Of Dust and Blood: The Battle At Little Big Hornby Patti MartinsonReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Publisher
Credits Grade: 6 Of Blood and Dust is a graphic novelization of the Battle of Little Big Horn, or the Battle of Greasy Grass, where Custer and his men lost to a large contingent of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes. Two fictional characters give different perspectives. Serving General Custer is Greenhaw, joining the combined tribes is Slowhawk. These characters get the most focus, and it is through their eyes that we see the events unfold.I'm not entirely sure what to make of this graphic novel. The biggest impression I can come up with is that this is a collection of thumbnail sketches. Most of the well-known historical figures are here: General Custer, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and Captain Benteen. General Custer is the one who gets the most focus here, and he is consistently depicted as arrogant, bad-tempered, and making extremely stupid decisions. The others are barely seen in more than a panel or two. Crazy Horse, for example, gets a series of panels where he gives one of his horses to Slowhawk, and that's pretty much the beginning, middle, and end of his appearance. The others don't fare much better. Greenhaw and Slowhaw get the most character development here, but it seems a little disturbing to me. Greenhaw wasn't the most eager recruit and almost immediately is shown questioning the decisions made and just wants to get back to his sweetheart. Slowhawk, in contrast, participates in the battle to seek revenge against the soldiers for the deaths of his family members. Civilized Man vs Savage is kind of what I got from their characterizations, although I do appreciate that we are shown as well as told about the atrocities against the Native Americans that lead to this battle. The artwork is one of the best things about this graphic novel. The way the characters, landscapes, and action are drawn as well as colored comes across as just perfect for the time and setting, in the "Old West" of the northern plains. The battle sequences themselves feel action-packed. In the end, I felt this was a well-drawn and colored but a very tiny thumbnail sketch of a very complex and horrific battle. You don't get much of a sense of the scale or depth of this, nor will you learn much more about this battle beyond just a few bits of detail. Written: October 27, 2018
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