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Tales of the Talented Tenth #1
Bass Reeves: Tales of the Talented Tenth, no. 1
Tales of the Talented Tenth, Volume One tells the story of Bass Reeves, an escaped slave who became one of the most successful lawman of the old west. Volume I chronicles his life from winning shooting matches in early childhood to traveling with his master, living with Native Americans in Indian Territory, and finally becoming a U.S. Marshal.
128 pages, Paperback
First published September 9, 2014
3 people are currently reading
329 people want to read
About the author
Joel Christian Gill
13 books139 followersJoel Christian Gill is a cartoonist and historian who speaks nationally on the importance of sharing stories. He wrote the words and drew the pictures in Fast Enough: Bessie Stringfield’s First Ride
(published by Lion Forge, 2019) and the award-winning graphic novel series Strange Fruit: Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History, as
well as, Tales of The Talented Tenth from Fulcrum Publishing. He has worked for diverse clients including the People’s United Party of Belize,
NBC, the Boston Globe and his has written for The Huffington Post. He is currently Associate Professor of Illustration at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Gill has dedicated his life to creating stories to build connections with readers through empathy, compassion, and ultimately humanity. He received his MFA from Boston University and his BA from
Roanoke College.
(published by Lion Forge, 2019) and the award-winning graphic novel series Strange Fruit: Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History, as
well as, Tales of The Talented Tenth from Fulcrum Publishing. He has worked for diverse clients including the People’s United Party of Belize,
NBC, the Boston Globe and his has written for The Huffington Post. He is currently Associate Professor of Illustration at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Gill has dedicated his life to creating stories to build connections with readers through empathy, compassion, and ultimately humanity. He received his MFA from Boston University and his BA from
Roanoke College.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
July 10, 2018
I liked this one slightly less than the others. These comics are short and straightforward but I found the illustration top notch. These comics are just introductions to these characters and not full biographies.
November 3, 2014
ARC provided through Edelweiss for aI n honest review.
1 Difficult Stars
True story of the legendary lawman, who some believe the legend of the Lone Ranger, was based on. Bass Reeves was a slave who spent his adult life as the first African American US Texas Ranger. He was illiterate, but never arrested the wrong man. He was the most prolific in the history of Texas Rangers and also was ambidextrous, able to shot with both hands.
I find it difficult to give this a bad review. Mostly because I asked for the ARC and I really wanted to like it. I love the story of Bass Reeves and have read his story a couple of different times in different books and formats.
This probably isn't something that should be read on an ebook format, because I found it difficult to do so. Didn't fit the tablet, I had to expand the pages and they didn't turn well. I also found the language of the characters a little offensive. I realize that the character is a slave, but for some reason it just hit me the wrong way.
Bass Reeves is a little known, but amazing real life character in our history, whom I believe should have more recognition. But unfortunately, this isn't the story that will do it.
1 Difficult Stars
True story of the legendary lawman, who some believe the legend of the Lone Ranger, was based on. Bass Reeves was a slave who spent his adult life as the first African American US Texas Ranger. He was illiterate, but never arrested the wrong man. He was the most prolific in the history of Texas Rangers and also was ambidextrous, able to shot with both hands.
I find it difficult to give this a bad review. Mostly because I asked for the ARC and I really wanted to like it. I love the story of Bass Reeves and have read his story a couple of different times in different books and formats.
This probably isn't something that should be read on an ebook format, because I found it difficult to do so. Didn't fit the tablet, I had to expand the pages and they didn't turn well. I also found the language of the characters a little offensive. I realize that the character is a slave, but for some reason it just hit me the wrong way.
Bass Reeves is a little known, but amazing real life character in our history, whom I believe should have more recognition. But unfortunately, this isn't the story that will do it.
May 28, 2021
I didn’t realize this was for kids. Young kids, too, it seems, baby children. Very simple and simplistic storytelling and art. And since I’m one of those adult readers who reads age appropriate fiction, this was obviously not the right fit. But objectively, this book series is great concept, inspirational, aspirational, etc. Bass Reeves was a fun character. I watched a bio of him once so that’s where most of my information comes from. The first black deputy US marshal, tough, brave, killer mustache. Made over 3000 arrests, shot and killed 14, fathered 11…busy dude. For anyone unfamiliar with Reeves, this book will provide a decent overview of his life and work. But anyone really interested in the man (any adult, specifically) might want a more elaborate account. The book took a very original approach to dealing with racial slurs, which were all the rage back then. So kudos to the author…very creative.
February 3, 2019
I liked the artwork, and I think this is a good starting point for anyone wanting to learn about the Bass Reeves. It just left me wanting more.
February 25, 2020
I received the ERC (e-Review Copy) for the graphic novel from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This is the first graphic novel in a series about Black History in US and tells the story of Bass Reeves a slave who became first ever Black Deputy Marshall in US and was famed as a legendary law man who is believed to have inspired the character 'The Lone Ranger'. I liked the story and the style the story is told in. But didn't particularly like the pdf for the review copy as at least on my computers pdf starts crawling as soon as it sees full pages graphics. Everyone should read it at least in US.
I have always loved comics, and I hope that I will always love them. Even though I grew up reading local Indian comics like Raj Comics or Diamond Comics or even Manoj Comics, now's the time to catch up on the international and classic comics and Graphic novels. I am on my quest to read as many comics as I can. I Love comics to bit, may comics never leave my side. I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.
I have always loved comics, and I hope that I will always love them. Even though I grew up reading local Indian comics like Raj Comics or Diamond Comics or even Manoj Comics, now's the time to catch up on the international and classic comics and Graphic novels. I am on my quest to read as many comics as I can. I Love comics to bit, may comics never leave my side. I loved reading this and love reading more, you should also read what you love and then just Keep on Reading.
February 21, 2018
Things I liked about this; The whole idea of a series devoted to unsung black heroes and heroines in American history, and the actual story of Bass Reeves. In fact, I now think I need to find a full-length textual biography of Bass Reeves.
Things I didn't like; A crow as representation of various white men that held Bass Reeves down throughout his life. As a grown reader, it was super confusing to me, I wonder if young readers would struggle with the depiction. I also did not love the insertion of stereotypical pictographs for the offensive racial slurs. However, to be fair, I don't know what you would do instead, but it didn't totally work for me.
Despite these few negatives, I still can't wait to read the other stories in this series.
Things I didn't like; A crow as representation of various white men that held Bass Reeves down throughout his life. As a grown reader, it was super confusing to me, I wonder if young readers would struggle with the depiction. I also did not love the insertion of stereotypical pictographs for the offensive racial slurs. However, to be fair, I don't know what you would do instead, but it didn't totally work for me.
Despite these few negatives, I still can't wait to read the other stories in this series.
March 9, 2024
Published by Fulcrum Publishing in 2014.
Artist and author Joel Christian Gill is writing and illustrating a series of graphic novels that look into the lives of lesser known, exceptional African Americans. His inspiration is this quote from W.E.B. DuBois: "The Talented Tenth rises and pulls all that are worth saving up to their vantage ground." In other words, some will rise up and inspire/lead the rest. This is Gill's way of providing inspiration.
Bass Reeves was a legendary lawman in the Old West. He was a Deputy U.S. Marshal that chased down bad guys who would flee into Indian Territory (Oklahoma and Kansas) to hide from law enforcement in the neighboring states. If you've seen either of the two versions of the movie True Grit , that is the exact situation. The character Rooster Cogburn would have been real-life Bass Reeves' co-worker if Cogburn were a real person.
The graphic novel tells about Reeves' childhood as a slave in Arkansas, how he escaped during the Civil War (he was brought along to work as a body servant for a Confederate officer) and eventually lived for a while with Indians in the Oklahoma and Kansas Territories. He was hired to help deal Marshals deal with Indians and eventually he was deemed to be so helpful and so good at his job that the local federal judge went against all of the normal conventions and made Bass Reeves a marshal.
It turns out that Marshal Bass Reeves was very, very good at his job - maybe the best.
The book addresses racial issues in a couple of clever ways. Whenever the word n***** is used, a stylized caricature of a man in "blackface" is inserted. Secondly, whenever Reeves is confronted by racists, they are partially or completely illustrated as crows with angry red eyes. There are crows fleeing the law, crows in court, etc.
The problem with this story is that although Reeves lived an interesting and amazing life, the book is kind of flat.
I rate this graphic novel 3 stars out of 5.
Artist and author Joel Christian Gill is writing and illustrating a series of graphic novels that look into the lives of lesser known, exceptional African Americans. His inspiration is this quote from W.E.B. DuBois: "The Talented Tenth rises and pulls all that are worth saving up to their vantage ground." In other words, some will rise up and inspire/lead the rest. This is Gill's way of providing inspiration.
Bass Reeves was a legendary lawman in the Old West. He was a Deputy U.S. Marshal that chased down bad guys who would flee into Indian Territory (Oklahoma and Kansas) to hide from law enforcement in the neighboring states. If you've seen either of the two versions of the movie True Grit , that is the exact situation. The character Rooster Cogburn would have been real-life Bass Reeves' co-worker if Cogburn were a real person.
The graphic novel tells about Reeves' childhood as a slave in Arkansas, how he escaped during the Civil War (he was brought along to work as a body servant for a Confederate officer) and eventually lived for a while with Indians in the Oklahoma and Kansas Territories. He was hired to help deal Marshals deal with Indians and eventually he was deemed to be so helpful and so good at his job that the local federal judge went against all of the normal conventions and made Bass Reeves a marshal.
It turns out that Marshal Bass Reeves was very, very good at his job - maybe the best.
The book addresses racial issues in a couple of clever ways. Whenever the word n***** is used, a stylized caricature of a man in "blackface" is inserted. Secondly, whenever Reeves is confronted by racists, they are partially or completely illustrated as crows with angry red eyes. There are crows fleeing the law, crows in court, etc.
The problem with this story is that although Reeves lived an interesting and amazing life, the book is kind of flat.
I rate this graphic novel 3 stars out of 5.
February 9, 2020
After DNFing a couple very celebrated comics, I was starting to think I wasn't a comic reader, that the format wasn't for me … SURPRISE! This was engaging, well-structured, interesting, and graphically enjoyable. The story focused tightly on the escaped slave, Bass Reeves, who became a US federal marshal in the late 1800s. Super interesting. I also thought the way the artist converged two timelines was extremely well done, and kept my interest all the way to the end. I would recommend this for anyone to read, adult or child. It's not complicated, but it's a quick and interesting read for an adult too. (Check it out of the library for your kid, as I did, and then read it yourself).
I would have liked a bit more historical narrative in the end matter, where the author includes a bibliography, points readers to other books in this series and to their website (fulcrumeducation.com). Relying upon the website info assumes the reader has access to the internet and follows up on going there, but I think it would have been better to use space for a deeper discussion of the facts, perhaps a note on HOW to research a story like this, and an explanation of the pictographs used for the Native American speech. Merely listing two books about the pictographs in the bibliography wasn't, in my opinion, enough.
I will definitely borrow the rest of the "Talented Tenth" series from this publisher. I already have their Colonial Comics too.
I would have liked a bit more historical narrative in the end matter, where the author includes a bibliography, points readers to other books in this series and to their website (fulcrumeducation.com). Relying upon the website info assumes the reader has access to the internet and follows up on going there, but I think it would have been better to use space for a deeper discussion of the facts, perhaps a note on HOW to research a story like this, and an explanation of the pictographs used for the Native American speech. Merely listing two books about the pictographs in the bibliography wasn't, in my opinion, enough.
I will definitely borrow the rest of the "Talented Tenth" series from this publisher. I already have their Colonial Comics too.
Read
July 30, 2020I’d somehow never heard of Bass Reeves until I read about him in an Atomic Robo story. After escaping slavery in 1863, Reeves lived with a Native American tribe, served in the Union Army, and became one of the most celebrated U.S. Marshals in history. In fact, he was the first black marshal in the West, where he served mainly in Oklahoma. Reeves is truly a seminal American figure and his story is worth telling. This book is part of series of educational comics highlighting iconic African-Americans. It’s a very brief read, as Gill hits the major points in Reeves’ life while providing minimal dialogue. I guess this would be a good primer on Reeves for young readers, but as an adult reader I was left wanting more. Gill’s art is pretty good though.
Another thing: Gill makes the stylistic choice of censoring racial slurs with small stereotypical images of black and Native American people. I thought this was fairly effective, because even without using the words he’s able to capture their harmful nature. I’m guessing he chose not to use the words because this book is aimed at kids. Still, I’m not sure how the dialogue will come off to the intended audience.
Another thing: Gill makes the stylistic choice of censoring racial slurs with small stereotypical images of black and Native American people. I thought this was fairly effective, because even without using the words he’s able to capture their harmful nature. I’m guessing he chose not to use the words because this book is aimed at kids. Still, I’m not sure how the dialogue will come off to the intended audience.
February 7, 2019
This is me finally caught up on Joel Christian Gill's works. This comic biography of Bass Reeves is a great place to start learning about a fascinating and underappreciated man from history, a specialty for Gill. The story and art are quick and enjoyable, accessible for all ages.
I definitely recommend this, and everything else Gill has done. I look forward to seeing more of his work in the future.
I definitely recommend this, and everything else Gill has done. I look forward to seeing more of his work in the future.
August 6, 2018
This is a fascinating series about unique black Americans. I had a hard time understanding the graphic novel aspect of it, but my son loves it and wants to read more of the series about other real-life characters.
August 2, 2022
You probably have not read too many books Joel Christian Gill, but you really should.
This is a fun tale of an esoteric chapter in American history. Fascinating and exciting. This is a must-get for all school libraries. Use it as a lure for reluctant readers.
This is a fun tale of an esoteric chapter in American history. Fascinating and exciting. This is a must-get for all school libraries. Use it as a lure for reluctant readers.
November 8, 2016
Although this graphic novel was rushed and had its shortcomings, I'd highly recommend for children.
July 12, 2017
Powerful story and beautiful artwork that celebrates a great African American figure. Artfully deals with the language and treatment of African Americans during expansion of the West.
May 21, 2018
Bass Reeves is one of my favorite American history "characters". A real tough guy and hero.
August 9, 2020
Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
July 11, 2021
Well done historical graphic novel that covers a person that I had previously never heard about. It was interesting that the author avoided using the n- word by using an emoji.
June 12, 2022
Good story
March 8, 2025
American history that should be taught in schools but isn't. Bass Reeves is wildly rumored to be the inspiration for the Lone Ranger. Short introduction that should hopefully spark a deeper game.
February 22, 2017
This was a well-done story and an informative lesson in America's history. Centered around the life of Bass Reeves, the first black U.S. Marshall, who covered Oklahoma and what were known as the 'Indian Territories' it detailed all he accomplished in spite of the terrible treatment he received. It reminded me of Denzel's character in Magnificent 7.
The "A picture is worth a thousand words" rings so true here. Instead of multiple uses of the 'n word', an offensive and jarring word for me to read, even in stories where it was used within a normalized context, in place there was a little racist black face caricature depicted (think of those old soap ads from the 1920s) each time so that I knew exactly what the characters were really saying without it taking me out of the story. Same with Native Americans. Brilliant.
Also Jim Crow is depicted as a man-sized crow following Bass Reeves throughout his life. Anyone who likes comics or graphic novels, American history, and good stories should read this.
The "A picture is worth a thousand words" rings so true here. Instead of multiple uses of the 'n word', an offensive and jarring word for me to read, even in stories where it was used within a normalized context, in place there was a little racist black face caricature depicted (think of those old soap ads from the 1920s) each time so that I knew exactly what the characters were really saying without it taking me out of the story. Same with Native Americans. Brilliant.
Also Jim Crow is depicted as a man-sized crow following Bass Reeves throughout his life. Anyone who likes comics or graphic novels, American history, and good stories should read this.
March 26, 2015
Bass Reeves was the first African-American Deputy U.S. Marshal, and believed to be an inspiration for the Lone Ranger. He was a keen marksman as a young slave (used by his owner to win money in shooting competitions), familiar with the harsh west after running away and living with Native Americans, and creative with disguises. All of this helped this illiterate man to apprehend thousands of criminals. His profound sense of justice helped him make his most difficult arrest, that of his son, who was guilty of murdering his wife after discovering her infidelity.
The narrative goes back and forth from Reeves’s early days to his career. The switching back and forth was done suddenly, and I had a difficult time orienting myself. For example, in the beginning of the later narrative, Bass is being arrested by a man-sized crow. This is never explained, and the same figure shows up in the earlier narrative as well. I wasn’t sure if this was the same person, different people, or purely metaphor.
The quick back-and-forth, and my difficulty with orienting myself to the story distracted me from being sucked into the events. It took me some time to figure out where I was and what was happening with each time shift, which were relatively quick in succession. I felt like I was constantly playing catch-up with the narrative. I think this could have been an easier read if I had known more about Reeves going into the story. I think it would pair nicely with another source.
The author has a cool way of dealing with a problematic, but common racial slur. He stays true to the ugly history of the way people tossed the word around with callousness, but he takes some of the sting out. Instead of writing the word, he uses an emoji-like picture of a man in blackface. This image includes the stereotypical large lips and big, white eyes that black face makeup emphasized. The image itself is hard to stomach, and using it to stand in for the racial slur is a stroke of genius. It will open a whole different discussion with readers unfamiliar with minstrel shows.
• No language, however racial slurs are replaced with a blackface caricature
• Violence includes threats, an accidental shooting, and discussion of crimes. Guns are also fired in competitions. Reeves is a phenomenal marksman, but he only shoots at a person if he has no other choice.
• No sexual situations
• No drug/alcohol use
The narrative goes back and forth from Reeves’s early days to his career. The switching back and forth was done suddenly, and I had a difficult time orienting myself. For example, in the beginning of the later narrative, Bass is being arrested by a man-sized crow. This is never explained, and the same figure shows up in the earlier narrative as well. I wasn’t sure if this was the same person, different people, or purely metaphor.
The quick back-and-forth, and my difficulty with orienting myself to the story distracted me from being sucked into the events. It took me some time to figure out where I was and what was happening with each time shift, which were relatively quick in succession. I felt like I was constantly playing catch-up with the narrative. I think this could have been an easier read if I had known more about Reeves going into the story. I think it would pair nicely with another source.
The author has a cool way of dealing with a problematic, but common racial slur. He stays true to the ugly history of the way people tossed the word around with callousness, but he takes some of the sting out. Instead of writing the word, he uses an emoji-like picture of a man in blackface. This image includes the stereotypical large lips and big, white eyes that black face makeup emphasized. The image itself is hard to stomach, and using it to stand in for the racial slur is a stroke of genius. It will open a whole different discussion with readers unfamiliar with minstrel shows.
• No language, however racial slurs are replaced with a blackface caricature
• Violence includes threats, an accidental shooting, and discussion of crimes. Guns are also fired in competitions. Reeves is a phenomenal marksman, but he only shoots at a person if he has no other choice.
• No sexual situations
• No drug/alcohol use
February 5, 2017
Tales of the Talented Tenth: Bass Reeves is a young adult biography that's also a graphic novel based on Bass Reeves who was one of the first (if not the first) African American US Marshals and possibly even the inspiration of the well known character "Lone Ranger".
Throughout this graphic novel the story of Bass Reeves jumps to and from his early life and to a present moment. In his early life he was a slave and his master would enter him into shooting competitions (this helped to give Bass the opportunity to develop his skill as a shooter) and with each competition he began to win and become better and better. Eventually after one fateful day where Bass loses his cool with his master he runs away and ends up in the desert. After passing out from exhaustion, he is found by a Native American man and taken to the village to be looked after, Bass ends up living among the Native Americans as one of their own soon after helping the Native Americans with some issues they were facing as well. It's Bass' ties with the Native American community that led him to the path of becoming a lawman and eventually a US Marshal. Bass' talent for nabbing the bad guy became legendary and it's believed that he is the inspiration for the Lone Ranger character.
I must say, I was really impressed with how Gill presented the story of Bass Reeves. You see Bass as a young boy, a young man and as an older man all the while making connections from his early life to his later life. I also want to mention how Gill used images in place for very derogatory terms for African Americans and Native Americans, which to me was very clever and helps to alleviate the reader's apprehension to read the derogatory names for the groups of people mentioned.
I just really enjoyed reading this graphic novel and would like to know more about Bass Reeves.
Throughout this graphic novel the story of Bass Reeves jumps to and from his early life and to a present moment. In his early life he was a slave and his master would enter him into shooting competitions (this helped to give Bass the opportunity to develop his skill as a shooter) and with each competition he began to win and become better and better. Eventually after one fateful day where Bass loses his cool with his master he runs away and ends up in the desert. After passing out from exhaustion, he is found by a Native American man and taken to the village to be looked after, Bass ends up living among the Native Americans as one of their own soon after helping the Native Americans with some issues they were facing as well. It's Bass' ties with the Native American community that led him to the path of becoming a lawman and eventually a US Marshal. Bass' talent for nabbing the bad guy became legendary and it's believed that he is the inspiration for the Lone Ranger character.
I must say, I was really impressed with how Gill presented the story of Bass Reeves. You see Bass as a young boy, a young man and as an older man all the while making connections from his early life to his later life. I also want to mention how Gill used images in place for very derogatory terms for African Americans and Native Americans, which to me was very clever and helps to alleviate the reader's apprehension to read the derogatory names for the groups of people mentioned.
I just really enjoyed reading this graphic novel and would like to know more about Bass Reeves.
December 26, 2014
1.5 stars.
first I would like to say that I won this graphic novel on a giveaway!
I somewhat enjoyed this biography of Bass Reeves. yet... The art work was less than impressive, not visually appealing or interesting. And I had some issues with the story... its too fast paced with no real interesting events or climax or something to build up to. . I know its a 'biography' but it really isn't that of a page turner...
in fact I think that the reason i found it to be rather boring is due to its briefness, it didn't focus on anything in particular not even on events that seemed to have had a big impact on reeves's life, thus portraying him to be a person with no real depth to him...
i even felt indifferent about him at times, not really caring for what his life turned out to be.. the story would be better if it had focused on some element such as making the story tone dark and thrilling or comical and entertaining, or even add more facts and info rather than focus on the racism and racist dialog style...
I guess what i'm trying to say is that reading the story offers nothing to be gained, it just tells me that a slave became a sheriff, but nothing special about him, however in the last pages of the story some numbers were thrown out along with some facts and I wished there was more of them... over all it was OK, not more nor less.. I think the audience best fit for this story are children since it was so fast paced with limited dialog (both in amount and content) to offer...
first I would like to say that I won this graphic novel on a giveaway!
I somewhat enjoyed this biography of Bass Reeves. yet... The art work was less than impressive, not visually appealing or interesting. And I had some issues with the story... its too fast paced with no real interesting events or climax or something to build up to. . I know its a 'biography' but it really isn't that of a page turner...
in fact I think that the reason i found it to be rather boring is due to its briefness, it didn't focus on anything in particular not even on events that seemed to have had a big impact on reeves's life, thus portraying him to be a person with no real depth to him...
i even felt indifferent about him at times, not really caring for what his life turned out to be.. the story would be better if it had focused on some element such as making the story tone dark and thrilling or comical and entertaining, or even add more facts and info rather than focus on the racism and racist dialog style...
I guess what i'm trying to say is that reading the story offers nothing to be gained, it just tells me that a slave became a sheriff, but nothing special about him, however in the last pages of the story some numbers were thrown out along with some facts and I wished there was more of them... over all it was OK, not more nor less.. I think the audience best fit for this story are children since it was so fast paced with limited dialog (both in amount and content) to offer...
October 31, 2014
Wonderful biography of the black US Marshall, born a slave, who became the most successful lawman of the West and legend has it the stories of the Lone Ranger are based on him. The author's previous book, Strange Fruit, contains a mini-biography on Bass Reeves and this book takes the same story, expounds upon it and fills in more details. Bass led an adventurous life starting off as a slave, living several years with Natives, fighting for the North during the Civil War and finally becoming a US Marshall. An interesting concept used for this book, that I think is quite successful in conveying the racism of the time without using the degrading language is the using of pictographs. Whenever a black man is being referred to as, obviously the n-word, there is a little drawing of a racist blackface type head, also for Indians whenever they are being referred to as perhaps redskins or savages, there is a little drawing of the head of a chief in feathered headdress. For those of us who know the words that were used, the images bring them to mind, for the younger readers who haven't experienced these racist terms, the words aren't introduced and yet they know "bad" or mocking words are being used. An interesting, informative and exciting tale of a man not that well known to history. Looking forward to seeing who the next volume will be about.
May 11, 2018
\m/ BASS REEVES IS THE FUCKIN MAN. \m/
Okay, now that we've got that out of the way. This is pretty good! Bass Reeves is, as I have mentioned, the fuckin' man, and this book does not shy away from portraying him as the badass he was. The author also doesn't shy away from portraying the racism and racist slurs that Reeves was faced with on a daily basis, but he does them in a really interesting way: offensive slurs are shown as stereotypical pictures of black people and Native Americans. It means black people reading the text don't have the words slapped in their faces every couple pages, without sacrificing the true extent of the racism for white girls like me.
I did have a couple issues. I found the use of the man-sized crow to represent Jim Crow initially confusing and distracting, though it became easier to follow later in the book. I also found the portrayal of Native language as indecipherable scribbles to be... questionable? Still, the use of symbols for offensive words and the sheer badassery of Bass Reeves both make this book well worth the time, especially for middle-grade kids. Highly recommended.
Okay, now that we've got that out of the way. This is pretty good! Bass Reeves is, as I have mentioned, the fuckin' man, and this book does not shy away from portraying him as the badass he was. The author also doesn't shy away from portraying the racism and racist slurs that Reeves was faced with on a daily basis, but he does them in a really interesting way: offensive slurs are shown as stereotypical pictures of black people and Native Americans. It means black people reading the text don't have the words slapped in their faces every couple pages, without sacrificing the true extent of the racism for white girls like me.
I did have a couple issues. I found the use of the man-sized crow to represent Jim Crow initially confusing and distracting, though it became easier to follow later in the book. I also found the portrayal of Native language as indecipherable scribbles to be... questionable? Still, the use of symbols for offensive words and the sheer badassery of Bass Reeves both make this book well worth the time, especially for middle-grade kids. Highly recommended.
April 25, 2019
This is not nearly as polished as Vaunda Nelson's picture book biography, but for kids who want more of Bass Reeves' story, or want it in comic format, this fits the bill. Full color, cartoony illustrations recount the life and exploits of Bass Reeves, African American US Marshall. There is lots of vulgar racist name calling that is handled with the use of pictographs inserted in the place of words. I appreciate the clever way of staying true to history and honoring what heroes like Reeves and millions of others had to endure and fight against. The many little jim crow faces still pack a mighty disturbing punch, and like any ellipses insidiously impel the reader to fill in the blank. For me this pushes it more towards high school. I will try this out with my middle school graphic novel group when they are in 7th grade and see what they think. The treatment of Native Americans is resoundingly positive.
January 31, 2016
This was a very enjoyable read. I had no idea who Bass Reeves was before reading this and I think it’s worth the read only to know more about this man. It chronicles his life from when he was a child as a slave to him becoming a Deputy U.S. Marshall. This story shows the character for who he is even as he had to do one of the most difficult arrests he ever made. You see why Bass Reeves was one of the best deputy’s in the old west in this graphic novel. The art is very simple which makes the story all that more important, it doesn’t distract from the story of this man. It’s a very short and quick read, but after reading you have a pretty good background on this man.
April 7, 2016
I knew about Bass Reeves from reading a series of Westerns set in Indian Territory (Oklahoma). Nevertheless this was well worth the read as Reeves was just such a bad-ass.
Again, I'd love to see this Gill book issued to students with their standard textbook. It tells of history that is simply blown over in textbooks. (Plus Gill has truly come up with a ingenious way of confronting horrible language through iconography (Sambo for a terrible term for African-Americans; essentially Chief Wahoo which is STILL used by Cleveland for Native Americans; and a sinister anthropomorphized crow for Jim Crow politics and attitudes.)
Highly recommended.
#28daysarenotenough
Again, I'd love to see this Gill book issued to students with their standard textbook. It tells of history that is simply blown over in textbooks. (Plus Gill has truly come up with a ingenious way of confronting horrible language through iconography (Sambo for a terrible term for African-Americans; essentially Chief Wahoo which is STILL used by Cleveland for Native Americans; and a sinister anthropomorphized crow for Jim Crow politics and attitudes.)
Highly recommended.
#28daysarenotenough
February 17, 2015
I liked this short graphic novel on Bass Reeves' life. The art was simplistic and it is clearly for a younger demographic but the story is told in a way that shows the racism without delving into the darkness of hate. If children are finding this on their own they might not understand the crow as the symbol for hatred and the pictographs for words that are hurtful.
Overall I liked it but it felt short and rushed.
Overall I liked it but it felt short and rushed.
April 28, 2015
Bass Reeves is amazing and this book does a good job of illustrating how hard his life was, how much prejudice he had to overcome throughout his life. His feats of capturing outlaws are outdone only by his great character that shines through.
It is reasonably intense, depicting deaths and varieties of racism, so families with younger children may want to read Michaux's account of Reeves.
(Once again this book confirms how much I love learning about history through graphic novels.)
It is reasonably intense, depicting deaths and varieties of racism, so families with younger children may want to read Michaux's account of Reeves.
(Once again this book confirms how much I love learning about history through graphic novels.)
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