to see, with rippling muscles, a huge smile on his face that belies intelligence, and he carries the look of someone who is about to change the world, whether the world is ready or not.

 

Two brothers, Alexander and Joseph Lagos, have written an historical fiction graphic novel set during the American Revolution. The Graphic Classroom is one stop on the brothers’ blog tour, and THE SONS OF LIBERTY is already in our hot little hands. A review will be forthcoming. We sat at our keyboard, and they at theirs, and embarked on a quick Q&A:

THE SONS OF LIBERTY is the story of two young slaves in the wake of the historic war for American independence. But freedom was not won for all. As the story unfolds, readers will explore the darker corners of our nation’s earliest days as history is brought to life this full-color, two-fisted, edge-of-your-seat style.

Graham is the newest slave at Sorenson's Plantation. He dreams of having the freedom to return to Africa. But he's more of a fighter than a dreamer. When a younger slave, Brody, is threatened by Sorenson's wicked son, Graham takes a stand. Soon the two youngsters are on the run, relying on each other to survive the vicious dogs of a notorious slave hunter. But when they're taken in by the son of Benjamin Franklin, they'll wish they'd taken their chances with the dogs. Subjects of a horrific electricity experiment, the boys are left for dead—but awaken super-charged with power. Benjamin Franklin begs them to keep their abilities to themselves in order to remain safe. But Quaker abolitionist Ben Lay has another idea. One that involves the African martial art known as dambe . . . and masks. Graham's motto is seemingly simple. "Sometimes you've gotta fight." But what fight can two runaway slaves hope to win?

Laden with action packed scenes, historic heroes and equal parts fantasy and realism, THE SONS OF LIBERTY charters new territory in both graphic and historical novels. Readers both young and old will not be able to put this engrossing story down until the heroes get the freedom that is owed to them.

 

The brilliant folks at Toon Books, of whom we are unapologetic fanboys, have a new Benny and Penny blog just for emergent readers! I am so jazzed about this. I will make this blog part of my grade 1-2 curriculum next year and we will be leaving ourselves some comments. Oh yeah! 

 

 

Check out the things our students can do on the site:

 

 

Okay K-2 teachers, this is golden. If you use an interactive white board, you could cut the panels apart and scan them in. Then show them on the SmartBoard and have students rearrange them. In my technology classroom, I could have a Smart Notebook page with the panels. Each individual student could arrange the panels on the computer. How about this? I could collaborate with my art teacher. The students could write their own BENNY AND PENNY story in my room. Then the art teacher could have them illustrate a comic. Then we could hand them in the hallway and have the entire grade  (or student body) vote on their favorite. We could scan the top five in and send them to the blog. 

 

 

 

Students could write their own BENNY AND PENNY story ideas and we could submit them all to the blog. Maybe TOON BOOKS would run a contest to choose the best story idea (that would be worked up by the author, of course) and the winning student could be featured as a guest animal character in the next Monday comic. Maybe The Graphic Classroom could be a co-sponsor?

Can you tell I'm excited?

I love interactive, robust learning activities that connect to the real world. Kids dig it, too.