Black Cotton Star
A Graphic Novel of World War II
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- $17.99
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- $17.99
Publisher Description
Philadelphia, 1776: George Washington asks Betsy Ross to design the first flag of the future United States of America. Her housemaid, Angela Brown, adds to it a secret tribute to the black community: a black cotton star that she slips under one of the white ones.Dover, 1944: A soldier named Lincoln receives a letter from his sister back home that reveals Angela Brown’s memoirs, and wonders if the star that she mentions truly exists. His superiors seem to think so. In light of this revelation, Lincoln and two other African-American soldiers set out on a dangerous mission, ranging from liberated Paris to the snow-covered Ardennes, seeking answers—and the ultimate prize.Black Cotton Star is a magnificent war drama, unfolding a fictional tale of struggle, resilience, and sacrifice with themes that resonate deeply in a divided modern-day America.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This poignant if uneven graphic novel of war, racism, and the American Dream delivers the lesson that justice delayed is justice denied and examines how such injustice is amplified over generations. Sente (the Blake and Mortimer series) opens his WWII adventure on an Allied base in England ahead of D-Day, focusing on Private Lincoln Bolton and two fellow black soldiers, all of whom enlisted after the Pearl Harbor attacks. Their patriotism is rewarded with a thankless assignment; they are barred from combat. However, a dramatic mission awaits, flashing back first to Bolton's (underdeveloped) ancestor, Angela Brown, a free Black servant of Betsy Ross. Brown is left powerless when a racist landowner kills both of her brothers. She defiantly stitches the black star into Ross's first American flag, offered to George Washington, thus creating a MacGuffin that will set Bolton and his peers (the multilingual Conor, towering Johnson, and a reluctant white officer) on a daring operation to recover it from a high-ranking Nazi. Cuzor employs sepia tones and thoughtful coloring to render the mountainous European countryside and the bustling streetscapes of Colonial Philadelphia. This epic enterprise lends due weight to the hopes and disappointments of its African-American protagonists; despite its flaws, this is a notable war comic for modern readers. (Sept.)
