Graphic Novel Review: "Harlem Hellfighters" by Max Brooks and Illustrated by Caanan White

I still need to finish the book and write a review for thursdays post so this is going to be a short review! (It's also my Banned Books Week review...)

This was a great graphic novel. I hadn't heard about these brave men, the 369th Infantry before. They were a group of African American and African Puerto Ricans who volunteered to fight in World War I. They were a very diverse group; from the well educated and refined to men who hadn't ever spent any time in school and everything in between. The problems they encountered started almost immediately. One problem was that they weren't given any actual weapons to train with, just broomsticks and the like. (How good does that make your aim? Not good). They didn't receive a loft of training with weapons because the higher ups just intended to use them for manual labor, not for fighting. Also when they were in different cities for training the racism that they encountered from the locals was often incredibly violent. Despite all of this they went to Europe.

They were to fight with the French and not the USA because of race hostility. They spent more time in combat than any other American unit. So these men blew all the expectations of them out of the water.

Also it's written by Max Brooks who wrote World War Z. So Max has some range. And his dad is Mel Brooks, who is awesome. (Not related to anything, just a fact).

Sorry for such a short review, it deserves better.If you have any interest in race relations, World War I, or just like good illustrations I recommend it! 3 out of 5 stars!