Educational historical comics for high school students

 

Comics in the Secondary and Baccalaureate classroom

That comics are now consolidated as a powerful narrative tool is beyond any doubt, a good number of awards and recognitions support this and, although there is still some controversy over whether they should be recognized as literature or not, the awarding of the Pulitzer Prize to Maus in 1992 marked a before and after in this sense in the world of cartoons. Since then, whether they are called comics, cartoons, graphic novels or comics, they have acquired an important esteem to the point of being considered as the ninth art. And so it is, comics are an art in their own right capable of bringing together narrative, painting, photography and even cinema and theater in a single volume, becoming a different form of expression that is increasingly gaining more followers not only among the younger public but also among adults.

The versatility of comics in the educational field is also being talked about more and more. On the one hand, it is widely used as a resource to start reading; they are easy to read, very dynamic, fun and with an important visual accompaniment to understand and imagine the story. In this sense, for the little ones we can find the collection Mamut, my first comic or Superpatata , very attractive comics designed not only for first-time readers but also for those who have not yet started reading. On the other hand, they are also very useful to encourage those boys and girls who find books "full of letters" boring but like funny stories to read; Tintin, Asterix, Zipi and Zape, etc. are timeless classics that will never fail this type of reader. For older readers (not only young people but also adults) there is a whole parallel universe of science-fiction in superhero comics; Batman, Superman, The Avengers, The Eternauta... are classics that attract several generations of fans with great passion. 

But in our post we are going to highlight another aspect of comics that during the last 20-25 years have had an enormous boom and that are beginning to be used as a teaching resource in the Secondary and High School classroom; we are talking about the (perhaps) better named graphic novel , narratives in comic format, longer than comic books, normally closed instead of serialized and that deal with more committed and serious issues, sometimes they capture a social reality and other times they reconstruct a historical fact, a certain period or the life of a person. There are many experts in education and in the world of comics who recommend including these titles in the classroom not so much as a tool to encourage reading (which is also), but as a support for academic study. According to Álvaro Pons, professor of the Department of Optics at the University of Valencia and one of the most important disseminators of the world of comics in our country: “The educational use of comics is as wide as it is unexplored. Beyond the classic uses of comics as an introduction to reading, there are direct applications as support and study material in History, Humanities or Science. The graphic novel contains the same power as narrative when it comes to putting us in the skin of the characters, awakening our empathy and making us understand situations from many perspectives; they are, after all, a very useful resource to understand the world and open debates among young people, pull the thread, make them think and help them build their own opinion.

However, the comic format does not necessarily mean that the story is easy to read. There are titles that can be dense despite the illustrations. Therefore, the general recommendation is "not to get carried away by the vignette format" and to introduce the titles in balance with the reading desire of the students. Maus or Berlin  are excellent graphic novels but they can be dense for less avid readers. We do not want to stun them but rather give them a glimpse so that they discover another type of reading that can make them learn in a simple and enjoyable way.

Berlin 

Jason Lutes.
Publisher: Astiberri, 2018.

Three volumes of 150 pages each (approximately).

Overview: Hitler arrives in Berlin. With parliament controlled by the Nazis, the citizenry is further divided. Lutes distances himself from the political heavyweights, instead focusing, through the lives of a small group of Berliners, on the rise of fascism and how quickly it can replace democracy. Most Berliners go about their daily lives, oblivious to the threat looming over their very existence. Meanwhile, journalist Kurt Severing and artist Marthe Müller watch in horror as their society begins a dizzying descent into extremism.

Awards: Five Eisner Awards, two Ignatz Awards and one Harvey Award.

 

Anger
Javier Olivares.
Astiberri, 2021.

240 pages.

Synopsis : Anger  is the story of Achilles from the Iliad, but also the story of what is happening now in Europe from the hand of two prestigious authors. Two armies have been battling for ten years at the gates of Troy. On one side, the defenders of the city, commanded by Hector. On the other, the alliance of Greeks captained by Agamemnon. Tired, fed up and dusty, the Achaeans face their greatest moment of crisis. Agamemnon has offended Achilles, their main warrior. Achilles flies into a rage and decides to withdraw his forces from the conflict. No one can change his mind, neither his beloved companion Patroclus nor his loyal comrade Ulysses. Achilles' anger is unyielding, and the shadow of disaster looms over the Greek army. This is the story that Homer told us, the story of a man's rage that lasted several weeks on a beach in the Dardanelles Strait. The first history of European civilization.

Awards: Best National Work at the 2020 Aragonese Comic Awards. Best National Work at the 2020 Dolmen Critics Awards. Zona Cómic for Best National Comic 2020.

Adolf

Osamu Tezuka
Planet, 2013

Two volumes of 600 pages.

Overview: Adolf is the story of three people named Adolf: a Jewish boy living in Japan, a half-Japanese, half-German boy, and the leader of Nazi Germany. It is a wonderfully fresh take on the events of World War II. A must-read. The latest work from manga master Osamu Tezuka, in two magnificent volumes of over 600 pages. 

Awards: Best foreign work at Expocomic 2000 and at the Gijón Comic Fair 2000. Best manga by popular vote at the Barcelona Comic Fair in 2000 and 2001.

Life and Death of Federico García Lorca
Ian Gibson and Quique Palomo
Ediciones B, 2018.
104 pages.

Synopsis: Ian Gibson reviews the life of Federico García Lorca in a biographical comic. Federico García Lorca is the most famous Spanish poet and playwright in the world. And perhaps the most mourned missing person of the Civil War of 1936-1939. In this comic, Ian Gibson - his biographer and one of the most prestigious international Hispanists - and the renowned illustrator Quique Palomo have joined their talents to tell the adventures of a life as exciting as it was tragically cut short, from the birth of the author of the Romancero gitano in the Granadan town of Fuente Vaqueros to, passing through Madrid, New York, Cuba and Argentina, his murder at the hands of fascist rebels on the outskirts of the city of the Alhambra.

Always in solidarity with those who suffer, García Lorca was a permanent source of creativity capable of producing a universally admired work in just twenty years. The story told here will not leave anyone indifferent.

The Diary of Anne Frank
Ari Folman and David Polonsky
Debolsillo, 2021

160 pages.

Synopsis: "12 June 1942. I hope to be able to confide everything to you as I have never been able to do with anyone else, and I hope that you will be a great support to me." After the invasion of Holland, the Frank family hid from the Gestapo in an attic attached to the building where Anne's father had his offices. They remained there from June 1942 until August 1944, when their members were arrested and sent to concentration camps. In that place and in the most precarious conditions, Anne, a thirteen-year-old girl, wrote her shocking Diary: a unique testimony about the horror and barbarity of the Nazis, and about the feelings and experiences of Anne herself and her companions. This volume beautifully and delicately collects this shocking story to put it into graphic novel form. A new opportunity to get closer to a story that is already part of all of us.

Doctor Uriel
Vicente (Sento) and Llobell Bisbal
Astiberri, 2018.

432 pages.

English:Synopsis: In the summer of 1936, Pablo Uriel, a twenty-two-year-old young man who had just graduated in Medicine, was excited to begin his professional career and was facing his first posting as a doctor. At that time he could not even imagine that, suddenly, his life and that of the entire country would turn into a terrible nightmare. Tiny testimonies, like his, do not usually appear in the great history books and end up disappearing... But Sento has made sure that, eighty years later, the great little story of Doctor Uriel is difficult to forget. Originally published in three volumes: A Novice Doctor, Trapped in Belchite and Victorious and Victim, Doctor Uriel compiles the complete story in this comprehensive book.

Fnac-Sins Entido International Graphic Novel Award in 2013.

Maus

Art Spiegelman 
Random House, 2018.

296 pages.

Synopsis: A fascinating graphic novel about the Holocaust and memory, recognized worldwide, which won the first and only Pulitzer Prize awarded to a comic book. Maus is the biography of Vladek Spiegelman, a Polish Jew who survived the Nazi death camps, told through his son Art, a comic book artist who wants to leave a memory of the terrifying persecution suffered by millions of people in Europe under Hitler and the consequences of this suffering in the daily lives of later generations. Departing from the forms of literature created up to the publication of Maus, Art Spiegelman approaches the subject of the Holocaust in an absolutely innovative way, and to do so he recounts his own family's experience in the form of a graphic memoir, using all the traditional stylistic and narrative resources of this genre and, at the same time, inventing new ones. The narrative radicality of this work marks a before and after in the universe of the graphic novel.

Notable awards: Pulitzer Prize. Eisner Award for best reissued graphic novel.

The Spanish Civil War

Paul Preston and José Pablo García
Debate, 2016.

240 pages.

Synopsis: Paul Preston, one of the most internationally renowned Hispanists, The Spanish Civil War is one of the reference texts on the conflict that devastated Spain between 1936 and 1939 and that marked the rest of the 20th century. By reconstructing the complex plot of the war with precision and lucidity, it is an essential book when it comes to addressing the violent reality that this country experienced.

Now, eighty years after the coup d'état that triggered the war, the young cartoonist José Pablo García has adapted Preston's book to comic format, offering us a story in pictures that aims to bring the common story of that collective tragedy closer to the new generations, but above all to contribute to preserving the memory of what happened, something essential for the daily exercise of democracy.

Here lived: the story of an eviction
Isaac Rosa and Cristina Bueno
Nube de Tinta, 2016.
256 pages.

Synopsis: Tender, poignant and emotional. Aquí viviendo is a graphic novel that exposes the problem of evictions, one of the most pressing issues in our society. A family break-up, a move, adolescence. Three difficult situations, and Alicia has had to live through them all at once. But there is also something strange in her new home: hostile neighbors, a secret diary and an unexpected visit. Alicia undertakes an investigation that will bring us closer to the tragedy of thousands of families who have lost their homes. But also to the struggle of those who have been resisting evictions for years. Aquí viviendo is the first graphic novel by Isaac Rosa, illustrated by Cristina Bueno.

The art of flying / The broken wing
Antonio Altarriba and Kim
Norma Editorial, 2021.

224 pp. and 256 pp.

Synopsis: The publication of The Art of Flying in 2009 marked a turning point in the history of Spanish comics. Antonio Altarriba and Kim created an essential work, which was awarded the 2010 National Comics Prize and praised by readers around the world. After The Art of Flying , a work dedicated to his father, Antonio owes his mother a debt and, a few years later, in The Broken Wing , he collected the counterpoint to the previous story, again to great critical and public acclaim. Both stories were conceived to be read independently, but they are actually two sides of the same coin. A family diptych in which the authors review the Spanish political history of the 20th century and pay a tender tribute to an entire generation.

The winter of the cartoonist
Paco Roca
Astiberri, 2018.

144 pages.

English: Synopsis: Cartoonists under Franco's dictatorship; In The Cartoonist's Winter, Paco Roca investigates the departure of the star authors from the publishing house Bruguera to found, in dark times, a magazine that would make them freer. Life in Bruguera with Franco's dictatorship as a backdrop and the departure of its star cartoonists to found Tío Vivo, a new magazine that would allow them to obtain greater resources, maintain creative control of their characters, achieve greater freedom, in short, as a metaphor for the Franco regime, is the framework and essence of The Cartoonist's Winter.  In Spain in 1957, being a cartoonist was a trade. They were not artists, they were workers of the vignette. They were paid so much per page (or per vignette), they worked piecework, following established and immutable patterns. They gave up their originals and their copyright in exchange for the money they were paid. But in 1957 something happened that broke the monotony and sowed hope. Five extraordinary cartoonists, famous for their characters, dared to rebel. 

Award for the best script by a Spanish author in 2011 at the 26th Barcelona International Comic Book Festival. Award for the best work by a Spanish author in 2011 at the 26th Barcelona International Comic Book Festival. Award for the best foreign author for El invierno del dibujante at the 8th Treviso Comic Book Festival 2011 (Italy). Award for the best national script at Expocómic 2011, the 14th Madrid International Comic Book Festival. Award for the best national work at Expocómic 2011, the 14th Madrid International Comic Book Festival.

Gone with the Wind
Jaime Martín
Norma Editorial, 2008.

80 pp.

Jaime Martín ( Sangre de barrio, La memoria oscura ) presents his latest work, Lo que el viento lleva, a story set in a village in the depths of pre-revolutionary Russia. The year is 1916, Russia is a pressure cooker about to explode. After the failure of the 1905 Revolution, the Bolsheviks and other revolutionaries are increasingly active, and the Tsar and the army are increasingly weakened. In the midst of all this, a surgery student is sent to a hospital lost in the Urals, where superstition mixes with science and ghosts and monsters with disease.

Persepolis
Marjane Satrapi
Normal Editorial, 2007. 
Pages. 360

Persepolis tells the story of Iran's Islamic revolution through the eyes of a young girl who is stunned by the profound changes in her country and family, while she must learn to wear the veil. Intensely personal and deeply political, Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical account examines what it means to grow up in an environment of war and political repression. Persepolis , the first Iranian comic in history, not only won numerous prestigious awards, but also made the comic transcend society as a symbol of tolerance and freedom. Awarded the Best New Author Award in 2001 and Best Screenplay in 2002 at the Angoulême International Film Festival.

36-39: Bad Times
Carlos Giménez
Comics Editors, 2007.

(Only Volume 1 available in the Library)

Synopsis: In his series of books 36-39 Bad Times, Carlos Giménez leaves aside the heroes and generals, the leaders and politicians, to focus on the daily life of the people, the poor people, who in the cities and countryside of Spain suffered the fear of death at dawn, while in Madrid, as in so many other places, hunger and cold, lack of medicine and clothing, and bombings took their toll in lives and destruction.

The chess player

Stephan Zweig, adaptation by David Sala.

Astiberri, 2018.

128 pages. 

Synopsis: In the quiet salons of a liner en route to Argentina, the world chess champion faces a final game against a Viennese aristocrat whose incredible mastery of the game was born during Nazism. This heartbreaking and desperate denunciation of Nazi barbarism, entitled 'Novel of Chess', is the last text written by Stefan Zweig before committing suicide, from which David Sala has made this adaptation that has been described as "sumptuous" by the magazine 'L'Express'. The French author assures that it is a text that resonates in the current political context "because of the theme of the triumph of barbarism and brutality over culture, humanism and imagination" and highlights that "even though it is far from what was happening in 1930, we see the resurgence of a particular atmosphere that unfortunately recalls the disturbing and nauseating ideas of that period." Zweig is a true phenomenon in the publishing world. More than seventy years after his death, several hundred thousand of his novels and essays continue to be sold each year.

Women move mountains

Pepita Sandwich

Lumen, 2019.

152 pages.

Synopsis: Women with an insatiable spirit of adventure. Pioneering and outrageous explorers: they circumnavigated the globe, crossed unknown lands, by land, sea, air or even through outer space, nothing could stop them. In 1895, the New York newspapers drew attention to a woman who was cycling across the country; Annie "Londonderry" had left home to win a bet: to cycle around the world for five thousand dollars. This was not just a physical and geographical feat: she was defying the conventions of the time. And despite the fact that the media was more interested in pointing out that she wore trousers instead of a skirt, Annie kept pedalling. Her story, along with that of thirteen other women, is included in this book. Among them are Eva Dickson, the first woman to cross the Sahara by car; Valentina Tereshkova, who flew into space; and Mary Anning, known for her numerous discoveries from the Jurassic period. Explorers, scientists, climbers, but above all pioneers, they travelled around the world, they had to disguise themselves as men, they crossed hills, skies and stars to get where they wanted to go. They were women who moved mountains.

Day 3
Cristina Duran, Miguel A. Giner Bou and Laura Ballester.
Astiberri, 2019.

Synopsis: On July 3, 2006, five days before the visit of Pope Benedict XVI, the Valencia underground was the scene of the worst subway accident in the history of Spain. The tracks at the Jesús station claimed 43 lives, seriously injured 47 people and left hundreds of families broken. On the surface, institutional representatives were rushing to turn the page in anticipation of the imminent arrival of the supreme pontiff. The official version of the fatality prevailed, government shielding hindered investigations and a thick layer of oblivion spread over the tragedy. However, in the face of institutional abandonment, the victims always maintained their dignity and hope. Month after month, for almost ten years, they gathered in the Plaza de la Virgen in search of justice.

Day 3 is the story of a fight against silence, oblivion and programmed lies. Day 3 is the story of the struggle of families, like yours or mine, who were forced by circumstances to mobilize in search of answers. Day 3 is the story of a great wave of solidarity, of the awakening of a society.

In creating this graphic novel, the authors have based their work on the research of Laura Ballester, reflected in the book 'Fighting against oblivion, the long journey of the victims of the Valencia metro' (Sembra Llibres, 2015). They also relied on the work of the production company Barret Cooperativa Valenciana, compiled on its website 0responsables, and on the documentary The strategy of silence. The authors have also had the support and advice of the AVM3J (Association of Victims of the 3 de Julio Metro). 

The Rose of Versailles

Riyoko Ikeda

Azake Editions, 2002.

(4 volumes available in the Library)

Synopsis: The Rose of Versailles, also known as Lady Oscar, is a manga series written and illustrated by Riyoko Ikeda, this being one of her most recognized works. The story is set in 18th century France. When she turns fourteen, Oscar François de Jarjayes (Lady Oscar) becomes captain of the Imperial Guard and protector of the new princess of France, Marie Antoinette, and thus her destiny to witness social transformations is marked. As the years go by, the princess, now turned queen, meets the Swedish count Hans Axel Von Fersen, at a costume party which she attends without the king's permission, and almost without realizing it, they begin a love that goes down in history.

Neurocomic

Authors: Matteo Farinella and Hana Ros

Norma Editorial, 2014.

An interesting journey inside the brain to find out how it works. What is your brain made of? How does memory work? What is a neuron and how does it work? What are you? If you have ever asked yourself any of these questions, you will find the answer in  Neurocomic  . Although there is still much to discover about how the brain works, neuroscience has made great strides in recent years, but understanding these discoveries can be difficult for those of us who are not experts in the subject. Thanks to neuroscience doctors Matteo Farinella and Hana Ros, with  Neurocomic  we will access the secrets of how the brain works in a simple and enjoyable way.

The Theatre of the Human Body
Author: Maris Wicks

Norma Editorial, 2020.

A unique way to learn how our body works. Are you ready for a unique show? Our host, the human skeleton, will guide you on a surprising journey to all the parts of the human body. You will witness… how a sandwich is digested and ends up in the toilet! What are those dreams that your brain creates! Who is in charge of fighting viruses and bacteria! And much more… A fun comic play in which you will learn how all the body systems work, such as the digestive, respiratory, endocrine and nervous systems, and you will meet all those involved in these processes that are essential for being able to live. Maris Wicks is a comic book writer and illustrator. She has worked on series such as Garfield, Adventure Time, SpongeBob and Batgirl, among others, and one of her great passions is educational comics. Primates, written by Jim Ottaviani, was a New York Times bestseller.

Primates
Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks
Norma Editorial, 2019.

The intrepid science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Birute Galdikas. Learn about the lives of three important primatologists and discover these incredible animals through them. We present the stories of three primatologists who changed the way we understand the great apes... including us. 

Lightness
Catherine Meurisse
Impedimenta, 2018
136 pages.

On January 7, 2015, the alarm clock of the cartoonist Catherine Meurisse did not go off, so she arrived late to the meeting of the design team of the prestigious magazine Charlie Hebdo. This oversight saved her life, but it did not free her, like the rest of the survivors of the attack on the headquarters of the publication, from facing the violence of a terrible event in which she lost friends, teachers, mentors and, incidentally, her innocence. Determined to find a new starting point, the author, who has lost all her support, embarks, in the midst of the chaos and aesthetic aridity that followed those days, on a journey in search of its opposite: beauty. “Lightness” is a refuge from human folly, but also a celebration of beauty and the art of creation.

The ghost of Gaudí
Juan El Torres
Dib Buks, 2015.

124 pages. 

When Antonia, a simple supermarket cashier, saves an old man from being run over, she sets off a series of terrible events. Terribly mutilated corpses appear at the main monuments built by Antonio Gaudí. The police find themselves at a dead end, and Antonia continues to claim that she has seen Gaudí's ghost.

The Maids of Honor
Santiago García and Javier Olivares
Astiberri, 2014

Synopsis: For centuries, the painting depicting the family of Philip IV has been the centre of attraction at the Prado Museum and has inspired artists and writers, becoming a true cultural icon. However, Diego Velázquez is one of the most mysterious painters of his time, and 'Las Meninas', his masterpiece, the pinnacle of Spanish Baroque painting, is perhaps also the strangest of the great paintings in Western painting. After a lifetime at court in the service of Philip IV, Velázquez was finally knighted in 1658 and achieved an unusual dignity for a painter at that time. Around this act of courtly ennoblement, Santiago García and Javier Olivares construct in the graphic novel 'Las Meninas' a far-reaching fantasy inspired by historical events. Through its pages, people from the Count-Duke of Olivares to Foucault, from El Greco to Buero Vallejo pass by. This is not only the story of a work of art, but the story of how a work of art becomes a symbol. And finally, there is a new attempt to answer the question that generations of artists, historians, scholars and fans have asked themselves: what is the secret of 'Las Meninas'? A secret hidden in plain sight. 'Las Meninas' received the 2015 National Comic Award, as well as the award for the best Spanish work at the 33rd Barcelona Comic Fair that same year. It has been translated into France by Futuropolis, and the American edition ('Ladies in Waiting', published by Fantagraphics) has been nominated in the category of best edition of international material at the prestigious 2018 Eisner Awards.

Frida Khalo
Maria Hesse
Lumen, 2016.
128 pages.

Synopsis: A beautiful biography of the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo illustrated with evocative images by Maria Hesse, winner of the National Foundation for Children's and Young Adult Books Award in Brazil. "Feet, what do I need them for if I have wings to fly?" Frida was more than just pain and anguish. She wanted to be true to her overwhelming personality and became an artist full of life. Her painting is celebration, color, blood and life. She was a fighter who decided to take the world on her heels and a passionate woman who was not content to be in the shadow of her great love, the painter Diego Rivera. Frida decided to live intensely, both the misfortunes and the joys that life brought her. Inspired by the experiences of the iconic Mexican painter, this book offers a beautiful illustrated tour of her life and work.

How to make a comic 
Lewis Trondheim and Sergio García
K Book Factory, 2009.
36 pages. 

Synopsis: The keys to the Ninth Art: how to construct a page, the composition of the vignettes and their narrative function, the types of shots, the decomposition of movement, the criteria for choosing a good focus of the scenes, the form of the 'bubbles' or 'globes' through which the dialogues between the characters are shown; methods are also exposed to express feelings and emotions with onomatopoeia and other graphic elements, or how to capture the passage of time through resources such as the flashback. Comics "are very present in bookstores, libraries, and school programs, but there are many who confess that they are not able to understand them," point out the authors.

Nietzsche
Michel Onfray and Maximilien Le Roy
Sexto Piso, 2013.
132 pages.

Synopsis: After dealing a blow to French intellectual dogmatism, the philosopher Michel Onfray delivers, with this illustrated biography of Friedrich Nietzsche -one of his teachers-, a new weapon for all those curious minds eager to initiate themselves in free thought. Throughout these 120 plates, magnificently illustrated with the delicate drawings of Maximilien Le Roy, the reader will be able to discover the life of a man absorbed in the search for happiness and an ontological absolute. The life of a thinker willing to pay the price for his revolutionary ideas without concessions.

Spirited Away
Álvaro López Martín
Diabolo, 2017.
282 pages.

Spirited Away, winner of the Oscar and the Berlin Golden Bear, is one of the most acclaimed films in the history of cinema, but also one of the most complex and profound. In this book we decipher all its mysteries, and we delve into the intricacies of a unique and fascinating story. Enjoy it again and discover everything that lies behind it. This is a book about the soul and heart of Spirited Away. An essential guide and an explained and complete narration of what its philosophy means, every moment, every detail and every exact instant of the film directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. A book written by Álvaro López Martín, creator and author of the reference blog Generación GHIBLI, and of the books My Neighbor Miyazaki. Studio Ghibli, the Japanese animation that changed everything and Before My Neighbor Miyazaki. The origin of Studio Ghibli. Prologue by the journalist and writer Marta Fernández.

The Trial
Franz Kafka, David Zane Mairowitz (screenwriter) and Chantal Montellier (illustrator)
Estrella Polar, 2011.
128 pages.

One morning, two men arrest Joseph K., who apparently hasn't done anything wrong. This is the plot of The Trial, a book published in 1925 by Franz Kafka that has since been the subject of numerous revisions, film adaptations, illustrations and discussions. In this adaptation to a graphic novel, Chantall Montellier manages to express, through images, all the anguish of a man subjected to the meaninglessness of life: politics, bureaucracy, racism, sex...

Philosophy in Cartoons
Michael F. Patton and Kevin Cannon
Debolsillo, 2018.
176

In this graphic essay, Michael F. Patton and Kevin Cannon take us on a journey through more than two and a half thousand years of thought and reflection. With the help of the greatest philosophers of all time, from ancient Greece to the present day, and in an entertaining, original and fun way, they take us into the ever-changing and fascinating waters of logic, epistemology, ethics and metaphysics.

Bowie

Maria Hesse
Lumen, 2018
168 pages.

Synopsis: "I don't show loyalty to any style. I'll simply choose the one that allows me to transmit what I want at that moment." David Bowie is much more than a singer who sold one hundred and thirty-six million records, much more than an artist who experimented with a multitude of styles and defined pop culture. As his biographer David Buckley said, "he changed more lives than any other public figure." With his disturbing alter ego, Ziggy Stardust, and songs like "Star man" or "Space Oddity," he challenged the rules of music and became an icon of his generation and a reference for present and future generations. His long artistic career is closely linked to his personal biography. This book delves into all aspects of his life, its enigmas and anecdotes. Like a hieroglyph, Bowie is a mystery that we all want to unravel, and no one better than María Hesse, the author of the Frida phenomenon, to undertake this challenge. Today Bowie continues to fascinate more than ever.