Lone Hawk:The Story of Air Ace Billy Bishop

by John Lang

A graphic novel based on the WWI exploits of Billy Bishop. Bishop became such a hero to the Canadian people he had to be grounded in case he was shot and war morale was shattered. This was after he had 72 officially confirmed air victories.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, War, Biography, Canada, Historical

104 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2011

About the author

Born in Australia in 1816, John Lang - novelist, newspaper editor and barrister, now best known for having defended the Rani of Jhansi in court against the British East India Company - spent a large part of his ife in India, and died in Mussoorie in 1864. A keen traveller and observer of human nature, Lang was also a raconteur par excellence.

His grave was found after much tribulations in the cemetry on Camelsback Road in Mussoorie by none other than the ace writer Ruskin Bond himself.

Reviews

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reason for Reading: When I was looking up `Hyena in Petticoats' I found this book which belongs to the same publisher`s series, though I can find no name for the series or other books. These two books are obviously matching volumes though.

Before reading this book I knew who Billy Bishop was, but I didn't know anything about him. I could have given a one sentence description that covered the basics and that was all. I found this graphic biography to be very entertaining and informational. Of course, it leaves many details out and concentrates on Bishop's time flying as a fighter pilot in France where he was virtually mad with shooting down the Hun before they got him or his men. From this biography Billy comes across as patriotic, a natural born "good shot" and having a fierce hatred for the enemy, simply because they were "the enemy". I didn't find him particularly likable, in fact, his character was quite questionable. Most WWI books I've read are about the trench warfare and this look at the airforce side of the war was very different. After reading the book I searched around to find out more about Billy and found this book had skipped entire chunks of his life but had kept to a fairly specific theme in Bishop's life: his daring fighting victories and his numerous medals won. I could find nothing referring to his personality or character but his lifestyle certainly reflects the type of man depicted here. A very well-done graphic novel about an interesting man whom I wouldn't mind reading more about.

[Alex Henderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Randy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Billy Bishop is one of Canada's greatest heroes. This is his story, told through the illustrations of John Lang. We enter in to Billy's world, and see the pivotal events in his life that change him into one of the most successful fighter pilots ever.

I picked up this book because I wanted to know more about Billy Bishop, and this book gave an accessible way to do just that.

I finished the book because it was interesting to see the war from Billy's point of view.

I would recommend this to Markus. I know he likes non-fiction, and this is an enjoyable book within that genre.

[Tim Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this. A fairly well told and well illustrated graphic novel story of Billy Bishop - Canada's most famous fighter pilot of the Great War - and, I think, third highest scoring ace. (That might be third highest Commonwealth ace.... I can't quite remember...).

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for upcoming review in Quill & Quire. Engaging and educational look at the life of Air Ace Billy Bishop.

[Matt Blair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Polished and engaging. If anything, too brief and superficial.