This Happened to Me! Graphic Tales of True-Life Survival

A fixture in the pages of Outdoor Life magazine since 1940, “This Happened to Me” details the sort of near-fatal wilderness calamities most people try very hard to avoid. In these nearly 200 cases, people head out into the woods for a little fun—from hunting to hiking—only to find themselves confronted by bears, attacked by sharks, mugged by Mustelidae and struck by lightning. Even trustworthy technology proves unreliable: ladders give way, boats develop dramatic leaks, and Harrier jets nearly blast bystanders off precipices. The anecdotes are illustrated by artists including Gene Colan, Tony Harris, Ken Laager, Dan Panosian, Paul Ryan, and Tony Shasteen; by far the lion’s share of the work falls to veteran artist Ron Frenz. Just as the stories themselves are compressed, the illustrations eschew embellishment in favor of straightforward realism. Each tale of narrow escape is accompanied by a helpful one-page article relevant to the topic at hand, granting the work an educational air. Should a natural disaster take down the cable networks that show endless man-vs.-sharks programming, fans will be able to read this book by candlelight and maybe even get a few survival hints along the way. (Sept.)