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Using a graphic novel as a way of retelling history is nothing new: Art Spiegelman told the imaginative yet true story of his father’s experiences as a Jew in Poland during World War II, revealing how it affected both his own life and his complex relationship to his father. Will Eisner drew the tale of the creation of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion in The Plot, and R. Crumb recently tackled the Book of Genesis, lending his unique
perspective to the beginning of the Bible. Rick Geary is also no stranger to drawing up the life and times of historical figures–His J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography got raves across the board. In his latest work, Geary tackles another complex figure of the 20th century: Leon Trotsky.
While many of his dreams came true as the Bolsheviks took power in Russia, Trotsky would eventually find himself exiled from his homeland, later becoming a casualty of Stalin’s mad lust for power. And while American history tends to paint communist leaders in ugly hues (Stalin much more deservingly), arguments have been made that Trotsky shared a kinship with Che Guevara instead of his Soviet comrades. Like Guevara, Trotsky was more of a public face, an eventual martyr of his revolution, which explains why he has escaped the same condemnation that the men who joined him in overthrowing the Tsar have been saddled with.
Regardless, Geary’s retelling of Trotsky’s life and eventual death (from a blow to the head by an axe-wielding assassin) of the Russian revolutionary is an easy read, and serves as a good primer to one of the most important figures in modern Eastern European history; however, this is also the book’s problem. While it’s an interesting way to tell the story of the man, Trotsky is a much more complex figure than this graphic novel is able to describe. There is a great deal of painstaking work that goes into researching and drawing a book like this, but a figure of Trotsky’s unique stature in history needs something a little (or a lot) more than this book gives, clocking in at just over one hundred pages. Robert Service’s biography on Harvard Press is a good place to start, though, if you feel like spending your winter break immersed in Trotsky, pick up any (or all) of the volumes of Isaac Deutscher’s books on the man, published in the late 50′s and early 60′s. But if you want to take an extended bathroom break, and want to read about Trotsky when you do your business, this graphic novel is the book for you.
Jason Diamond
Jason Diamond is the editor-in-chief of Jewcy.com, founding editor of Vol. 1 Brooklyn and an associate editor at Impose Magazine. He lives in Brooklyn among a collection ...
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