Trickster: Native American Tales [Paperback]

I picked up an early copy of Trickster at the SPACE convention in Columbus, Oh. in April. I have been reading bits and pieces of it here and there. I think that Trickster is a great showcase of different artists and writers on par with Image comics Comic Book Tattoo and Popgun anthologies. It differs in the fact that it is based on the "trickster" stories of Native Americans being the root theme.

Trickster has a great variety of artists that fit well with each of the different stories. I also think that this book is a great example of how graphic storytelling can reach a greater audience than just the core comic reader.

Each of the stories showcase a different aspect of the trickster persona that makes up a great deal of Native American lore and cautionary tales. The stories vary from cartoony versions of characters, storybook style illustration and fully painted tales.

The production quality of the book is beautiful,the artwork is well represented here. I highly recommend this book!

Trickster is a great volume that reaches out to an very different collection of readers. The graphics are incredible and range from very abstract to the traditional comic. The size of the book is well thought out! It's not too big, so you can read each page with 3-5 panels and enjoy the non-busy pages of graphics. The artists have seemed to put a lot of themselves and their feelings into the stories. The Native American writers are unique. They give their geographic trickster life and take the reader on a quick adventure towards some lesson. I Googled the artists and storytellers and there were only a few I couldn't get a lot of information (if any) from. So I can see that most have an impressive track records. Well done!! Get this and learn about this important tradition and oh, you'll find out that Native Americans are still here - their not gone!

Folkloric stories are powerful. They can be emotional, funny, uplifting, or scary. But they always have pull to them, and that's why they continue to haunt and entertain people.

While there are special classes in school that teach mythology and folklore, it isn't always easy to find a class on Native American stories. Unfortunately, these stories are often pushed aside just as Native American culture and history can so often get left out of textbooks. Trickster: Native American Tales--A Graphic Collection is a unique remedy for this. In the form of a comic book, it tells 21 Native tales about tricksters. The tales range in style and emotion: Some are straightforward, some are humorous, some are frightening. All of them are interesting.

While the collection is edited by Matt Dembicki, who also illustrated one of the stories, Trickster offers a wide variety of talent. Dembicki explains in his afterword: "For this book, I wanted the stories to be authentic, meaning they would be written by Native American storytellers." He was able to find many talented people to help him make this collection a reality. One aspect that's really interesting is how different the stories are from one another. Even if elements and storylines can be similar, each artist and writer has a unique way of portraying the story. The style of art especially varies: Some stories are dark and realistic; some are comical and outrageous; some look as if they came from the Sunday morning funnies section; some look like the art from children's books; some look like cartoons one might see on television.

The binding thread for all the stories is that each one deals with a trickster. Sometimes the tricksters are animals like Coyote or Rabbit. Other times they're humans. Sometimes the tricksters are really low-down; at other times, their actions are understandable. Usually their brains help them win the day, even if their methods wouldn't always be considered acceptable.

This could be a great way to learn more about Native American culture through storytelling. Or, if the reader is already familiar with the stories, it could be enjoyable just for the sake of seeing how different writers and artists render the stories. Either way, it's a very lively and readable book that libraries might really want to consider shelving in their folklore sections.

It seems like neglect not to mention the names of all the gifted people who wrote and illustrated these stories; Naming them will also give readers an idea of how many minds worked on this and how many creative differences can be seen. Trickster's contributors are Dayton Edmonds, Micah Farritor, John Active, Jason Copland, James Bruchac, Joseph Bruchac, Matt Dembicki, David Smith, Jerry Carr, Eldrena Douma, Roy Boney, Jr., Michael Thompson, Jacob Warrenfeltz, Jonathan Perry, Chris Piers, Scott White, Tim Tingle, Pat Lew, Elaine Grinnell, Michelle Silva, Mary Eyley, Jim8ball, Greg Rodgers, Mike Short, Joyce Bear, Megan Baehr, Beckee Garris, Andrew Cohen, Dan Jones, Michael J. Auger, Eirik Thorsgard, Rand Arrington, Thomas C. Cummings, Jr., Paul Zdepski, Jimm Goodtracks, Dimi Macheras, Jack Gladstone, Evan Keeling, Joseph Stands With Many, Jon Sperry, John Bear Mitchell, Andy Bennett, Sunny Dooley, and J. Chris Campbell.
-- Danica Davidson

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 17 reviews  4.5 out of 5 stars