Boxers by Gene Luen YangMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Going into "Boxers," I knew next to nothing about the Boxer rebellion (thank you crappy education). I had seen mention of it once or twice (including in the book "Midnight in Peking") but was short on the details. So, I can't speak to the historical accuracy of the book, although in a story such as this what "history" says and the reality may not be particularly close.
That said, I think that Yang does a bang-up job distilling the history into a tale about real people's lives. We follow the Righteous brothers from their start in one small village until the aftermath in Beijing. The artwork shows the duality of their story. On one hand, you've got the cartoonish peasants in panels of browns and grays, with our hero being a sort of Joe China. The other side of the coin shows the lavishly drawn and brightly colored gods into which the brothers (and their supporters) believed themselves transformed during battle. We see it all from the brothers' perspective: the training, the journey, and the slaughters. I could understand why the Boxers felt justified in what they were doing. Doesn't make the whole killing-women-and-children thing less horrible, but you see their perspective (fueled by superstition, religion, and probably opium).
Interestingly, Boxers is half of a pair of graphic novels, with the other (Saints) presenting the rebellion from the perspective of a Christian Chinese girl who we briefly meet in Boxers. I think it's a great idea on Yang's part, to tell the story of a place and time in history whose interpretation depends mainly on which side the interpreter was on.
Disclosure: I received an e-copy of the book via NetGalley.
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