John Hendrix returns to the compelling style he employed in The Faithful Spy for The Mythmakers, a masterful graphic biography of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien told through a potent mix of narration, spot art, and comic panels. The graphic novel guides readers on a mythic journey through the lives of the two literary luminaries, alternating between the authors' experiences and the banter and adventures of two narrators, a wise wizard and a witty lion.
Both Lewis and Tolkien lost their mothers early in life, but still benefited from childhoods that nurtured their imaginations and love of stories. A stark difference in their upbringings was religious belief: Tolkien practiced Catholicism devoutly while Lewis was born a Protestant but "abandoned his Christianity and, rather unconsciously, made literature his true place of worship." Hendrix skillfully illuminates how this divide factored into the entirety of their friendship.
The First World War called both young men into battle, Tolkien in 1916 and Lewis in 1917. Hendrix deftly captures the horror of their wartime experiences in emotional, sepia-saturated illustrations and gut-punching prose: "It was then he met the 'lost' of the Somme./ The dead were everywhere./ Strung over barbwire like ragdolls./ Smashed and broken with vacant eyes./ Sunken like ghosts under the water of muddy shell craters."
Lewis and Tolkien met at Oxford in May of 1926. Hendrix leaves behind the dull brown of war and returns to the muted purples, teals, and yellows of the boys' early lives, lifting the book's tone. Lewis and Tolkien bonded over a shared love of Norse mythology, and Hendrix's wise wizard explains, "Each man deeply needed the other though they did not realize it yet." During the next two decades they supported, challenged, and inspired each other--and had a huge impact on the world of fantasy literature.
Hendrix uses his lion and wizard narrators to fantastic effect, picturing them venturing through a fantasy landscape that brings them to pivotal moments in the lives of Tolkien and Lewis. He packs this delightful adventure with fascinating tidbits, background on myth and world-building, and plenty of humor. A robust (illustrated) backmatter section offers readers additional information on British vernacular, Hendrix's research, and bibliographic resources. While the book's target audience is middle-grade readers, fantasy lovers of all ages will surely treasure this exquisitely fitting homage to the two men whose "mythic awakening can be seen in nearly every corner of modern popular storytelling and twenty-first century visual culture." --Jen Forbus, freelancer
Shelf Talker: Writer and illustrator John Hendrix examines the friendship of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis in a beautifully crafted graphic biography of two men who had an immense impact on fantasy literature.