Barnum!: In Secret Service to the USA

by Howard Chaykin, David Tischman, Niko Henrichon (Illustrator)

After P.T. Barnum saves President Grover Cleveland's life, he sets out to destroy the evil Nikola Tesla and save the union.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Historical Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Espionage, Steampunk

128 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2003

About the author

Howard Victor Chaykin is an American comic book artist and writer. Chaykin's influences include his one-time employer and mentor, Gil Kane, and the mid-20th century illustrators Robert Fawcett and Al Parker.

Reviews

[Brad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just yesterday, I finished reading The Five Fists of Science, in which Serbian scientist Nikola Tesla saves the world (or at least New York) from the evils of Thomas Edison and J.P. Morgan. Today, I plowed through Barnum!, which has the titular circus barker teaming up with a secret service agent to stop Tesla from assassinating President Grover Cleveland and forming his own country on the west coast of the U.S.
Much like Five Fists, I thought the villainy didn’t make much sense. Here, Tesla is a mustache-twirling, heartless foreigner with souped-up joy buzzers. The protagonists are much more believable: why wouldn’t P.T. Barnum and his circus freaks, with their constant traveling schedule and “special” powers, become secret agents? Alas, the Barnum written by Howard Chaykin and David Tischman isn’t as entertaining as Matt Fraction’s Mark Twain.
I picked up this book not for the Tesla, but for Nico Henrichon’s artwork. I was blown away by his work on Pride of Baghdad. His art on Barnum! has a lot more ink, and at times is muddled, but on the whole is quite descriptive. He draws cluttered fight scenes well, though his wide angle shots, like of Tesla’s dirrigible, are not jaw-dropping. Turn-of-the-century circus folk should have a different art style than modern-day, war-torn lions, and Henrichon can do both well. I hope he continues to team up with Brian K. Vaughan.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's an ok tale, but I have grave reservations about making Tesla a villain.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A+ concept, about C- execution.

[David Schwan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The premise of the book is that P. T. Barnum the circus promoter is asked by the US President to help the US in an undercover operation against Nikola Tesla who is plotting to take over the western US and create a separate country. Due to the prevalence of acrobats and other unusual people in the circus Barnum is in a unique position to aid the US. The story is fast paced and the graphics are nicely done.

My only complaint is that this is one of a continuing series of books that puts Tesla on the bad side. There was nothing in his real life story that would indicate that he would take to the evil/bad side.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd never read anything by Howard Chaykin, but this was a pretty fun introduction (and it so happens he did all of the illustrations in the McSweeney's "Thrilling Tales" short story book I'm reading). It reminded me a lot of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (historical figures in wild action scenarios, including a villain in Nikola Tesla), and was a well-paced read with strong characters and perfectly paired artwork from David Tischman.

[Michael Norwitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chaykin's voice very evident in this irreverent historical adventure, casting the circus owner and some of his performers as secret service agents, in addition to Nikola Tesla and Ada Lovelace (somewhat confusingly merged with architecture critic Ada Huxtable) as evil geniuses. A lightweight but entertaining diversion.

[Victor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very generic but competent ahistorical steampunk graphic novel. Oddly jingoistic, especially for Chaykin, but iirc this was written right after 9/11, so I guess that's understandable. Disappointing overall; this feels as though the whole is much less than the sum of its parts.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

PT Barnum is enlisted to protect the USA from Nikola Tesla. Charming enough in a very thin way, with a few decent gags, but nothing essential.

[Marie Joachin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poor plot, characters and dialogues are full of stereotypes.. made me roll my eyes every 5 pages.

[Hal Brodsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork. Every panel is detailed and full.
The story? Eh. P.T. Barnum vs. Nikola Tesla.
Nikola Tesla ?

[Layla Madrox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chaykin inspirado aunque no es su mejor obra.

[Kapitol Tank]

recopila los cinco capítulos.

[Helmut · Rating 2 out of 5]

Get out and save the US of A!
Altruismus ist normalerweise nicht sein Ding, aber wenn der Staat ruft (und eine pachyderme Belohnung winkt), ist Impresario P.T. Barnum natürlich bereit, alles zu tun, um eine Spaltung der USA zu verhindern...

Andere Rezensenten haben bereits auf die Nähe dieses Werks zum Film "Wild Wild West", aus dem viele der optischen Ideen erschreckend klar gezogen wurden, und dem nach "Barnum!" erschienenen The Five Fists Of Science, einem ähnlich mediokren Werk, hingewiesen. Alle drei können mich nicht überzeugen - eigentlich schade, denn die Idee hier hätte Potenzial gehabt, das aber in dem schrecklich vorhersehbaren, völlig ideenfreien und unglaublich konventionellen Skript nie verwirklicht wird. Neben den Skriptmängeln, die den Plot an jeder Stelle langweilig machen, geht leider auch die von den Autoren scheinbar gewünschte Zirkusatmosphäre total unter. Natürlich tauchen Dutzende von seltsamen Gestalten auf, aber nie habe ich den Eindruck eines Zirkus, sondern mehr einer Justice League of Barnum mit vielen Einzelkönnern, die eigentlich nur dabei sind, um nach dem Schlüssel-Schloss-Prinzip in einer Situation eingesetzt zu werden. Ist Barnum selbst noch halbwegs zweideutig portraitiert, so ist der Bösewicht Tesla zu 100% eindimensional, so sehr, dass es nie in Zweifel steht, dass er am Ende besiegt wird.

Warum manche historischen Persönlichkeiten unter ihrem echten Namen auftreten können (Barnum, Tesla) und andere unter eher peinlich-offensichtlichen Pseudonymen versteckt werden müssen (die Finanziers Bould, Claster und Jorgan beispielsweise) bleibt mir verborgen.

Schade, dass die durchaus ansprechenden Zeichnungen Henrichons, wegen deren ich den Comic eigentlich überhaupt erst in die Hand nahm, in diesem sehr mäßigen Skript ihren Dienst tun müssen.

[Rob McMonigal · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if the Greatest Show on Earth was mixed with Wild, Wild, West? Well, if you've ever been dying to have that answer, Chaykin and his collaborators have it here for you.

Nikola Tesla wants to split the United States with his wealthy conspirators and only P.T. Barnum and his motley crew have the necessary and unique skills to foil the plot. Narrated by Barnum, we learn of the plot, find a female secret service agent so Chaykin can gratuitously spout women's rights from her mouth, and a lot of nifty ideas.

Despite a few shortcomings--the plot literally reminds me of the movie with Will Smith and Kevin Kline--this is a very enjoyable story with just enough historical figured thrown in to make it feel at home. I love the idea of Barnum as Superhero, and I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel to this at all. (Library, 11/06)

Trebby's Take: Highly recommended, I enjoyed this one a lot.

[Jason · Rating 1 out of 5]

Remember Will Smith's Wild Wild West movie. It's about as tantalizing as that. The drawings are good cartoons and i was turned on to this book because Niko Henrichon (who illustrated Pride of Baghdad) is a terrific artist. Inevitably though, the story was dry (albeit creative in its attempt to historicize a bunch of ludicrous non-linear subject matter, i.e. Tesla vs. Barnum using Hindenberg's blimp, bla bla bla...anyone say League of Extraordinary Gentlemen), the character's written with the personality of advertising slogans, and the resolution tawdry predictable exploitation. Why not just write pornography?

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Action-oriented, swiftly paced and chock-full of historical details, this story is a standard cozy-crime caper, using PT Barnum and his happy band of celebrated miscreants to foil an assassination plot by the eccentric/insane Nikola Tesla. Although the language comes off as a little stiff and the characters tussle with the edge of caricature, this book is pleasant in its way, with exceptionally strongly written (and strong-willed) females, a rarity in the male-dominated graphic novel/comic book format. For those who are curious about steampunk but don't want it to be the whole story, this will provide a glimpse to sate your appetite!

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fluff, but fun fluff: a female Secret Service agent recruits Barnum and his circus to stop Nikolai Tesla and Ada Lovelace from taking over the Southwest US. Given that Tesla is so often treated as a modern saint, it's kind of refreshing to see him as the bad guy for a change.

[HeavyReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book before I was on Goodreads, and I had forgotten about it until just now when I saw it on the shelf as I was pulling books.

I remember that I liked this book, but I don't remember too much about it. If memory serves, the circus was kind of a front. Some (but maybe not all) of the performers were really detectives, investigating things to help the good ole USA. I don't remember any details...

I am a sucker for the circus though, which is probably why I decided to read it in the first place.

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thinking of P.T. Barnum and his crew of oddities as Americas first secret agents was a bit silly at first, but aftyer reading for a while it begin to drawn me in. Its a fun read, but I'll tell you it reads like any silly cool hero agains the evil mastermind bad guy plot. It was fun and that is all I want sometimes.

[Mykee Tan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot is shallow and the ending's forgetable. This book's not really for people who want to be mentally challenged. It's a bit brain-draining if you ask me. Nice illustrations though.

This one's only for when you have nothing better to do and when your to exhausted but want to read something.

[Nick Douglas · Rating 1 out of 5]

I loved the premise: P. T. Barnum and his circus performers foil a seditious plot by Nikola Tesla. But I was confused by awkward visual storytelling, bored by stupid dialog, and offended by an over-reliance on clichés and stereotypes (made more embarrassing by fumbling attempts at progressive politics). There's nothing new or fresh here.

[Bryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Derivative crap. Chaykin attempts an American League of Extraordinary Gentleman and achieves The Wild Wild West (1990's version) with better characters. The timeline is crap, the plot makes no sense, and the humor is flat and predictable.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun historical fiction graphic novel. Espionage, Pt. Barnum, using circus freaks to save the country--what more could you ask for?

[Blake · Rating 2 out of 5]

If this was an ongoing series, it could have been the Jack of All Trades of comics, which might be good or bad, but it's a little underwhelming as is.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such fun!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, fast-paced...think "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" lite.

[Barbara Macdonald · Rating 1 out of 5]

Excellent artwork, jumpy plotline.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

i think this is the first wok howie chaykin has done since dominic fortune in the 70s that i've liked.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted this to be more about sideshows than it was. The plot was kind of interesting, but a little too thin to work well.

[Tyler Bruns · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ridiculous, but in the entertaining way. Lost a star because Tesla is the good guy... Edison is the bad guy!