What do you think?
Rate this book
J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography
A True History of Violence (and Crimefighting, Politics, and Power)
In the hands of gifted cartoonist Rick Geary, J. Edgar Hoover's life becomes a timely and pointed guide to eight presidents--from Calvin Coolidge to Richard Nixon--and everything from Prohibition to cold war espionage. From a nascent FBI's headlinegrabbing tracking down of Dillinger and Machine Gun Kelly in the 1930s to Hoover's increasingly paranoid post-WWII authorizing of illegal wiretaps, blackmail, and circumvention of Supreme Court decisions, J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography provides a special window into the life of an outsized American and a bird'seye view on the twentieth century.
In the hands of gifted cartoonist Rick Geary, J. Edgar Hoover's life becomes a timely and pointed guide to eight presidents--from Calvin Coolidge to Richard Nixon--and everything from Prohibition to cold war espionage. From a nascent FBI's headlinegrabbing tracking down of Dillinger and Machine Gun Kelly in the 1930s to Hoover's increasingly paranoid post-WWII authorizing of illegal wiretaps, blackmail, and circumvention of Supreme Court decisions, J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography provides a special window into the life of an outsized American and a bird'seye view on the twentieth century.
112 pages, Hardcover
First published January 8, 2008
4 people are currently reading
430 people want to read
About the author
Rick Geary
193 books202 followersRICK GEARY was born in 1946 in Kansas City, Missouri and grew up in Wichita,
Kansas. He graduated from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, where his first cartoons were published in the University Daily Kansan. He worked as staff artist for two weekly papers in Wichita before moving to San Diego in 1975.
He began work in comics in 1977 and was for thirteen years a contributor to the Funny Pages of National Lampoon. His comic stories have also been published in Heavy Metal, Dark Horse Comics and the DC Comics/Paradox Press Big Books. His early comic work has been collected in Housebound with Rick Geary from Fantagraphics Books.
During a four-year stay in New York, his illustrations appeared regularly in The New York Times Book Review. His illustration work has also been seen in MAD, Spy, Rolling Stone, The Los Angeles Times, The Old Farmer’s Almanac, and American Libraries.
He has written and illustrated three children’s books based on The Mask for Dark Horse and two Spider-Man children's books for Marvel. His children’s comic “Society of Horrors” ran in Disney Adventures magazine. He was the artist for the new series of GUMBY Comics, written by Bob Burden, for which they received the 2007 Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best Publication for a Younger Audience.
His graphic novels include three adaptations for the Classics Illustrated, and the nine-volume series A Treasury of Victorian Murder for NBM Publishing. The new series A Treasury of 20th Century Murder began in 2008 with “The Lindbergh Child.” His other historically-based graphic novels include Cravan, written with Mike Richardson, and J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography.
Rick has received the Inkpot Award from the San Diego Comic Convention (1980) and the Book and Magazine Illustration Award from the National Cartoonists Society (1994).
He and his wife Deborah can be found every year at their table at San Diego’s Comic Con International. In 2007, they moved to the town of Carrizozo, New Mexico.
(from http://www.rickgeary.com/bio.html)
Kansas. He graduated from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, where his first cartoons were published in the University Daily Kansan. He worked as staff artist for two weekly papers in Wichita before moving to San Diego in 1975.
He began work in comics in 1977 and was for thirteen years a contributor to the Funny Pages of National Lampoon. His comic stories have also been published in Heavy Metal, Dark Horse Comics and the DC Comics/Paradox Press Big Books. His early comic work has been collected in Housebound with Rick Geary from Fantagraphics Books.
During a four-year stay in New York, his illustrations appeared regularly in The New York Times Book Review. His illustration work has also been seen in MAD, Spy, Rolling Stone, The Los Angeles Times, The Old Farmer’s Almanac, and American Libraries.
He has written and illustrated three children’s books based on The Mask for Dark Horse and two Spider-Man children's books for Marvel. His children’s comic “Society of Horrors” ran in Disney Adventures magazine. He was the artist for the new series of GUMBY Comics, written by Bob Burden, for which they received the 2007 Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best Publication for a Younger Audience.
His graphic novels include three adaptations for the Classics Illustrated, and the nine-volume series A Treasury of Victorian Murder for NBM Publishing. The new series A Treasury of 20th Century Murder began in 2008 with “The Lindbergh Child.” His other historically-based graphic novels include Cravan, written with Mike Richardson, and J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography.
Rick has received the Inkpot Award from the San Diego Comic Convention (1980) and the Book and Magazine Illustration Award from the National Cartoonists Society (1994).
He and his wife Deborah can be found every year at their table at San Diego’s Comic Con International. In 2007, they moved to the town of Carrizozo, New Mexico.
(from http://www.rickgeary.com/bio.html)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
December 31, 2025
Rick Geary does it again with this in depth look at one of the most controversial law enforcement leaders in American history. I think that we will find out (even more) disturbing facts about the FBI under the leadership of J. Edgar Hoover - at some point in the future I think there will be a very hard reassessment of his role in law enforcement in America.
June 18, 2018
I've been on a "graphic biography" kick lately, and Rick Geary's book on J. Edgar Hoover was fantastic. It's a great overview of the longtime FBI leader and his crime-fighting strategies. I thought this bio was a good complement to David Gann's book Killers of the Flower Moon, which also discusses the birth of the FBI.
It was interesting to read the Hoover book in light of recent news events (ahem, James Comey) and to see how the original FBI director handled his role. Highly recommended.
It was interesting to read the Hoover book in light of recent news events (ahem, James Comey) and to see how the original FBI director handled his role. Highly recommended.
September 18, 2011
J. Edgar Hoover was responsible for the creation of what is known today as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and could be claimed to have strongly influenced American, and subsequently global, history through his dossiers on politicians and other influential people. The man used intimidation and wire tapping, along with having his agents follow people and compile information on every aspect of life, to build himself an empire of secrets upon which he kept power until his death.
A Machiavellian figure, Hoover's life seems to have been as clandestine as his agency's work - he had a male partner his whole life but there is no evidence to show that they were involved sexually, though the two were inseparable and went on holiday twice a year together. Hoover also had no real female partners in real life either, instead having a very strong relationship with his mother whom he lived with until her death. The rumours of his cross-dressing take up barely a panel in the book as Geary thankfully doesn't deal in rumours but in fact.
The truth is though that there isn't much to report besides his work at building the FBI - that was his life. It was a conservative, reactionary group that treated black people as second class citizens, didn't hire any women agents, went after communists most of the time, and failed to cooperate, in fact actively block, with other government bodies.
Laid out in this well written book, drawn in Geary's inimitable style, it's hard to see what Hoover did right. He spent most of his career chasing "reds" while enforcing the real corruption within politics, an endemic problem to this day. He turned a blind eye to the mafia and actively fostered an image of himself as a hero all the while he was destroying innocent peoples' lives with accusations of being a communist.
Hoover was truly a horror of a human and would have fit in well with former President Bush's war on terror which utilised much of Hoover's tactics to get away with crimes against humanity. Hoover's legacy is that of subverting the US Constitution and forgoing its' values on liberty, instead choosing to opt for the very opposite of the best of what America stands for. He also seems to have been a sad, lonely man and often comes across as robotic rather than human in his lack of human warmth, kindness, and emotion.
Rick Geary's written/drawn an enthralling biography of one of the most notorious figures of 20th century America. He is thorough and apolitical, the conclusions I've drawn above are my own, though the facts speak for themselves. An excellent read and very enlightening, highly recommended.
A Machiavellian figure, Hoover's life seems to have been as clandestine as his agency's work - he had a male partner his whole life but there is no evidence to show that they were involved sexually, though the two were inseparable and went on holiday twice a year together. Hoover also had no real female partners in real life either, instead having a very strong relationship with his mother whom he lived with until her death. The rumours of his cross-dressing take up barely a panel in the book as Geary thankfully doesn't deal in rumours but in fact.
The truth is though that there isn't much to report besides his work at building the FBI - that was his life. It was a conservative, reactionary group that treated black people as second class citizens, didn't hire any women agents, went after communists most of the time, and failed to cooperate, in fact actively block, with other government bodies.
Laid out in this well written book, drawn in Geary's inimitable style, it's hard to see what Hoover did right. He spent most of his career chasing "reds" while enforcing the real corruption within politics, an endemic problem to this day. He turned a blind eye to the mafia and actively fostered an image of himself as a hero all the while he was destroying innocent peoples' lives with accusations of being a communist.
Hoover was truly a horror of a human and would have fit in well with former President Bush's war on terror which utilised much of Hoover's tactics to get away with crimes against humanity. Hoover's legacy is that of subverting the US Constitution and forgoing its' values on liberty, instead choosing to opt for the very opposite of the best of what America stands for. He also seems to have been a sad, lonely man and often comes across as robotic rather than human in his lack of human warmth, kindness, and emotion.
Rick Geary's written/drawn an enthralling biography of one of the most notorious figures of 20th century America. He is thorough and apolitical, the conclusions I've drawn above are my own, though the facts speak for themselves. An excellent read and very enlightening, highly recommended.
November 16, 2012
There's really not much to say about this. It's a short, straight forward tale of the life of Hoover with a focus, of course, on his years as head of the FBI. The tone is dispassionate, a mere list of facts in the shape of a straight narrative. The illustrations may take up a greater percentage of the pages, but the text is definitely in the center of focus, the illustrations are accompanying the text, even though it's in comic form. Speaking of the illustrations, they are okay, but not good, drawn by someone competent enough to compose scenes, but not skilled enough to create art, good enough so that when a famous face such as that of JFK or Nixon appears, it can be recognized with the help of the text telling the reader who it is supposed to be (and on some occasions, the likeness is of a high enough degree that the text would not be necessary), but not good enough to really capture the character of the persons, or for that matter bring life into the faces of any of the characters, famous or not.
In any case, leaving aside the half-bad illustrations, the text is fine, it works, it's informative, but nothing more than that. For someone like me who did not know a lot about Hoover before, it constitutes a good short overview (under the assumption that it is accurate, of which I can of course not be a judge), kind of like reading a Wikipedia article full of kind of bad illustrations (there I go again...) Worth a read, but not really recommended with any enthusiasm.
In any case, leaving aside the half-bad illustrations, the text is fine, it works, it's informative, but nothing more than that. For someone like me who did not know a lot about Hoover before, it constitutes a good short overview (under the assumption that it is accurate, of which I can of course not be a judge), kind of like reading a Wikipedia article full of kind of bad illustrations (there I go again...) Worth a read, but not really recommended with any enthusiasm.
October 21, 2015
I'm pretty sure the only way I can ever read about J. Edgar Hoover and like it is in comic-book format.
December 28, 2019
J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography is a biographical graphic novel written and illustrated by Rick Geary, and traces the life of J. Edgar Hoover – America's top cop.
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States and an American law enforcement administrator. He was appointed as the director of the Bureau of Investigation in 1924 and was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director for another thirty-seven years until his death in 1972. Hoover has been credited with building the FBI into a larger crime-fighting agency than it was at its inception and with instituting a number of modernizations to police technology, such as a centralized fingerprint file and forensic laboratories.
Geary traces the life and career of the creator of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, weaving a compelling portrait of a man isolated by authority and his desire for secrecy while simultaneously making a name for himself and his agency in the war against organized crime. However, behind the details known to the public were petty power plays, possible connections to La Cosa Nostra and rumors of homosexuality and cross-dressing. All surrounded a government official whose ultraconservative ways and fascistic tactics bordered on the criminal when they suited his goals, and led Eleanor Roosevelt to consider the FBI one step away from becoming an American Gestapo.
J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography is written and constructed rather well. The graphic novel encompasses events from the Great Depression, World War II, McCarthyism, the Cold War, the Kennedy administration, the Civil Rights movement, and Watergate. Geary does solid work in historical comics – especially ones with gruesome true-crime slant. His clean artwork and swift pacing makes this biographical graphical novel a good read.
All in all, J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography is a wonderful biographical graphic novel about J. Edgar Hoover – the father of the F.B.I.
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States and an American law enforcement administrator. He was appointed as the director of the Bureau of Investigation in 1924 and was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director for another thirty-seven years until his death in 1972. Hoover has been credited with building the FBI into a larger crime-fighting agency than it was at its inception and with instituting a number of modernizations to police technology, such as a centralized fingerprint file and forensic laboratories.
Geary traces the life and career of the creator of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, weaving a compelling portrait of a man isolated by authority and his desire for secrecy while simultaneously making a name for himself and his agency in the war against organized crime. However, behind the details known to the public were petty power plays, possible connections to La Cosa Nostra and rumors of homosexuality and cross-dressing. All surrounded a government official whose ultraconservative ways and fascistic tactics bordered on the criminal when they suited his goals, and led Eleanor Roosevelt to consider the FBI one step away from becoming an American Gestapo.
J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography is written and constructed rather well. The graphic novel encompasses events from the Great Depression, World War II, McCarthyism, the Cold War, the Kennedy administration, the Civil Rights movement, and Watergate. Geary does solid work in historical comics – especially ones with gruesome true-crime slant. His clean artwork and swift pacing makes this biographical graphical novel a good read.
All in all, J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography is a wonderful biographical graphic novel about J. Edgar Hoover – the father of the F.B.I.
December 11, 2008
the graphic novel version of j. edgar hoover. it's mostly politically neutral, with a tiny bit of pro-hooverism. however, it doesn't shy away from his aspects of bad-guy-ness, in that they show him building up the FBI to basically be a secret police against dissidents and radicals, with a PR department overglorifying the mob-fighting it did. Fascinating story of how he survived multiple presidents and tried to destroy social movements for nearly 50 years.
February 26, 2010
This is a graphic-novel treatment of the life of FBI director, Commie-hunter, and all around nutjob J. Edgar Hoover. The author resists the temptation to criticize his subject and presents the facts straightforwardly, allowing readers to draw their own conclusions. Although, the facts alone are pretty damning.
I learned quite a bit of new information about the subject, as well as about the FBI's spying on citizens during the Cold war era.
I learned quite a bit of new information about the subject, as well as about the FBI's spying on citizens during the Cold war era.
October 18, 2018
I might venture that it would be comparatively simple to write any old graphic novel about J. Edgar Hoover (I'm not linking to any of Hoover's own works here, as the man himself was a racist, sexist autocrat); after all, any number of fictional works, both audiovisual and written, have portrayed Hoover in any number of ways, and Hoover himself was a larger-than-life figure, subject to any number of personality traits, not all of them accurate. What makes renowned cartoonist Rick Geary's J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography such a standout addition to biographies of the titular "character" is that Geary researches his subject thoroughly, and doesn't resort to the cheap, easy canards for which Hoover was infamous (and in which DC Comics/Paradox Press' Big Books Of . . ., to which Geary was a regular contributor, had a part).
Indeed, a hallmark of J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography is that, perhaps not unlike the FBI that Hoover founded, Geary sticks to Just the Facts. Geary does touch on, for example, Hoover's relationship with Clyde Tolson and thus rumors of Hoover's sexuality, but Geary quickly and firmly points out that such allegations have never been conclusively demonstrated—and then goes on to discuss more in depth Hoover's general attitudes towards social mores, which somewhat put the rumors regarding Hoover into context. Moreover, Geary provides a bibliography, albeit brief, that includes several sources as to Hoover's biography—including both more "mainstream" bios and the biography that first alleged Hoover's homosexuality.
More persuasively, Geary puts Hoover's life as a law enforcement official into context as well. Geary thoroughly discusses the highs and lows of the FBI and its predecessor agencies, both in their triumphs and failures, as well as their more positive and more negative tendencies; Geary discusses Melvin Purvis' fall from grace, the attempts to capture John Dillinger, and COINTELPRO, as well as any number of other touchstones of the FBI's history, including Hoover's often fraught relationships with Presidents from Herbert Hoover to Richard Nixon.
In general, while J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography isn't comprehensive (there's really no way it could be, given that it clocks in at a little over 100 pages; for comprehensiveness, I eventually want to read Curt Gentry's biography of Hoover—one of Geary's cited sources, I might add), it is an excellent introduction to the life of the titular character; Geary well deserves his reputation for quality, and it shows in this work of his.
Indeed, a hallmark of J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography is that, perhaps not unlike the FBI that Hoover founded, Geary sticks to Just the Facts. Geary does touch on, for example, Hoover's relationship with Clyde Tolson and thus rumors of Hoover's sexuality, but Geary quickly and firmly points out that such allegations have never been conclusively demonstrated—and then goes on to discuss more in depth Hoover's general attitudes towards social mores, which somewhat put the rumors regarding Hoover into context. Moreover, Geary provides a bibliography, albeit brief, that includes several sources as to Hoover's biography—including both more "mainstream" bios and the biography that first alleged Hoover's homosexuality.
More persuasively, Geary puts Hoover's life as a law enforcement official into context as well. Geary thoroughly discusses the highs and lows of the FBI and its predecessor agencies, both in their triumphs and failures, as well as their more positive and more negative tendencies; Geary discusses Melvin Purvis' fall from grace, the attempts to capture John Dillinger, and COINTELPRO, as well as any number of other touchstones of the FBI's history, including Hoover's often fraught relationships with Presidents from Herbert Hoover to Richard Nixon.
In general, while J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography isn't comprehensive (there's really no way it could be, given that it clocks in at a little over 100 pages; for comprehensiveness, I eventually want to read Curt Gentry's biography of Hoover—one of Geary's cited sources, I might add), it is an excellent introduction to the life of the titular character; Geary well deserves his reputation for quality, and it shows in this work of his.
August 21, 2018
Fairly presented- a non partisan biography is a triumph in itself!
goodreader "ANDREW" says (for a different title) what is true for all of Geary's MANY historical works: "Geary simply lays out the facts through his writing and art, rarely editorializing or sensationalizing or imposing an overt opinion or point of view. And it's riveting."
Hill and Wang used the "Serious Comics" imprint to publish four biographies which I acquired at once due to the quality of what I had already read from them and I have cherished the three I've read so far.
The publishing order:
Malcolm X=2006 (Helfer+DuBurke)
Ronald Reagan=2007 (Helfer+Buccelatto+Staton)
JEd Hoover=2008 (100% RICK GEARY!)
Leon Trotsky=2009 (100% RICK GEARY!)
I wasn't going to read history backwards so I took the "when-they-were-born" chronological approach and have been EAGER to open the story of the most intense biography in the group
Here comes MY rhetoric for this title: I hate JEd Hoover passionately and believe that if he didn't wield so much power over the zeitgeist AT LEAST one of MLK/JFK/RFK wouldn't have been assassinated. I'm not saying he had a hand in it- I believe that the climate he created raised the probabilities much higher.
I went into this book hating him and left it having more specifics to hate him for BUT CAME AWAY WITH some respect and pity. I detest his elaborate and successful cunning, but the man was driven for what HE BELIEVED was best and succeeded in putting it into action on the world's stage! Pity-wise, I always have a soft spot for anyone who was/is a prisoner of "The Closet" especially when millions were trying to peek in to make him lesser of a person.
WHAT SO MANY WOEFULLY DON'T REALIZE IS THAT HOMOSEXUALS ARE THE "MANLIEST" OF ALL OF US!
goodreader "ANDREW" says (for a different title) what is true for all of Geary's MANY historical works: "Geary simply lays out the facts through his writing and art, rarely editorializing or sensationalizing or imposing an overt opinion or point of view. And it's riveting."
Hill and Wang used the "Serious Comics" imprint to publish four biographies which I acquired at once due to the quality of what I had already read from them and I have cherished the three I've read so far.
The publishing order:
Malcolm X=2006 (Helfer+DuBurke)
Ronald Reagan=2007 (Helfer+Buccelatto+Staton)
JEd Hoover=2008 (100% RICK GEARY!)
Leon Trotsky=2009 (100% RICK GEARY!)
I wasn't going to read history backwards so I took the "when-they-were-born" chronological approach and have been EAGER to open the story of the most intense biography in the group
Here comes MY rhetoric for this title: I hate JEd Hoover passionately and believe that if he didn't wield so much power over the zeitgeist AT LEAST one of MLK/JFK/RFK wouldn't have been assassinated. I'm not saying he had a hand in it- I believe that the climate he created raised the probabilities much higher.
I went into this book hating him and left it having more specifics to hate him for BUT CAME AWAY WITH some respect and pity. I detest his elaborate and successful cunning, but the man was driven for what HE BELIEVED was best and succeeded in putting it into action on the world's stage! Pity-wise, I always have a soft spot for anyone who was/is a prisoner of "The Closet" especially when millions were trying to peek in to make him lesser of a person.
WHAT SO MANY WOEFULLY DON'T REALIZE IS THAT HOMOSEXUALS ARE THE "MANLIEST" OF ALL OF US!
March 3, 2008
I first found Geary in a comics collection several years ago and have been reading him ever since. He mostly does 19th Century things, such as Lizzie Bordon or the assassination of James Garfield, so I was a bit surprised to find him moving so far forward in time.
As with all of Geary's work, this is a short, concise biography that sticks to established facts and doesn't pull punches in questioning what is usually known. While he doesn't spare Hoover's racism or his dictatorial efforts, Geary doesn't spend much time on the rumoured crossdressing or homosexuality. (The former is a shame, because I was looking forward to seeing Geary draw that!)
Hoover is a man who was extremely close to his family and was a neo-con before they had been invented, from what I can tell. He rose quickly and tried hard to stay out of party politics, preferring instead to ride policy politics--particularly ones popular on both sides of the aisle.
His heavy hand led to the formation of the FBI, both for good and evil--wiretapping ain't a 21st century concept, folks--and his opposition to the CIA may be part of why we have the intelligence coordination failures of today. By the end, he was rather like Citizen Kane--a man atop a crumbling empire, waiting to topple.
Geary's art style looks like the old wooden drawings that were in the newspapers of the 19th Century, and so doing a modern biography is a bit strange. However, his posing of Hoover as hero, a skull with an anvil and sickle, and other things are part of what makes this work so well. Add that to his crisp and concise writing, and you have a great short biography that any fan of Geary or the FBI would love. (Library, 03/08)
Trebby's Take: Highly recommended! Book it, Dano!
As with all of Geary's work, this is a short, concise biography that sticks to established facts and doesn't pull punches in questioning what is usually known. While he doesn't spare Hoover's racism or his dictatorial efforts, Geary doesn't spend much time on the rumoured crossdressing or homosexuality. (The former is a shame, because I was looking forward to seeing Geary draw that!)
Hoover is a man who was extremely close to his family and was a neo-con before they had been invented, from what I can tell. He rose quickly and tried hard to stay out of party politics, preferring instead to ride policy politics--particularly ones popular on both sides of the aisle.
His heavy hand led to the formation of the FBI, both for good and evil--wiretapping ain't a 21st century concept, folks--and his opposition to the CIA may be part of why we have the intelligence coordination failures of today. By the end, he was rather like Citizen Kane--a man atop a crumbling empire, waiting to topple.
Geary's art style looks like the old wooden drawings that were in the newspapers of the 19th Century, and so doing a modern biography is a bit strange. However, his posing of Hoover as hero, a skull with an anvil and sickle, and other things are part of what makes this work so well. Add that to his crisp and concise writing, and you have a great short biography that any fan of Geary or the FBI would love. (Library, 03/08)
Trebby's Take: Highly recommended! Book it, Dano!
June 11, 2013
As usual Geary's illustrations are a perfect match for his text and so detailed one can just look into them for ages. I thoroughly enjoy just looking at Rick Geary's work. I'm quite well read on Hoover and this brought nothing new to the table for me. This is a whirlwind basic biography through his 80 years of life and near 60 of those in the Federal bureaucracy business eventually starting an agency that would go on to be called the FBI, where he became the Director unofficially "for life". From the end of WWI to his death in 1972, Hoover saw tremendous events occurring throughout the 20th century and would play a major part in them. Sometimes on the side of good and right, others on the side of the fanatical tyrant. From Geary's other work I've come to know him as an author who can write an unbiased biography and he has succeeded very well here and Hoover is a very controversial subject. Hoover was a man of his times and place , a man of unflinching morals, a man whose biggest thrill was power and a man who has been surrounded by rumour his whole life but especially since his death and can no longer defend himself. However Geary sticks to the facts in these cases, no proof of any rumour about Hoover has ever been given even a shred of evidence and Geary doesn't lead us on. My only problem with this book is that it is so short that we don't get to ponder the various actions/events Hoover was involved in as they are presented so quickly to try and cover as much territory as possible but of course some things do, in the end, get left out. A good piece though mostly to get an overview of Hoover as a starting point or a quick refresher. The book is factual and the art is stupendous.
January 3, 2019
Splendid. Concise, informative, appropriately illustrated, expresses a decent left-wing bias but quite fair and neutral overall. A much more entertaining read than a Wikipedia article or a laboriously-long biography. This book will give you a good overview of this important and complicated 20th century figure. Big ole mini-summary/spoiler ahead... Good read.
November 11, 2011
The idea of Rick Geary profiling the life of J. Edgar Hoover makes an awful lot of intuitive sense, and the final product meets all expectations. Fresh off his superb Treasury of Victorian Murder series, Geary moves forward into the twentieth century, and this time gives us a look at the entire life of Hoover, the legendary and long-serving FBI director. [return][return]Geary's quick pacing and ability to capture a lot of information in a single page panel are the keys to his success in this volume, which is thoroughly ambitious in its attempt to give us the life of Hoover in 102 pages. It is a testament to the graphic and narrative skills that Geary has developed over the years that he succeeds in delivering the principle facts of biography, and does not dwell on those aspects of the story that remain speculative (such as Hoover's rumored homosexual relationship with long-time companion Clyde Tolson). [return][return]I have long admired Geary's ability to accurately and thoughtfully tackle episodes from history in the graphic novel format, and the broad scope of J. Edgar Hoover gives him the room to really put those skills to the test. The final product is everything I had hoped for, and further evidence that Geary continues to be one of the leading lights of the world of the world of comics and graphic novels.
December 12, 2016
My choice for a non-fiction title is J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography by Rick Geary. Hoover was indeed a larger than life character whose life and career as the head of the FBI has been documented and discussed in great detail both while he was alive and since his death in 1972. Hoover served in the public eye under 8 presidents from Calvin Coolidge to Richard Nixon, much of that time leading the Bureau of Investigation (where he became the head in 1924), which later became the FBI in 1935. He is credited for building it into the powerful institution that it is today.
However, he received much criticism late in his career and after his death for overstepping his boundaries, turning the FBI into a gestapo-like organization, and using his power and information amassed over the years to stay in power. He remains a controversial man and a household name to this day.
Geary, R. (2008). J. Edgar Hoover: A graphic biography. Hill & Wang: New York
However, he received much criticism late in his career and after his death for overstepping his boundaries, turning the FBI into a gestapo-like organization, and using his power and information amassed over the years to stay in power. He remains a controversial man and a household name to this day.
Geary, R. (2008). J. Edgar Hoover: A graphic biography. Hill & Wang: New York
March 23, 2008
It's only an urban legend that Hoover was a cross-dresser? Wow! You learn the most amazing things from history books.
Geary's turned in another one of his fine histories in comic-book form, using the same dry narrative tone of his "Treasury of Victorian Murder" books. He sticks with the facts, throwing in a few allegations of Hoover's homosexuality, while letting the reader decide just how much the FBI director did to help or hurt the country he served.
The only weak spot in the book is the terrible cover -- just shrunken down reproductions of a few panels from the inside pages. But it's a value-priced hardcover and a good read. Worth a look.
Geary's turned in another one of his fine histories in comic-book form, using the same dry narrative tone of his "Treasury of Victorian Murder" books. He sticks with the facts, throwing in a few allegations of Hoover's homosexuality, while letting the reader decide just how much the FBI director did to help or hurt the country he served.
The only weak spot in the book is the terrible cover -- just shrunken down reproductions of a few panels from the inside pages. But it's a value-priced hardcover and a good read. Worth a look.
July 13, 2014
This is much too think to be taken seriously. It is like reading that there is a seafood place in such a place and it serves food. A person who reads this will have no more of an understanding of J. Edgar Hoover than if they watched a 30 minute show on television. No this book combined poor artistry with next to no understanding of the subject matter or the subject. I strong recommend avoiding it as it tells nothing about the evolution of the FBI into a major crime fighting organization. Even the shortcomings were glossed over in the telling of this story. Again not worth your time if you wish to know anything about the FBI, Hoover or his shortcomings.
Pass on this one!
Pass on this one!
April 11, 2009
Rick Geary is such a history comics superstud. He keeps churning out one wonderfully-drawn and well-researched comic after another. This one had less of the usual experiments in composition, but his pen and ink work was divine as always. I think he may be getting even better at conveying the emotions of his subjects. There's something about a Rick Geary book--he does illustrations that look like they're directly from a photograph, but they seem to capture the soul of a person even more clearly than a photo can.
March 28, 2008
Rick Geary's cleanly drawn illustrations are easy to follow, and he doesn't gloss over any of the less savory aspects of Hoover's life & career - including the rumor that he liked to wear a dress. At just over 100 pages, it packs in a lot of detail (including why the FBI & CIA don't cooperate) without becoming boring. A list of further reading is included at the end for people who want to know more, but my curiousity was satisfied.
December 25, 2012
A brief biography of J Edgar Hoover in graphic novel form. Its competently illustrated although the text is uncritical and uninspired. I was hoping for something engaging and interesting about a significant character in U.S. history and politics. Instead it mostly provided bite sized facts and didn't explore the implications or consequences of Hoover's actions.
September 5, 2015
This was a pretty straightforward telling a full life and career of J Edgar Hoover. It is a good introduction for anyone wanting to know the basic story of who J Edgar Hoover was and what made his role at the FBI so critical to how we once viewed law-enforcement. The clear and crisp illustrations by Rick Geary complemented and carried the story.
November 29, 2015
Not anything too much beyond the recitation of the facts of J. Edgar Hoover's life. Much drier than the 19th or 20th century crime series of before, though I guess adding a brush up history of the G men to the Rick Geary opus isn't a bad thing either.
February 19, 2017
Really can't value add to the comments already made on Goodreads except to say that I do enjoy Rick Geary's work. Have read a couple of books on Hoover (including that of Curt Gentry) and will give Geary an extra point for at least not showing any bias
October 27, 2018
Introduction to the life of J Edgar Hoover. Before I read this book, I hadn't realized how thoroughly the FBI was the product of Hoover's skilled publicity and political maneuvering. It makes me want to read more about the history of the FBI!
July 17, 2024
Accurate display of how J Edgar Hoover was a fucko. Could have included more of his horrific nonsense, but also was super dense per page/speech bubble even which is not what I visually prefer in graphic novels.
January 10, 2013
J Edgar Hoover is 100% the worst! It was almost hard to read because I hate everything he loves and vice versa. The influence he had is absolutely terrifying. Ack!
December 7, 2017
It's a good book for those who want to learn about Hoover but don't have the patience for a traditional biography. Geary covers his career highlights as well as what motivated him.
February 22, 2021
This little book offers a surprisingly informative overview of the life and career of J. Edgar Hoover. It is simply an introduction to Hoover's biography -- an outline of -- the various phases of his life and the major milestones in his creation of (and use of) the FBI.
He served every President from Coolidge through Nixon. Think about that, and imagine the sweep of history this one guy saw, and influenced, first hand:
* Coolidge
* Hoover
* FDR
* Truman
* Eisenhower
* JFK
* LBJ
* Nixon
In summary, Hoover is one hell of an odd duck, and the cartoonist, Rick Geary, has been a favorite of mine since the days his work appeared in the National Lampoon.
He served every President from Coolidge through Nixon. Think about that, and imagine the sweep of history this one guy saw, and influenced, first hand:
* Coolidge
* Hoover
* FDR
* Truman
* Eisenhower
* JFK
* LBJ
* Nixon
In summary, Hoover is one hell of an odd duck, and the cartoonist, Rick Geary, has been a favorite of mine since the days his work appeared in the National Lampoon.
June 24, 2019
My one star review has nothing to do with the amazing talents of Rick Geary or his ability to tell a tale, my problem was entirely with J. Edgar Hoover. Reading this book now while looking at the shit show the world has become around us, I can't help but think Hoover put so much of it into motion with his masterminding of the FBI and lax attitudes towards civil liberties. A horrible human being.
June 18, 2017
I only knew minimal information about J. Edgar Hoover and found this book to be an easy way to learn a bit more about this historical figure. He served under a number of different presidents and was involved in some controversial methods of fighting crime. It sounds like he must have been a lonely man whose life centered around his job with little else to distract him.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews