Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb

Although billed as “the first-ever graphic novel to tell the story of the atomic bomb,” Jim Ottaviani’s Fallout did the same thing 10 years ago, and was much better written. Picking on an author for what marketing chooses to say isn’t fair, but presumably marketing didn’t choose the flat illustrations, heavy use of captions, and stiff, static panels of talking heads. The text is confusing to follow, and the wooden panels are reminiscent of clip art. All the famous players in this tale are shown—Fermi, Oppenheimer, Fat Man, and Little Boy—but in such compressed form that little drama emerges. Facts are thrown so rapidly that there is no story, no recognizable characters to follow, or personalities to relate to, just caption after caption. (June)