The Annotated Northwest Passage

Northwest Passage #1-3

by Scott Chantler

alt cover for ISBN13: 9781932664614

After Fort Newcastle is brutally captured by invading French mercenaries, Charles Lord and a band of his surviving soldiers, trackers, and explorers embark on one last great adventure to unite the people of Rupert's Land to reclaim their home. This rollicking historical adventure fights its way on land and sea, all in search of and control of the mythic Northwest Passage.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Canada, Fiction, Young Adult

272 pages, Hardcover

First published June 20, 2007

About the author

Scott Chantler is the acclaimed cartoonist of the graphic novels SQUIRE& KNIGHT, BIX, TWO GENERALS (which was long-listed for CBC’s CANADA READS: TRUE STORIES, named one of Chapters-Indigo’s Best Books of 2010, and selected for BEST AMERICAN COMICS 2012), NORTHWEST PASSAGE (which was nominated for Eisner, Harvey, Shuster, and Doug Wright Awards), and the THREE THIEVES series (the first book of which, TOWER OF TREASURE, won the Joe Shuster Award for Best Comic for Kids).

Reviews

[Skye Kilaen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scott Chantler became one of our favorite comics artists and writers with his amazing young adult fantasy series Three Thieves, so I was intrigued to see how he'd take on historical fiction. I wasn't disappointed.

Northwest Passage is set in 1755 in Canada at an English fort, during a time when the English and French struggled for power over the Hudson Bay area. The story is centered around Charles Lord, a semi-famous adventurer who basically got moved to desk duty of governing the fort for years, but plans to seek the titular fabled water route through North America to the Pacific now that he's retiring. Unfortunately for Lord, French invaders take the incoming English supply ship that's supposed to take Lord back to England to raise funds for his expedition, and things only get worse from there.

Tightly interwoven with the fate of the fort, and IMHO even more compelling, are two intersecting human stories: (1) Lord's relationship with his embittered son Simon, whose mother Bright Moon, from the Opaskwayak Cree tribe, died when he was young, and (2) the experience of Lord's nephew Fletcher, who'd traveled on the supply ship to serve at the fort, but finds himself swept up in terrifying violence and then held as a hostage. Lord and Simon's story is heartbreaking and the jewel of the book, especially a dinner scene in Chapter 2 where they sit at opposite ends of a long table, unable to communicate honestly. It's an amazing use of same panel repeatedly with slight alterations to show us the dysfunction of their life together.

I don't have enough expertise to say whether the Cree representation here is acceptable, but I noticed that while most of the story's main characters are white, the Cree living nearby the fort clearly have their own lives and agendas separate from whatever's going on between the English and the French. Other tribes are mentioned as well, and Lord's egalitarian views seem author-endorsed. The book mostly depicts functional business relationships between the tribes and the English and French, but violence against the Cree by invading settlers isn't ignored.

I read the paperback version of the Annotated Edition, which was originally published in hardback, and I recommend reading all the back matter if you read it. The historical grounding and storytelling process notes Chantler shares were quite interesting. My only regret is that at the time of writing, he seemed to have plans for continuing the story, but it never happened!

Content warning: Late in the book, an evil male character discloses his past rape of a female character. It's not detailed.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing adventure set in a little-used setting - Canada in the mid 1800's - that was shelved far to soon. Hopefully Scott Chantler gets a chance to revisit it again in the future.

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Public library copy; I own the prior individualized books.

I'm re-reading this book for a third time. It's really great and there's no reason to edit my 5 star ranking.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took this out of the library after seeing Scott Chantler on the Newsarama blog berating fanboys for being more worried about the sanctity of their precious DCU than concerned with the rights of the Siegel family. Chantler essentially made a fan for life that day, and it's a great bonus that his book is terrific. Sufficiently terrific that I'm considering buying a "keeper" copy of this one!

1755, Canada, the acting governor of a major English fort is preparing to ship back to England. He's not happy about this, as he loves the frontier life. Due to his affection for exploring, his son, a half-Cree, resents him, and his bookwormy nephew is on the ship coming with new supplies hoping to impress upon his fabled uncle his manliness. A old enemy, a Frenchman, ambushes the supply ship, conquers the fort, and drives the hero and his loyal men into the wilderness. Chantler is a great cartoonist, echoing Jeff Smith in the best ways. The adventure is fast and fun, but Chantler manages to humanize the entire ordeal with the father/son dynamics. Very, very good work.

[Lauren Schnoebelen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I wanted more out of this graphic novel than I got. I picked this up from the library because the illustration design was interesting and I thought the time period during the fur trade would be a nice pallet cleanse from what I've been reading. A what if story about the time when England and France were spreading across America in hopes of gaining wealth from all sorts of resources available on the lad. With competition between two old fur traders coming to a head, a battle breaks out when the Frenchman takes over the Fort of the Englishman; who he views as a rival and enemy. This was definitely what the description said it was but by the end of it, I just looked at it and thought "is that it?"

[JaumeMuntane · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5

Interesante pero me ha sabido a poco. El momento histórico reflejado, el dibujo, la concisión del guión, el detallado epilogo anotado ofreciendo información histórica así como del proceso de creación....todos estos son puntos (muy) favorables pero cierro la última página con la sensación de saberme a poco, de que hubiera sido deseable, en mi caso, que se hubiera profundizado más.

[Lisa Macklem · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was quite enjoyable. The art was good, though not always straight forward. I enjoyed the story, but wish I could find the next installments. Was hoping it would have a bit more historical. The annotations are interesting as far as the writing of and choices for the novel.

[José Nebreda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dibujo precioso que encaja perfectamente en esta cruel historia de aventuras y descubrimientos en el inexplorado Gran Norte.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who says historical fiction and comics don’t mix? Chandler, in this 200-plus-page graphic novel, proves that this sub-genre – the historical epic – is not moribund by any means. Loosely based upon actual events surrounding the life of Governor Charles Lord of the Hudson’s Bay Company in the mid-eighteenth century, this sprightly-told narrative effortlessly balances a artistic style reminiscent of Jeff Smith – renowned artist/writer of the mega fantasy epic Bone – with the narrative sensibilities of another historical epic currently being serialized, Eric Shanower’s Age of Bronze.

It’s not very often that North America during the pre-colonial/pioneer days captures the imagination – anything by James Fenimore Cooper, of The Last of the Mohicans fame, can prove to be an eye-wearying read – but Chandler succeeds where many fear to tread. And luckily, this will whet the reader’s appetite for more in this under-rated and served graphic novel sub-genre.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scott Chantler's rich, confident brushwork found throughout Northwest Passage will remind some readers of Jeff Smith's Bone. The story, however, is steeped in North American history and has more in common with Last of the Mohicans than the tale of those three goofball cherubs straight out of Boneville.

This handsome volume from Oni Press does a fine job of presenting Chantler's two-fisted Canadian western. The production values are fantastic and the thirty pages of annotations make for interesting reading while waiting for the next volume to arrive.

While the characters are often broadly drawn, Chantler hits enough high notes to provide an entertaining and engaging read. As far as the visuals go, Chantler is really at the top of his game with strong, dynamic illustrations that will appeal to readers of all ages.

[Lucinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

It would be great if this was a long running series - there is so much that could be explored about the politics and events of this time period and region. Ultimately I think this is the biggest weakness of the story Chantler tells - in order to give a complete story he rushes and simplifies some aspects. Still, he created some compelling characters, and I love his graphic style.
As for the issue of representativeness, I don't think it was Chantler's intentions of presenting a history of the fur trade in Canada so it doesn't really make sense to charge him with partiality or biased historiography.

[Dominick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable graphic novel set in eighteenth-century northern Canada and dealing with a conflict between a former explorer, now HBC administrator on the verge of retirement, his old French enemy, and including various family complications. Good action, reasonably well-conceived characters (though the dialogue is hit or miss and there are a few clichés, such as the "who's your daddy?" chestnut), and solid art, though it's not entirely to my taste, as it is a bit more cartoony than I think the subject warrants. Nevertheless, an enjoyable read.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm unclear as to what the title has to do with the story. I picked this up from the library expecting a story about early explorers in Canada and what I got was a story about the beginnings of the French-English war (Seven Years War) and an invasion of an English fort by the French. There was an interesting story although some of the panels were drawn in such a confusing manner that I ended up staring at them trying to discern exactly what had happened (especially when someone died - who died? Did they die?).

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A historical fiction based on the HBC with English and French bloodshed for control of fur trade. There are indigenous depictions in here and considering this has a somewhat glorification of the main protagonist English Govenor, the Cree and Indigenous characters are given dimension and it was a nice touch incorperating language and their artistic expression into panels (I do not have any knowledge if the language is correct but hoping it is as there was French text as well)
This was given to me as a off loading of graphic novels and wouldn't mind contining the series

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, who knew the fur trade could kick so much ass? Northwest Passage frames its three-fisted story of manly Hudson's Bay Company tough guys firmly on real history, and then goes wild - it's essentially a pulp story with danger, intrigue, treachery, crazy escapes, half-breeds, and remarkably evil Frenchmen, but again, inspired by and redolent with history. Really fun, well drawn in an engaging cartoony style, and just top drawer.

[Lady Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was definitely a well developed and beautifully illustrated graphic novel. My biggest bone to pick with this one is that the title, and even the write-up on the back of the book, is deceiving. The book has little to nothing to do with locating the Northwest Passage, and really focuses on a skirmish between French traders and English Hudson Bay Company Employees, with a mixture of natives and plenty of fur trappers thrown in.

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scott Chantler does great work! I love his style of drawing, and he is a great storyteller. The story takes place in Canada around the time of the French and Indian War. Governor Lord was stepping down from his post at Fort Newcastle, when the French decide to attack the fort by trickery. Reading this book gave me a fresh perspective on the war, and it makes me want to learn more about war and the conflict in Canada.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in Canada during frontier times, Northwest Passage is historical fiction mixed with an adventure yarn. But the character work, especially through the art, is what really makes this book shine. Chantler's art style seems cartoonish at first glance, but it also is incredibly expressive, allowing the characters to say so much with just a facial expression or a gesture.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel is a quick read, and will appeal to fans of historical adventures.

The plot focused upon the frontier-era American West and the many skirmishes between the English and the French for control over the lucrative fur trade.

It struck me how much blood has been spilled—both human and non—over generations in the name of this violent industry.

[Nfnt-robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, old-fashioned action adventure explorer tale in the Canadian frontier. I really like the art (simple, but with enough sense of the period) and the story builds really well. It's relatively popular here in my library, I'm betting with the younger guy readers.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fulfilling in terms of length and completeness of story. Liked that the French characters actually spoke French (with subtitles). Some violence, but realistic and not gory. Black and white illustrations are well done.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fictional work on Canadian history. Actually pretty educational, since I was pretty ignorant of Canadian history to begin with. It's one of the first things Chantler has written, and I don't think his writing is quite up the same level as his art.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art is very well done but the story is bland and derivative. Wonderful mood invoked but, ultimately, with such a lackluster payoff. A shame - such an interesting setting deserves a much better plot.

[matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative story dealing with the time just before the "7 years war".
The drawings are a little too Disney-fied in my opinion - but well crafted.
I hope the series continues, I would like to read more.

[Kristen Harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great graphic novel that takes place in the New World in 1755 and the squirmish between the French and English over a couple of trading posts.

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Just...wow.

Also, I hope all subsequent volumes get collected into annotated editions too as I'd prefer them to match...that and this is really a gorgeous volume. All kinds of awesome!

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is yet another non fiction graphic novel which reveals a piece of North American history that most people probably do not know about. I liked it.

[Nealy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Great illustrations with a bit of history. Wonderful graphic novel without the superheros.

[Laurianne Uy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it!!!

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely gorgeous historic graphic novel. Although I wonder about the title, it seems to have little to do with the book.