 |
"Louis Riel" number ten |
Riel belonged to the community known as the Métis, a mixture of Native Americans and French settlers who lived along the Red River just north of Minnesota. In 1869 the land was ostensibly owned by the Hudson's Bay Company, who sold it to Canada. Fearful of having another French influence in Parliament, the Canadian government attempted to install an English Protestant governor. Angry that they were left out of the deal and determined to have elected representatives the Métis prevented the governor from entering the territory. Riel's knowledge of English, Montreal education, and overall charisma made him a natural leader. Democratically inclined, he organized a provisional government that included the minority English settlers. Yet his efforts would be repeatedly undermined by the Canadian establishment until eventually he became a wanted outlaw.
At this point, around issue five, things take a strange turn. While in exile in the United States Riel has a vision from God, appointing him as a new prophet. Thus divined he returns to Canada to lead the Métis from bondage as Moses led the Jews. By now, many of the them have moved further west where they continue to rankle against the Canadian government. As Brown depicts it, the Prime Minister takes advantage of Riel's return to deliberately provoke a rebellion in order to send in troops on the foundering Canadian-Pacific Railway. Declaring that God doesn't want the Métis to use guerrilla tactics, Riel disastrously waits for the soldiers who promptly end the Métis rebellion. The final issues recreate Riel's trial for treason where he must reluctantly submit to being defended on an insanity plea. Found guilty, he dies at the gallows in 1885.
Louis Riel has a vision |
|
Chester Brown takes admitted liberties with some aspects of the story. Some are as small as combining Riel's several defense councils into one character. Bigger leaps include the theory that the Canadian government actually conspired to cause the last Métis rebellion. In a remarkable move that lets Brown tell the best story and tell the truth, every deviance from recorded history is meticulously footnoted at the end. Deeply researched yet carefully manipulated, the final result goes past history and into literature. "Louis Riel" ties together all the ideas Chester Brown has explored before in disparate ways: the capriciousness and injustice of authority, the relationship between religious fervor and madness and the relative "truth" of nonfiction. "Louis Riel," as told by Chester Brown becomes a deeply personal, utterly compelling page-turner in the guise of a 19th-century history book.
Being a smart comix artist, Chester Brown makes the design of "Louis Riel" match its concept of history as viewed through a personal lens. He strives for historical accuracy in every way except the characters, who are deliberately cartoonish — sometimes absurdly so. Canada's Prime Minister, Sir. John McDonald has a comically gigantic gibbous nose. Riel himself starts out rather normal in scale but after his enlightenment becomes huge, like the Hulk in a wool suit. In the final issue, Brown cites Harold Gray's "Little Orphan Annie" as a major influence, and the comparison is dead on. From the thin, uniformly weighted pen lines right down to the circles for eyes, Brown has updated Gray's technique to tell a true adventure.
Though very different from his previous work, "Louis Riel" fits perfectly into Chester Brown's oeuvre. Part of his artistry has always been to challenge himself and his readers with the new. That may make him tough on his fans but it makes him one of the medium's brilliant mavericks.
All ten issues of "Louis Riel" remain in print and can be found at superior comic shops. They are scheduled to be collected into a book in the fall.
Note to TIME.comix Readers
Fantagraphics Books, the Seattle-based comix publisher, has issued a desperate plea for readers to buy their books. Their book distributor went belly up, owing them tens of thousands of dollars, the publishers say. According to their press release they need to sell off $80,000 worth of books in the next month to remain solvent.
Having Fantagraphics shuttered or even compromised would be a disastrous blow to the medium. They have consistently published America's most important comix artists including Dan Clowes ("Eightball"), Chris Ware ("Jimmy Corrigan") and Joe Sacco ("Safe Area Gorazde.") I encourage TIME.comix readers to help "the cause" by buying books at the Fantagraphics website: www.fantagraphics.com.