The Battle of Churubusco: American Rebels in the Mexican-American War

by Andrea Ferraris, Jamie Richards (Translator)

A soldier under fire faces a crisis of conscience in this remarkable work of historical graphic fiction. Today, Churubusco is a residential suburb of Mexico City. But in 1847, it was the stronghold of the San Patricios, a motley battalion of soldiers ― including some runaway American slaves ― who deserted the United States Army for a just, if suicidal, cause.

In this graphic novel, Andrea Ferraris uses a bold charcoal technique to tell the story of the San Patricios through the eyes of Gaetano Rizzo, a 22-year-old Sicilian immigrant (based on a real soldier of the time). Promised citizenship and a parcel of land, Rizzo joins the U.S. Army in the fight to take California away from Mexico. Before long, he realizes that the cruelty he is ordered to inflict is no different from the horrors he had escaped from in his home country.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, History, Nonfiction

196 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2015

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of those books where me and the author are at loggerheads. Based on the title, I want a book that explains the history of the Batallón de San Patricio/Saint Patrick's Battalion and the Battle of Churubsco during the Mexican-American War. The author meanwhile wants to create a fantasy full of dream sequences and supernatural elements and play fast and loose with the facts. Even once I resign myself to not getting what I want, I just don't care for what I get.

[Urbon Adamsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've mentioned it before, but it bears repeating: I'm a sucker for war stories. It's not just the historical facts that fascinate me, but also how war, with its intense and extreme situations, reveals the true nature of people.

This particular story is set during the Mexican-American War, a pivotal conflict where the United States annexed Texas, California, and other territories that are now integral to the country. It's a fascinating chapter of history that, in my opinion, doesn’t get the attention it deserves.

I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of this book. It was a fantastic read, and I'm thrilled that Escorpião Azul brought this remarkable story to us.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic history, titled The Battle of Churubusco in the English edition, provides a fascinating glimpse into the dark side of American imperialism. Turns out, we've been jerks on the international scene for quite some time! Rizzo, an Italian immigrant fighting with the US army in the Mexican-American War, deserts after being abused by the other soldiers for this Catholicism. He runs into a band of mostly-Irish immigrants, the San Patricios, who have taken up arms for Mexico. Predictably, the US army arrives and, well, nothing good comes of it for the San Patricios or their friends.

It's a small story with characters that are more caricature than real flesh and blood. I would have appreciated a glimpse of the larger war, perhaps more history to set the scene. There is a small afterword that outlines the real San Patricios and the battle, but it didn't feel like enough. The art is spare, but elegant. It fits the bill well.

[Moises Cordova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings about this, I can understand artistic licenses but the graphic novel is historically inaccurate well beyond that, it goes to dreamlike levels.

In the novel, mexicans use bandoliers that were used only until the Mexican Revolution in 1910, in real life Churubusco is a convent in the valley of Mexico City but in the novel Churubusco is some kind of hidden town in the desert. I wonder if this is due to space constraints, the graphic novel only has 200 pages.

In the good side the novel has a very tragic feeling, very appropriate for a story about the Mexican War. It would be interesting to see what the author could have done with more space specially because you can notice that the author was very interested in the subject.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very ugly part of the 1840s war between the United States and Mexico, some US Catholic troops rebelled against the war for various reasons and some of them formed the San Patricios unit. This unit fought to the death in its final battle and there is a museum and memorial in Mexico. The art is more like charcoal drawings as opposed to ink, its excellent and enhances the story which without the artwork, would lack impact. A very moving novel.

[Khalid Albaih · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully drawn… a glimpse in to a forgotten history. I wish their was more but never the less beautiful

[Vittorio Rainone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Churubusco è una storia feroce: si parte da una guerra iniqua, quella degli stati uniti d'america contro il messico. Una guerra che come tutte le guerre nasce per necessità puramente economiche, e sfrutta gli ultimi per creare carne da cannone. Italiani, irlandesi, poveri migranti, vengono arruolati dagli Stati Uniti contro il Messico, con la promessa di terre. Ma qualcuno di loro non ci sta e passa dall'altra parte: si forma un gruppo di rivoluzionari sotto il comando di un irlandese, che battezza il proprio reggimento brigata san patrizio. E si tatua un bersaglio sulla schiena. Un drappello di statunitensi perlustra il territorio di guerra alla ricerca del paesino dove si sono nascosti i ribelli, il mitizzato Churubusco. Questa storia parla di un massacro e di speranze distrutte, di amore episodico e destinato a soccombere, di sogni infranti. E lo fa con uno stile secco, netto, e un tratto cattivo, sporco, fatto di linee dritte e carboncini che invadono la pagina, spargendo fuliggine di cannoni. Un fumetto importante.

[Sonic · Rating 5 out of 5]

This amazing haunting work tells a weird story from history that brings the human spirit into a strange light.

[Elna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not expect to love this as much as I did - I picked it up because I felt the need to learn more about my Mexican history, and to honor the American soldiers who fought for the Mexicans. While I love nonfiction/historical/educational graphic novels, they do tend to be on the drier side. Of course, this is not REALLY nonfiction: it's the story through the eyes of a (doomed) fictionalized soldier. But rather than detracting from the history and the story, it allows us another lens and way to contextualize the events. Really the facts are simple: several American soldiers (mostly immigrants) deserted to go fight for the Mexicans, whom they sympathized with, and their stronghold was eventually discovered and destroyed, with the surviving deserters being executed. It's all the emotions and feelings and decisions in between that make a story.

Ferraris breathes life and emotion into the story with his simple and expressive lines and stark black and white color scheme. If I owned this book I might have been seriously tempted to tear out and frame some of the chapter title pages they were so beautiful. The weak spot is the people, who are kind of ugly and a little caricatured, but I got used to it.

The introduction/foreword/back matter is helpful to have and helps it to sink in that these were real people who made hard decisions and tragically lost their lives standing by what is right. It hit hard and will stick with me.

[Ryan Fohl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cool art. Not very historically accurate. A thin story with lots of visual stereotypes. A beautiful ending though. Not a great source for learning about the San Patricios it only covers their end.

What I learned: there were more European’s in the San Patricios then just Irish. They were crushed at churubusco a modern day neighborhood of Mexico City.

[João Teixeira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bons contrastes nos desenhos já de si bastante "carregados" (escuros). História com bom ritmo e fácil de acompanhar, mesmo sem muito texto de suporte. Resumindo, acho que é um bom livro e que dá a conhecer um pouquinho da História (obviamente que ficcionada) do período da guerra entre EUA e México pelo controlo de uma grande parte dos estados do sul dos EUA.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

True story?

[Steven Raszewski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting.

[Dosgallos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy disfrutable, un descubrimiento muy agradable.

[Gabby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Por Los Patricios

[J.R. Santos · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the styles of a Hugo Pratt, Andrea delivers a heart wrenching story of a battle lost from the start.

[Scar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super cool to learn about a battle I’ve never heard of before. The story’s characters didn’t teach much other than where and when the battle happened and with who. No character development.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Churubusco is a short, beautifully-illustrated, historical fiction graphic novel about the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. More specifically, it follows a fictitious Italian soldier (Rizzo) who deserts the American army, due to harsh treatment for being a Catholic, witnessing cruelties, and an encounter with a Mexican woman, to join a unit of European (mostly Irish) soldiers who switched allegiance to Mexico (the San Patricios). The book begins with the aftermath of the 1847 battle of Churubusco, and later revisits this hidden Mexican stronghold. The story shows a dark side of American Imperialism, and a snippet of a war that many in the US, including Abraham Lincoln, condemned. The story does not get into too much detail on anything, and the book includes historical notes to flush out the background more, but the reader gets a good taste of the conflict through Rizzo, who is sympathetic and comes with an interesting back story. There are some well-played religious and mystical elements, and, while I feel a bit more meat would have made this even better, Churubusco lets the imagination have some fun. The art is stark, deceptively complex, and gorgeous.

4.2 Stars

[Ava · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting graphic novel that taught me a bit about the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848 in which Mexico lost half of its land, I would have prefered that it covered more of the war, but this GN followed the story of Rizzo, an Italian soldier that ends up deserting the American army because of their war crimes and also bc of his religion (Americans were not tender towards catholics). Rizzo meets a Mexican woman and ends up in Churubusco, to become one of the San Patricios, deserters that ended up battling alongside Mexicans for religious reasons. Churubusco ended up being their last battle, as they lost there.
Anyway it was a nice and depressing read that I loved, and the art work was so very impactful.

[Paperstreet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Churubusco‬, ‪Andrea Ferraris‬, una graphic novel che ci racconta una delle pagine più dolorose della storia del ‪Messico‬.
La recensione di Paper Street: http://www.paperstreet.it/cs/leggi/ch...

[Boommtl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peu de mots dans ce roman graphique mais un coup de crayon très puissant qui raconte un pan de l'histoire que je connaissait peu. J'ai bien aimé le petit supplément historique placé à la fin.

[Kacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish it was longer...