Honest Abe Turns 200

Last week, I was reading the NBM blog and noticed a post highlighting Rick Geary’s title about the murder of Abraham Lincoln. There’s been a lot of talk about the 16th president turning 200 so in honor of his birthday (which, I know, was last Thursday) and today, President’s day, the Good Comics team decided to find as many Graphic Novels that talked about Lincoln and the other esteemed presidents who we’re celebrating this weekend.
Thanks to all my fellow bloggers for contributing on this post!

Abraham Lincoln Graphic Biography.  Saddleback Educational Publishing, Inc.  Free.
http://www.wowio.com/users/product.asp?BookId=4814
The life and times of Abraham Lincoln, available online for free.

The Gettysburg. Butzer, C.M. Harper Collins Publisher. $9.99
A haunting tale that describes the pivotal fight of the civil war and the famous address by the president. Told into two-tone of colors, this is an eloquent telling of a well-known part of our history.

George Washington: Leading a New Nation. (Series: Graphic Biography). Matt Doeden; Martin, Cynthia. Capstone Press. $7.95
 A slim graphic biography that covers the broad strokes of the first president’s life.

Abraham Lincoln: The Life of America’s Sixteenth President. (Graphic Nonfiction series) Gary Jeffrey; Kate Petty. Rosen Publishing. $22.95.
Aimed at hi-lo readers (high interest, low reading level), a slender biography that covers the broad strokes of Lincoln’s life.

The Murder of Abraham Lincoln. (A Treasury of Victorian Murder). Geary, Rick. NBM Publishers. $8.95 pbk/$15.95 trade.
An exciting retelling of the assassination plot to kill the president and the events that led to the capture of his murderer.

Ronald Reagan: A Graphic Biography. Hefler, Andrew. Hill and Wang. $16.95.
The story of a how a B-list actor became president of the United States.
(You can watch a book trailer here.)

Eagle: The Making of an Asian-American President. Kaiji Kawaguchi. Viz. $6.95.
Set in 2000, this manga traces the rise of fictional Asian-American politician Kenneth Yamaoka from New York Senator to American president. Viz released the American edition in two formats: 100-page digests (of which there are 21, I believe) and five large tankubons. Both are out of print, but relatively easy to find at libraries and comic book stores. The manga originally ran in a seinen magazine, so some of the material is not appropriate for young readers. I’d give this a 16+ rating.

Presidential Material: Barack Obama. Jeff Mariotte. Tom Morgan. IDW Publishing.
A quickie comic bio of Obama that IDW released last fall.

The New Adventures of Abraham Lincoln. Scott McCloud. Image
The plot sounds a little bit like "Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures," as it involves time-travel, aliens, and Honest Abe. And yes, it’s by THAT Scott McCloud.

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln. (Series: Graphic library. Graphic history) Kay Melchisedech Olson;Otha Zackariah Edward Lohse.Capstone Press. $7.95.
A brief retelling of the president’s murder told in a fictionalized view point. 

John F. Kennedy: American Visionary. (Graphic Library Series). Olson, Nathan; Bascle, Brian. Capstone Press. $26.65/$7.95.
Tells the story of the youngest man elected to the office. 

Theodore Roosevelt: Bear of a President. (Graphic Library Graphic Biography Series).  Olson, Nathan Bascle, Brian. Capstone Press. $26.65/$7.95.
Brief retelling of the Teddy Roosevelt’s presidency aimed at reluctant and struggling readers.

A House Divided. (Turning Points Series.) Poe, Marshall. Leland Purvis. Simon & Schuster Publishing. $8.99.
The story of Amos and Owen Bennington, brothers in the abolitionist movement. Their story comes full circle and connects them with Abraham Lincoln.

George Washington: The Life of an American Patriot. (Graphic Nonfiction Series.) David West; Jackie Gaff. Rosen Publishing. $19.95.
Focusing on the revolutionary years and not his presidency, this story tells us about our first president. 

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