The Mythmakers

This YA graphic biography popped onto my radar during a recent meeting of the New York C. S. Lewis Society. I confess to being a novice to the format. (Am I supposed to look at the drawings first and then the words? Or vice versa?) Admittedly, I came to the book with skepticism, expecting superficial treatment of two beloved authors. I was wrong.

The joint biography of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, while covering their lives from birth to death, focuses principally on their friendship, or "fellowship" as the author characterizes it. Two avatars -- a lion and a wizard -- guide the reader through the book. We learn about Lewis and Tolkien's childhood (both lost their mothers at a young age); their experiences in WWI; their discovery of a common interest in Icelandic myth; their role in the Inklings; their writing; and their conversations about faith. Moreover, the author deals sensitively with the distance between them in their later years.

The drawings invited me in. The palette of purple, teal, and gold were both unifying and easy on my eyes.  Interspersed within the biographic material are literary digressions, such as the difference between epic and myth, and the origins of the fairy tale.

I'm impressed by how much material Hendrix was able to fit into the book. He did his research. I have no disagreement with how he portrayed Lewis. Being less familiar with Tolkien, I cannot speak to that part. But I did get a good introduction to Lewis's friend, which whet my appetite for more. My one minor nitpick relates to the footnotes. (Yes, footnotes in a graphic novel!) When I wanted to know the origin of a statement or idea and consulted the footnote, it pointed me to a secondary source rather than a primary source.

My library shelved The Mythmakers in the YA section. Because of this, coupled with the graphic format, I was expecting a slim, watered down biography. But make no mistake, the content is meaty. There is much here for adults to digest and enjoy.