Nelson Mandela: The Authorized Comic Book

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Nelson Mandela: The Authorized Comic Book (Original) Pub. Date: 7/18/2009 Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
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Nelson Mandela: The Authorized Comic Book Pub. Date: 7/18/2009 Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.

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Overview

Nelson Mandela’s memoir, Long Road 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. Fifteen years after the publication of that classic work comes this 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 as prisoner 46664 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 generation of readers.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Like most graphic novels produced with educational intent, the art takes a far second to the didactic text in this graphic biography of the South African icon. It’s tough to criticize a book created to contribute to the ongoing canonization of the still-living Mandela. The intent is clear from the lack of individual creator credits, since who actually wrote these words and drew these pictures isn’t important to the Mandela Foundation; what matters is that this is an authorized, approved biography created in a format to attract the attention of younger people, those who might not have been alive during the decade when “Free Nelson Mandela” was a politically important chant. The likenesses are adequate in standard poses, but wildly varying when the artists are called upon to deviate from reference, with faces appearing deformed. Much of the art consists of boring talking heads. Mandela was born in 1918, and the book will be released on his 91st birthday. That’s an achievement to be congratulated, but this dull history comic should be far down the gift list. (July)

Children's Literature

This authorized graphic biography covers Rolihlahla Nelson Mandela's life in detail from his birth in 1918 in a small South African village, through his struggles as a black man to obtain an education under South Africa's apartheid system, his growing political activism and leadership of the African National Congress, his twenty-seven years of imprisonment, his eventual release and his five years as South Africa's first democratically elected president. Mandela's relations with his family, especially to his second wife Winnie with whom he was married during the long years of his imprisonment, are revealed, as well as his grief over his inability to protect and provide for his wife and children. While it is commendable that the Mandela Foundation has attempted to educate a new generation of readers in graphic book form about Mandela's civil rights leadership, this book disappoints on several counts. The text is overly didactic—pages are crammed with too many captions and speech bubbles with a confusing flow to the comic-strip panels. The illustrations, drawn by a collective of artists, are lackluster and faces of recurring characters vary widely in their accuracy from panel to panel. These flaws may be a turn-off to just those children the Mandela Foundation hopes to reach. Additionally, American readers unfamiliar with the names of South African political leaders, organizations, and its history of apartheid will need to be extra diligent in their effort to understand the story line because pictorial depictions often fail to elucidate. Serious students of modern history and civil rights will appreciate the comprehensiveness of this biography and depiction of Mandela as a man ofmoral and political courage, but the more casual reader will not be as engaged. Reviewer: Margaret Orto

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School Library Journal

Gr 5 Up–While the story of Nelson Mandela’s youth and rise to prominence is compelling and worthy of note, this graphic novel fails to take advantage of the comic-book medium. The dialogue is tedious and uninteresting. The computer-enhanced artwork is lacking in technical merit, often relying on manipulated photos, and the representations of Mandela and other notable figures are uneven. The book follows Mandela’s life from his birth in a small village to his early political years in Johannesburg, and then on to his imprisonment and eventual release. This makes for a long and at times confusing narrative. An index is included, as well as a foreword by Mandela himself, but the book would also benefit from a glossary, time line, and other edifying materials.–Douglas P. Davey, Halton Hills Public Library, Ontario, Canada

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780393336467
Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date: 7/18/2009
Edition description: Original
Pages: 193
Sales rank: 833,545
Product dimensions: 8.40 (w) x 11.20 (h) x 0.60 (d)

Meet the Author

Norton’s previous collaboration with The Nelson Mandela Foundation, Nelson Mandela’s Favorite African Folktales, won the NAACP Award in 2003. Nelson Mandela, who will be ninety-one on July 18, 2009, lives in Johannesburg.

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Nelson Mandela: The Authorized Comic Book

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Overview

All Available Formats + Editions

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Overview

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Children's Literature

School Library Journal

Product Details

Meet the Author

Customer Reviews

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