Teddy, a graphic novel adapting Laurence (Sybok} Luckinbill's one-man play, Teddy Tonight!, illustrated by Eryck Tate.
First, some background. In 1918, former president Teddy Roosevelt embarked on a speaking tour of the United States to drum up support for Liberty Bonds and World War I itself. (Film footage of that speaking tour here.) Roosevelt had been a proponent of the United States entering the war since its beginning, he offered to raise a division of volunteers before the United States officially entered the war, and his four sons were all serving in the war. On July 14, Roosevelt's youngest son, Quentin, a pilot in the Army Air Forces, was shot down and killed over France.
The graphic novel. Teddy Roosevelt steps on stage to regale an audience with a speech extolling his vision of American patriotism. Over the course of his speech, he talks about his own life, his military exploits in the Spanish-American War, his love of his children, and his expectations that they would do their duty for their country. As his speech goes on, we learn that Roosevelt is carrying the telegram that informs him of Quentin's death, and Roosevelt may be speaking as much to himself -- to convince himself that his views on patriotism and military service were right and good, even though they just cost him his son -- as to his audience.
Luckinbill's script does two things. It provides a basic overview of Roosevelt's biography -- a sickly and clever child who overcomes a frail, asthmatic body through sheer determination; who excelled at Harvard; who went into politics and made enemies everywhere; who lost his mother and his wife on the same day and ran from his pain by trying to become a rancher; who reentered politics as a reformer, made enemies, and got put on the presidential ticket in 1900 because the powers that be thought he could do the least harm there; who led a vigorous life, even if threatened to kill him; who lived in the shadow of a father he both idolized and felt disappointment in; and who tried to instill his values of patriotism and duty on his children. It also explores the tension between Roosevelt's beliefs and the costs of his vision of America's role in the world.
Tait's art does a nice job of illustrating Roosevelt's life. Yes, the young Roosevelt really did have those massive, absurd mutton chops.
Overall, it's nice. If Teddy leaves you with the impression that Roosevelt blamed himself for Quentin's death, it's supposed to. Prior to July 1918, Roosevelt was giving serious consideration to running for president in 1920. Quentin's spirit broke his spirit -- and for a man who suffered various ailments, his health, leading to his own death a year later. It could go deeper in places -- Roosevelt's antipathy for Woodrow Wilson, for instance -- and Roosevelt's thinking on World War I and America's role in it could be better explained. (Partly, it stemmed from Roosevelt's feeling that his presidency had no major international crises that demanded American involvement, and Roosevelt that that the United States could prove itself as a world power and he himself could, as the head of a volunteer regiment, prove his worth.) But, as a basic introduction to Roosevelt's life and thought, for readers today who know Roosevelt best as one of the Washington Nationals' four Racing Presidents, Teddy is a nice package, a pleasant and informative read on one of the most colorful characters to occupy the White House.
First, some background. In 1918, former president Teddy Roosevelt embarked on a speaking tour of the United States to drum up support for Liberty Bonds and World War I itself. (Film footage of that speaking tour here.) Roosevelt had been a proponent of the United States entering the war since its beginning, he offered to raise a division of volunteers before the United States officially entered the war, and his four sons were all serving in the war. On July 14, Roosevelt's youngest son, Quentin, a pilot in the Army Air Forces, was shot down and killed over France.
The graphic novel. Teddy Roosevelt steps on stage to regale an audience with a speech extolling his vision of American patriotism. Over the course of his speech, he talks about his own life, his military exploits in the Spanish-American War, his love of his children, and his expectations that they would do their duty for their country. As his speech goes on, we learn that Roosevelt is carrying the telegram that informs him of Quentin's death, and Roosevelt may be speaking as much to himself -- to convince himself that his views on patriotism and military service were right and good, even though they just cost him his son -- as to his audience.
Luckinbill's script does two things. It provides a basic overview of Roosevelt's biography -- a sickly and clever child who overcomes a frail, asthmatic body through sheer determination; who excelled at Harvard; who went into politics and made enemies everywhere; who lost his mother and his wife on the same day and ran from his pain by trying to become a rancher; who reentered politics as a reformer, made enemies, and got put on the presidential ticket in 1900 because the powers that be thought he could do the least harm there; who led a vigorous life, even if threatened to kill him; who lived in the shadow of a father he both idolized and felt disappointment in; and who tried to instill his values of patriotism and duty on his children. It also explores the tension between Roosevelt's beliefs and the costs of his vision of America's role in the world.
Tait's art does a nice job of illustrating Roosevelt's life. Yes, the young Roosevelt really did have those massive, absurd mutton chops.
Overall, it's nice. If Teddy leaves you with the impression that Roosevelt blamed himself for Quentin's death, it's supposed to. Prior to July 1918, Roosevelt was giving serious consideration to running for president in 1920. Quentin's spirit broke his spirit -- and for a man who suffered various ailments, his health, leading to his own death a year later. It could go deeper in places -- Roosevelt's antipathy for Woodrow Wilson, for instance -- and Roosevelt's thinking on World War I and America's role in it could be better explained. (Partly, it stemmed from Roosevelt's feeling that his presidency had no major international crises that demanded American involvement, and Roosevelt that that the United States could prove itself as a world power and he himself could, as the head of a volunteer regiment, prove his worth.) But, as a basic introduction to Roosevelt's life and thought, for readers today who know Roosevelt best as one of the Washington Nationals' four Racing Presidents, Teddy is a nice package, a pleasant and informative read on one of the most colorful characters to occupy the White House.
