bigbear73's review against another edition
3.0
Max Brooks’ Harlem Hellfighters was a worthwhile and entertaining jaunt into WWI.
Max, who is rightfully well known for his excellent World War Z novel, put together this graphic novel based on accounts of several African Americans who served our country during the Great War. While this is a fictionalized telling, the story does a great job of driving home the impact of the pain and suffering this amazing group of men went through, all for a nation that was at the time going out of it’s way to avoid thanking them or even recognizing their efforts.
The story is well written and excellently drawn, and I felt like I was actually part of the action. I had trouble putting it down and made it through the book in two sittings, in spite of my busy schedule.
I give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
*I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.
Max, who is rightfully well known for his excellent World War Z novel, put together this graphic novel based on accounts of several African Americans who served our country during the Great War. While this is a fictionalized telling, the story does a great job of driving home the impact of the pain and suffering this amazing group of men went through, all for a nation that was at the time going out of it’s way to avoid thanking them or even recognizing their efforts.
The story is well written and excellently drawn, and I felt like I was actually part of the action. I had trouble putting it down and made it through the book in two sittings, in spite of my busy schedule.
I give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
*I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review.
oneangrylibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
This is a powerful and moving story of one of the most decorated and unsung regiments in our military. It is a must read and I am ashamed that these men are so forgotten in our history lessons. I simply loved it.
readerxxx's review against another edition
4.0
an interesting side of history that I knew nothing about.
spinnerroweok's review against another edition
3.0
The Harlem Hellfighters is a semi-fictional telling of the story of the 369th Infantry Regiment during World War I. This regiment was an African American unit that served its country during the war while suffering from prejudice and segregation from the US Army. Yes, I said "from" and not "within." Read the book and find out what I mean. It taught me a lot.
I really liked this book. It was a page turner. Unfortunately, sometimes it was a page turn-backer. While the writing and the artwork were both excellent, many times they did not work together. I frequently found myself asking, "what is this image about?" Things would come out of the blue.
The book is full of sudden, unannounced, unexplained flashbacks and scene changes. Which cause much page flipping. Also, while the characters are distinct before their enlistment, they are indistinguishable after they put on a uniform. I could not even tell black soldiers from white soldiers, which was an important of the story.
What I did like was the research put into the book. I spent a lot of time going back and googling different names throughout the book. I think this would have been a great ebook filled with hyperlinks to give the reader background information with a simple click as each referent came up.
For the most part, the story taught me some things I didn't know about the times and put some of them in context. Otherthings were in there for which the context was missing for me and I had to google (a lot of googling in this book). If you want an introduction to the African American experience in World War I, this is a good place to start.
I really liked this book. It was a page turner. Unfortunately, sometimes it was a page turn-backer. While the writing and the artwork were both excellent, many times they did not work together. I frequently found myself asking, "what is this image about?" Things would come out of the blue.
Spoiler
For example, on page 96, a solider is blown away by a sniper (which in itself was a bit confusing. Then on then next page is a full page spread showing a book of poetry covered in blood. Since there was no reference to this book before, I was unsure if this was a new scene or part of the old. The significance of the book was not explained until many pages later. However, I had long since googled it.The book is full of sudden, unannounced, unexplained flashbacks and scene changes. Which cause much page flipping. Also, while the characters are distinct before their enlistment, they are indistinguishable after they put on a uniform. I could not even tell black soldiers from white soldiers, which was an important of the story.
What I did like was the research put into the book. I spent a lot of time going back and googling different names throughout the book. I think this would have been a great ebook filled with hyperlinks to give the reader background information with a simple click as each referent came up.
For the most part, the story taught me some things I didn't know about the times and put some of them in context. Otherthings were in there for which the context was missing for me and I had to google (a lot of googling in this book). If you want an introduction to the African American experience in World War I, this is a good place to start.
david_agranoff's review against another edition
4.0
Brooks is a good storyteller, I think the art is good but presented some challenges to the story-telling. Interesting piece of history I didn't know about.
manadabomb's review against another edition
4.0
Max Brooks is well known for World War Z but this was the first I knew of a graphic novel by Brooks (and Cannan White as the illustrator). The premise was so interesting that I put this on my to-read list on Goodreads and was ecstatic to find it at my (little) local library.
The Harlem Hellfighters (as nicknamed by the Germans) were an regiment of black men who willingly enlisted in the Army during WWI when America finally decided to step into battle. The 369th infantry started off brave, stayed brave when white soldiers and civilians were killing them, when their own army was refusing to give them weapons or training, when they were finally sent over seas to fight and fight hard. They were not given a parade when they were sent out, but the white men were. So much of this novel is brutal but it's not the war portion that is heartbreaking. It's the racist acts by others that make me angry. If you enlist, you are brave and you are deserving of respect, regardless of your color or sex or anything.
This is a fictional account of a real regiment. Some of the characters are real people and at the end Brooks explains who people are. This is a terribly interesting portion of American history that I have never even heard of and now I want to know more!
In the end, they got their parade (along with many years of violent racism) and ended up being one of the most decorated regiments in the army. Take a look at this and then go find out more about this awesome history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEuoAl1elLU
The quote in this video that sums things up: "Had he been white, he would have walked out of that war with a Medal of Honor"
The Harlem Hellfighters (as nicknamed by the Germans) were an regiment of black men who willingly enlisted in the Army during WWI when America finally decided to step into battle. The 369th infantry started off brave, stayed brave when white soldiers and civilians were killing them, when their own army was refusing to give them weapons or training, when they were finally sent over seas to fight and fight hard. They were not given a parade when they were sent out, but the white men were. So much of this novel is brutal but it's not the war portion that is heartbreaking. It's the racist acts by others that make me angry. If you enlist, you are brave and you are deserving of respect, regardless of your color or sex or anything.
This is a fictional account of a real regiment. Some of the characters are real people and at the end Brooks explains who people are. This is a terribly interesting portion of American history that I have never even heard of and now I want to know more!
In the end, they got their parade (along with many years of violent racism) and ended up being one of the most decorated regiments in the army. Take a look at this and then go find out more about this awesome history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEuoAl1elLU
The quote in this video that sums things up: "Had he been white, he would have walked out of that war with a Medal of Honor"
shiradest's review against another edition
2.0
iffer's review against another edition
3.0
This book is solid. I'm glad that Max Brooks fought for the story to be out there. I think that this would've been better if Max Brooks had been able to sell his movie script to someone rather than eventually deciding to make it a graphic novel. While it manages to include many of the complexities of race and interpersonal conflict, and actually bothers to portray blacks fighting in WWI as heterogeneous, it still felt a little bit lacking. I didn't become emotionally engaged in the story or with the characters, which was probably a boon to me because of all the violence. I generally like black and white art, and it's a very good choice for war books, not the least of the reasons for which is that that much graphic violence and blood would be horrifying and/or garish in color, but many of the panels were too busy for my eye to parse easily.
skinnygetout's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed reading about an aspect of WWI that was unfamiliar to me. I had never heard of the Harlem Hellfighters until I read this graphic novel. Their story is a unique and essential part of American WWI history that is not a part of the larger story taught to students. The pictures and dialogue are gritty and realistic as the Hellfighter traverse the trenches of the Western Front. Soldiers had to endure horrific living conditions as well as watch their friends die in gruesome battles. The Hellfighters endured those hardships all while having to deal with racism on the battle field and home. Such an incredible story. A must read for anyone interested in war, race, and African American history.