Nelson Mandela: The Authorized Comic Book

by Nelson Mandela Foundation, Umlando Wezithombe (Illustrator)

Freedom fighter, fugitive, president of his nation, hero of the world, Nelson Mandela was called a terrorist, forced into hiding, captured, threatened with death, and eventually thrown into jail. But nothing could stop him from fighting to liberate his country from Apartheid. All of this and much more is presented in vivid color by a team of South African artists...

Nelson Mandela's memoir Long Walk to Freedom, electrified the world in 1994 with the story of a solitary man who, despite unbelievable hardships, brought down one of the most despised regimes in the world. Now comes the fully authorized graphic biography, which relays in picture form the life story of the world's greatest moral and political hero--from his boyhood in a small South African village to his growing political activism with the ANC; his twenty-seven year incarceration, eighteen of them as prisoner 466/64 on Robben Island; his dramatic release; and his triumphant years as president of South Africa. With new interviews, firsthand accounts, and archival material that has only recently been uncovered, this visually dramatic biography promises to introduce Mandela's gripping story to a whole new generations of readers.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Nonfiction, History, Africa, Biography, Graphic Novels Comics

193 pages, Paperback

First published July 18, 2008

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kelly Garwood

Nelson Mandela Foundation & U. Wezithome [Illustrator.] (2009). Nelson Mandela: The authorized comic book. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Genre: Biography

Award(s): VOYA starred

Format: graphic novel

Selection process: Davey, D. P. (2009, November 1). Review [Review of the graphic novel Nelson Mandela: The authorized comic book by Nelson Mandela Foundation with U. Wezithombe]. School Library Journal.

Maury, L. (2009, September 9). Luminous comic book reveals Mandela’s resilience [Review of the graphic novel Nelson Mandela: The authorized comic book by Nelson Mandela Foundation with U. Wezithombe]. NPR Books. Retrieved from www.npr.org.

Review:

In 1994, South African political hero Nelson Mandela published his memoir, Long Road to Freedom. This captivating account relayed the hardships Mandela went through in his life before bringing down “one of the most-despised regimes in the world” (Nelson Mandela Foundation). Now the Nelson Mandela Foundation along with the help of illustrator Umlando Wezithombe, the life of this powerful and inspirational man is available as a graphic novel. This biography goes over Mandela’s entire life, from being born in the small village of Mvezo, studying to be a lawyer and spending 27 years imprisoned on Robben Island.

The illustrations are strikingly realistic to the actual man. It is easy to see the progression of years throughout the book as Mandela eventually becomes the man he is known as today. At the beginning of the novel is a message from Mandela himself. He explains that he is not an expert on comics but that his Chief Executive is and he describes their value:

“He advises me that they have three very important qualities. Firstly, for those, like me, whose eyesight is not what it was, there is the option of simply looking at the pictures. Secondly, you know that you are really famous the day that you discover that you have become a comic character. And thirdly, young people read comics. The hope is that the elementary reading of comics will lead them to the joy of reading good books. That joy has been mine all my life. If the comic reaches new readers, then the project will have been worthwhile” (Mandela, 2005).

The truth in his statement cannot be disputed. The value of graphic novels is that they have the ability to captivate and interest young readers, and hopefully, guide them to enjoy further reading beyond this. Nelson Mandela: The Authorized Comic Book, not only emphasizes and examines the extraordinary life of a great man, but it also opens up a world of reading for young adults.

Highly Recommend

[Maureen Shea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biography/ Graphic Novel
Nelson Mandela The Authorized Comic Book by Nelson Mandela Foundation (author) with Umlando Wezithhombe (illustrator)
Maureen Judith Shea
(2009) Nelson Mandela (p. 193). New York: W. W. Norton & Company Award 2010 Best Book for Older Readers in the Children’s Africana Book Awards from the Outreach Council of the African Studies Association (ASA).
Retrieved from: http://www.nelsonmandela.org/news/ent...
Format: print
Selection process: Initially reviewed graphic novel section of my library for biographies. Found “Nelson Mandela The Authorized Comic Book” available in the Young Adult Graphic books section of the library.
Review: Nelson Mandela The Authorized Comic Book is a detailed record of Nelson Mandela’s life from his birth to his retirement. The book starts with a personal message from Mandela to the reader. He very humbly thanks those who are experts in comic for their expertise and guidance with the construction of the book. Mandela also humorous states:
“ … you know that you are really famous the day you discover you are a comic character…” The book is divided into 8 chapters. The first describing his early home life and education. The book beautifully illustrated the story of the people in his life, family and friendships that were critical in Mandela’s intellectual and leadership formation. Personal life, his three marriages, children and grandchildren are introduced to the reader. Mandela’s 27 years in prison and political activities are also written about. Mandela’s accomplishments and works to take on the Apartheid oppression are magnificently portrayed.
Highly Recommend


Foundation, N. M. (2009). Nelson Mandela The Authorized Comic Book. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the art and subject matter. My main complaint about Nelson Mandela: the Authorized Comic Book is that it provides about as much information as a timeline of events. The book provides little in the way of historical context, and little in the way of characterization, even of Nelson Mandela himself. the book shows us his childhood and adolescence, but the book gives few clues of where his drive and dedication to the the struggle for freedom came from. For example, the part of the book with Mandela's involvement in a student boycott at his school doesn't say what the boycott was about, or why Mandela participated in it; it just tells us that he participated, and felt strongly about it. Similarly, we are told about his conflicts between the needs of his family and the needs of the Movement, but are not really shown them (which is strange for a graphic novel).
I realize that if Nelson Mandela: the Authorized Comic Book was to delve deeper into the historical moment and into the character of Mandela, and the characters of those around him, it would be a much much longer book, but doesn't the life of such a great man deserve as much?

[Shacoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was pretty good. It felt like it dragged a little bit in some places and I felt like it got into the particulars of things a little bit too much. If I wanted a more in depth read about his life, I would turn to a proper book. I expect a comic book to be a bit more brief when explaining things. His life itself was interesting to read about. You hear about Mandela all the time, but you don't hear as much about the other people who fought alongside him and some of them were in prison for just as long as he was and lost just as much as he lost. I wish their names were as well known as his. The same goes for those people who didn't end up on Robben Island but who were still fighting the good fight while he was away. I was surprised at how much I disagreed with Mandela's way of thinking throughout parts of this book. Overall, this was an okay introduction to the life of Nelson Mandela.

[Sj · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked learning about Nelson Mandela's life. There were so many people involved in this book that it was sometimes difficult for me to remember all of the names and who was important. The book was well drawn. I learned so much about a person I grately admired. It was interesting to find out so much about who Nelson Mandela is and what made him so admirable. I love the story of how he took pictures with the gardeners and personally invited them to the staff picture. I wanted to know more about Mandela as a father and what happened with his children. Honestly I didn't get into the book like I wanted to which is why it took me so long to read. That is not to say that the book was not good, I just think it was very dense for what it was. I sort of wish it flowed more like the March books. I would recommend this book to anyone that wanted to know more about Nelson Mandela

[Danni Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

Graphic novels are difficult for me with my visual impairment, but this one was worth the effort. Since I'm not as familiar with the comic book genre, I'm not sure how accurate this statement is, but it felt to me like this book was very authentic to the conventions of a comic book, which made the narrative compelling in a very clever, attention-grabbing way. I would definitely recommend this one.

[Antonio Sotelo Ponce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esta historieta sobre Mandela, uno de los hombres que marcaron el rumbo que la humanidad debe seguir para lograr una convivencia armónica y pacífica, es muy completa. Ella nos permite conocer sus orígenes, sus luchas, sus sueños, sus frustraciones... Conocemos al hombre y su deseo ferviente de dejarnos un mundo mejor. Tal vez, no lo logró, pero nos permitió ver que, a pesar de todo, hay esperanza en los corazones de todos los hombres sobre la tierra.

[Theo]

DNF at 40%. The art and layout choices were bad and made the panels hard to follow. I had to keep reading Mandela's Wikipedia to figure out what was going on, due to the choices made of which parts of his life to include and which ones not to. All people are complicated, no matter who we are, and it doesn't take away accomplishments or greatness to show that. Unfortunately, this book chose to sanitize Mandela's life.

[Aljoša Harlamov · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dobil za darilo iz Južne Afrike. Informativen in pretresljiv biografski strip, ki pa bi lahko imel kakovostnejšo risbo (ta je nekakšna mešanica dokumentarističnega in računalniškega, če se ne motim), predvsem pa bi zgodba lahko imela še več družbeno-zgodovinskega konteksta in bila spretneje upovedana.

[Jona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mooi stripverhaal, wel verrwarrend dat de chronologische lijn niet steeds klopt

[Angie Riddick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good. book in a different format. of Nelson Mandela life

[Oana · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good introduction, but reads more like a textbook. Very fast-paced, so hopefully people will continue reading up on the topic to get more details.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

It seemed an accurate way to tell about his life without the overwhelming normal biography.

[Mark Benedict · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story is incredible of course but artwork is so disappointing.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow is the first thing I can say about this graphic novel. This book is a very detailed biography of Nelson Mandela. It would've been a very hard story to tell without the graphic images to help, as it is so politically-based. Before reading this, I only knew that he had been in prison for a long time and won the Nobel Peace Prize. That is only a part of it. Nelson Mandela led an incredible life, and one that most people probably wouldn't survive, but he was strong and carried on no matter what happened to him. He fought for freedom for primarily Africans, but also the other races in South Africa as well. He was part of African loyalty, as his father was a clan leader. He was able to go to school all the way through high school. He was very active in the Methodist Church. He was married three times, and I must say it must've been hard to be his wife (esp for his 2nd wife Winnie). Because he was a political activist for the African National Congress (ANC), he spent most of his adult life in prison, including his last stint which lasted 27 years. He never got to see any of his children grow up, though a few did still talk to him he left prison. One of the most hard-rending parts was when he was married to Winnie and they had not touched at all in 21 years but still stayed married and in love with each other. He had to share the Nobel Peace Prize with F.W. De Klerk, the then current president. After getting out of prison, he became president of the ANC and later was elected president of South Africa, though he only wanted to serve one term. He was friends with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He met and married his third wife when he was eighty and seems to be really happy.

[LauraW · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting for me to read this book, as some of the history I actually lived through, though, I must admit, I didn't always pay attention to it.

The thing that impresses me most about Mandela is his steadfast commitment to the idea of equality of all racial groups. There were compromises along that way that might have incrementally solved the apartheid problem, but the compromises were not accepted.

Since this is an "authorized" comic book, I wonder just a tad, whether some of the history has been altered slightly to present him in the best light possible, but in any case, he was a remarkable man, with a long term dedication to his goal.

The art work in the comic book is good.

The reason I am not giving it 4 stars is that, for me, the text occasionally dragged - too many different names, making it hard to keep track of people and places. This is, for me, the biggest short-coming of graphic novels. They move too quickly from place to place, person to person, event to event. It is hard to get really involved. I wonder, sometimes, what children get out of graphic novels. Do they understand the history and the people; or is it just less reading and more looking at pictures?

[Pompom]

The story of Nelson Mandela is a university in itself. The book gives a good insight into his life while serving additional details that most people (i.e. me) might not have known before. For example that the ANC was in many ways a violent terrorist group under Mandelas leadership, both before and after his years in prison.

It's a pity that the pictures are not very well drawn and that the chronology is a little inconsistent. The story line is straight on the whole, but smaller incidents that occurred close together are often presented unchronologically. It's confusing and could have been avoided easily.

Despite my critisism, this book is worth reading to learn more about and from a man who is as much a legend as someone who is till alive can be. A perfect introduction for those who have yet to sink their teeth into his autobiography "Long Walk to Freedom", on which this comic book was based.

[Seeing Myself on the Shelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

This over-sized graphic novel is a great medium to present the dense biographic of Nelson Mandela. This book would be great supplemental material for a lesson on apartheid, South African history, or Mandela. I would have this book available in the classroom library or assign it for small groups. Due to the length and level of concepts I would use this book for middle school and high school students. This medium is great for the classroom because it presents the dense life of Mandela through a comic book style. This book may also encourage readers to seek out other books about Mandela, South Africa or apartheid.

[Arielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

2015 Reading Challenge - A graphic novel.

I read this to my children. I really appreciated how many questions it prompted them to have. They really wanted to know and understand what was going on. The one downfall of it was that, ironically much like the movie "Mandela - Long Walk to Freedom", there wasn't enough explanation about the conflict and violence between Inkatha and the ANC after Mandela's release. There was more explanation of how the Apartheid government funded and armed Inkatha in its' efforts to destabilize the ANC, but further explanation would have been even better. Overall, this is a good educational graphic novel to read and share with children in your lives.

[Eric Hudson · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I just finished reading Nelson Mandela: The Authorized Comic Book.
O.K. simmer down. Yea, I know it’s a “comic book”, and for the record, I also read Nelson Mandela’s autobiography “Long Walk to Freedom” when it was published years ago. But strangely enough, I liked the “comic” book better.

The autobiography seemed forced and quickly written to take advantage of Nelson Mandela being then recently freed from prison. The “comic book” reads evenly as a narrative and the art is equally impressive.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beautifully illustrated story of Nelson Mandela's life is accessible and easy. The text could be a bit larger for the speech and narration bubbles, but otherwise, the graphics and text are well-balanced, making it enjoyable. There is quite a bit of reference to different political parties, unrest, movements, and events and people and places that is sometimes hard to muddle through and there isn't much to define these, though it's not as necessary as understanding the struggles Mandela suffered.

[Brandon White · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was important for me in terms of gaining a comprehensive understanding of Nelson Mandela's importance to our progress as a human race. The book was very detailed without getting into too much minutiae, and allowed me to see a man of mind-boggling commitment to his people and human progress. The book was honest about the questionable sacrifices that were made to achieve his goals, and honest about the imperfections of his legacy and his character (nothing major though). All in all, This graphic biography makes me that much more grateful for his fight, his successes, and his humanity.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to not only Nelson Mandela's life but some of the history of apartheid South Africa. I would recommend this book for anyone who doesn't have the time to read his full autobiography, but who wants to learn more about him. I think they should release more graphic novels like this to get kids introduced to history and famous political figures in a way that is more interesting that a longer book or novel.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed learning more about Nelson Mandela, but I didn't actually like this comic book. The drawings were occasionally squashed and warped, as if they had been photoshopped into a layout they weren't intended for. The page layouts were confusing and distracting. It also felt like a lot of information was missing. This is not a good place to begin if you want to learn about Nelson Mandela or South Africa.

[Krissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting format for reading about Nelson Mandela's life. I wasn't a fan of the narration (tour guide leading tourists around significant sites) but after awhile I became so engrossed by Nelson Mandela's life it didn't matter. I like that they ised a collective of artists for the artwork but sometimes adjacent panels were drawn in completely different styles, which was jarring.

[Johnny Wadsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

what I didnt like about the book was that he was put in to the prison so many times, for sticking up to the rights of black people to have there right and to stick up in what they beleave, then he became the president of africa. Thats what I thought of the book.

[Scott Butki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happened upon this while shelving books in the graphic novel section of the library. I'm a fan of Mandela. Excited to see people using other genres to teach history about one of my heroes and inspirations.

[Megan McNally · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that the pictures were very good and that the story of his life is very interesting, but it was difficult to read at times with all the names and places that are mentioned. It was cool how the story was based off of a women giving a tour about Nelson Mandela.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review: https://hiplibrariansbookblog.com/200...