Native American Classics: Graphic Classics Volume 24

The latest edition of the Graphic Classics series focuses on Native American stories and poems, mostly from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, adapted by a number of writers and illustrators with Native American ancestry. The chapters range from folktales highlighting the indigenous American peoples’ symbiotic coexistence with nature and animals to dour stories of culture clashes (and worse) with European settlers and frontiersmen. Standouts include a Jack London–esque saga of a young wolf stranded away from his pack, the story of an assimilated young Sioux and the friction between him and his tribe, and an amusing cartoon about the intestinal dangers of eating too many “special potatoes”. While the book as a whole has elegiac moments, it is mostly a celebration of a distinguished extant culture, and these skillfully adapted stories resonate just as powerfully as when they were first told. (Mar.)