Gettysburg: The Graphic Novel Plus Gettysburg Art

Gettysburg: the graphic novel gives a very brief account of the battles that took place, and then dedicates the rest of the book to the building of the National Cemetery and the speeches by Edward Everett and President Lincoln at the dedication of Gettysburg National Cemetery.

Presented in graphic novel style, this book could have been a wonderful illustration of these most decisive days of the United States’ Civil War. Instead, it appeared as a odd piece of “feel-good” propaganda, giving the idea of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address as setting in motion a whole chain of civil rights movements. Apparently the author did not research the Emancipation Proclamation very much; Lincoln freed the slaves in the Southern states (states he had no jurisdiction over at that time) and did nothing for the slaves in the Northern states that were still in the Union. It’s interesting to note that at the time of the war, there were more “Free Blacks” (as they were called) in the Southern states than they were in the Northern states.

And, with such a focus on slavery, a child that reads this novel is going to come away with the untruth (that is still being taught in our schools) that slavery was the cause of this war. States Rights were the issue, not slavery. But, Butzer is very specific in letting the reader know that the “repulsive institution of American slavery” is the direct cause of the war.

In addition, Gettysburg: the graphic novel is grossly biased in favor of the Union side, to the point still referring to the Confederacy as “Rebels”! Is this a contemporary account? Or an educated historical rendering? Or, perhaps neither. Butzer also misrepresents, hopefully accidentally, General Lee’s orders to forage for food by illustrating it with looting. Anyone who has studied General Lee and his armies knows that he did not allow looting and that provisions were paid for, granted it was in Confederate money, but that is still not the looting that was illustrated.

Gettysburg: the graphic novel is also, unfortunately for a book supposedly drawing on “primary sources”, cursed with historical inaccuracies. For example, the gatehouse to Evergreen Cemetery is shown as being built as part of the Gettysburg National Cemetery. That gatehouse was built in the 1850′s and was standing when the battles were taking place. Perhaps he meant to show that it was being fixed from the damage? So it’s just an error by negligence and not an outright falsehood then?

Sadly, the bibliography was not included in the ARC, because I would like to have seen the sources Mr. Butzer used that listed Lincoln’s African-American Valet, William Johnson, as his “friend” (as well as on several other points). I think this was another case of the author attempting to color the reader’s view of Lincoln.

Overall, this was a poorly written book and while it not might fool a reader who has previously studied up on the subject, it should not be given the chance to fool readers who don’t have prior knowledge. Giving this to our children to read is placing prejudice and inaccuracy in their hands in the guise of truth and I adamantly advise against it.

Rating: 1 / 5

About halfway through Gettysburg, a photographer arrives to record the aftermath of the battle. “Such a picture conveys a useful moral,” he muses, as he focuses on a body lying on the battlefield. “It shows the blank horror and reality of war, in opposition to its pageantry.”

The same could be said of Gettysburg: The Graphic Novel. War is often spoken of in terms of great masses of soldiers advancing, retreating, or flanking the enemy. C. M. Butzer brings the battle down to the atomic level, showing individual soldiers fighting in the woods, charging with bayonets drawn, and staring up, dumbstruck, as a cannonball hurtles down upon them from the sky. And he does not flinch from the horrors of war; after the battle, he shows bodies scattered on the battlefield and a soldier nonchalantly carrying an armload of amputated arms and legs.

In just 80 pages, Butzer sets the scene, depicts the battle and its aftermath, and shows the movement to create a national cemetery on the site, as well as Lincoln writing his speech and the ceremony at Gettysburg.

This is a lot of material, and the first half of the book is too compressed. The initial skirmish at Gettysburg is over with in three pages, and the action is hard to follow. The generals speak in sound bites and then disappear. We catch a brief glimpse of a field hospital, a short exchange with the governor of Pennsylvania, a snatch of conversation among the cemetery planners. Butzer compensates for this with copious notes in the back of the book, in which he fully explains each scene and adds more historical details. This makes interesting reading, but it would have been even better if it had been integrated more fully into the narrative.

While this part of the book is hard to read, it also succeeds in doing something only a graphic novel could do: It puts the reader inside the story. It’s one thing to read an account of a battle, but quite another to look down the dusty streets of Gettysburg and see the Confederate troops advancing while the local African Americans move out to safer territory.

Once Lincoln appears, about halfway through the book, the action slows. We see Lincoln riding the train to Gettysburg and meditating in silence in his hotel room. Then we get to see a rare sight: The delivery of the Gettysburg Address in its original context, at the battlefield, and preceded by a long, fiery speech by the famous orator Edward Everett. When Lincoln takes the stage, the stillness is palpable. As Lincoln delivers the speech, Butzer backs away from literal reality, illustrating the words with depictions of the full pageantry of American civil rights history, from the Revolution and the founding fathers to union marches, suffragists, and a gay liberation parade.

Butzer’s figures sometimes look stiff and awkward, but he is very good at setting the scene and conveying emotion. And that’s the real value of Gettysburg: it does more than just present the facts, it puts the reader in the heart of the story, providing a rare look at history from the inside out.

– Brigid Alverson
Rating: 4 / 5

As both a civil war buff and comic book junky, I often wondered why a product like this had never been created (I suppose it takes the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birthday to motivate the publishing community).

I found the book gave an interesting perspective on the battle itself, which surprised me given the amount of media previously dedicated to the event (the Gettysburg motion picture and several made for TV renditions). The difference was the author’s ability to let the reader inside the minds of the characters, similar to a novel, while the artwork allowed one to sit back and enjoy the action.

My only criticism is that i would have liked to have seen this expanded into a several part series, instead of just one publication.
Rating: 4 / 5