History presented in graphic format is becoming more and more popular with readers of all formats. The History Comics series packs a lot of information into a book that is largely illustrations and this one on the mystery of Roanoke Colony is no different. However, the degree of violence between the indigenous people, the Spanish, the English colonists, pirates and privateers is clear and references to flirting and a description of Sir Walter Raleigh being “sexy” may make this particular installment more appropriate for slightly older readers than some of the others. Schweitzer does a good job in presenting wrong-doing by all those fighting to make a home for themselves. Many theories concerning the disappearance of the colony are presented, including Algonquin folklore and aliens, and readers are guided in examining each but no definitive conclusion is explicitly stated. Great addition to the non-fiction graphic section of libraries serving grades 6 and up. No profanity or sexual content but historically accurate violence is included.

A fact-filled, fascinating read that uses the mystery of what happened to the Roanoke Colony to explore many political and cultural questions stemming from English settlement attempts in North America.

Schweizer does an amazing job providing lots of details in easily comprehensible form. His simplified style means he can put more panels on the page without sacrificing readability, so there’s a lot of information contained here. That makes the book rewardingly lengthy, something to spend a good amount of time with.

Schweizer doesn’t have an answer to the mystery behind all this, but he does an excellent job presenting various theories, even if some of them are bonkers. He also writes an afterword where he explains the different kinds of sources he used, reinforcing encouragement for readers to think for themselves about what they’re reading. This is one of the best history comics I’ve seen, bringing together significant events and the meaning behind them in a book that’s a pleasure to read.

Nice illustrations. Great information. I would definitely recommend as an alternative to a standard reading book. My elementary schooler enjoyed it.

History in a graphic format. What a fun way to learn history! This tells the story of the Lost Colony, including background into English/Spanish relations, English/American Indian relations, and various theories as to what happened to the colonists.

This was a good introduction to an interesting topic. I work at a library where Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales are never on the shelf, and I think this series shows promise of being just as popular.

This comic includes a lot of great information. The author set a good pace , the artwork is awesome and very colorful. I learned some new things and I love that.

This book has wonderful artwork, but the information in this story is more for middle school and above. It was interesting to see both points of view from the two main characters.

Another great installment in the History Comics series! The illustrations are fantastic and the story telling is full of historical facts so kids can learn while also enjoying a great story. My son really enjoyed this comic and I look forward to adding it to the Library's shelves.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

I love First Second's line of Science Comics and Maker Comics, so I had high hopes for this new History Comics line. Having a mystery for one of the first titles in the line was a bit of an odd choice, though kids do love a good mystery, so I also see the appeal. I appreciated all the research done for this particular entry in the series and the explanation of primary and secondary sources, which kids at this age are just beginning to learn about. I loved how in depth the background into the mystery of Roanoke was, though some of the outlined suggestions for what happened in the period we don't have explicit records of were a bit out there.

Learn about the Native American nations that occupied the land in and around Roanoke including their life and culture. Then learn about the politics of England and Spain that led to Europeans arriving to settle the land already occupied by Native Americans. What happened afterwards, only some of it known…We do know about the unscrupulous English colonial leaders, a pirate captain with an agenda, and the initial colonial settlement(s). But did you know that all the European colonists of Roanoke vanished? More than once? Kids will enjoy this historical comic book that brings early American history to life, in an intriguing, interesting, and three-dimensional way.

This new history focused series is well written and presents an interesting analysis of what happened to the Roanoke Colony. The author includes information on the daily lives of both the colonists and the Native Americans. It is also refreshing to see that the native peoples are not treated as a monolithic entity, but rather as having a wide variety of diversity among themselves. The problems caused by the colonists are discussed in an age-appropriate manner. Young readers will enjoy the humor and art work. A solid start to the series.

This is a great introduction to what happened to the Roanoke Colony in graphic novel form. It reminds me a lot of Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales graphic novels. This was a fun, fast paced and informative read. I think middle grade students will enjoy reading it a lot!

This had a lot of information in it and it was presented in, what felt like at times, a jumbled way. Sometimes to make a point, long side roads had to be explored. I am torn between enjoying the way the information was presented (the feelings about colonizers are not sugarcoated) and the representation of the American Indian narrators. Their stereotypical appearance mixed with very Americanized dialogue, in particular. I would be very interested to hear from scholar Dr. Debbie Reese on the representation provided here.

This Graphic novel was interesting and had a great mystery element to it. The characters were fun because they had good humor and were developed well.

Readers of Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales will devour this title and series. Sometimes the sarcastic asides are ill timed and betray the seriousness of certain situations.

It's fine. I think it's way too dense to be considered Children's Nonfiction- there's a TON of historical information in this text, and I think it's pretty densely packed in. The historical information is well researched and correct, although I find the illustrations of the various Algonquin peoples to be a little iffy at times. They're not as inaccurate as they could be, but I have questions about whether a representative from any Native organization was consulted in the artistic representation. I also wonder why a white author felt it appropriate to tell the story of Roanoke through the perspective of the Algonquin tribe members. I wish First Second would have made a little more effort in that regard. At the moment First Second doesn't have a large number of BIPOC on staff or in publication, and I want to see far more representation from them and other publishers. I'm interested to read Dr. Debbie Reed's take on this text.

Thank you to #NetGalley and First Second Books for allowing me the opportunity to read a digital ARC of History Comics: The Roanoke Colony by Chris Schweizer. This graphic novel will be released June 30, 2020. All opinions are my own.

This graphic novel focuses on the question what happened to the Roanoke colonists. To answer this question, the novel investigates how the settlers ended up in Roanoke and what the people already living in Roanoke felt about the newcomers. It is full of history, queens, battles, sea voyages, disputes, violence, and pirates. Schweizer uses information from primary and secondary sources, archaeological findings, and a little bit of speculation to present the story of the missing colonists and theorize about what may have happened to them.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. The lost colony of Roanoke is a topic I use in my classroom to teach evidence based writing and my students love learning about the colony and all the theories of what may have occurred. One of my favorite things about this novel is that it doesn't start with the colonists disappearing or even landing in Roanoke. Rather, it goes back even further to provide a historical and political understanding of what led the settlers to Roanoke in the first place and why it was so difficult for White to get back to the colonists after he left for fresh supplies. There is so much information in this graphic novel that at times it is almost overwhelming, but I think it would be an excellent tool to use in the classroom to discuss the topic and develop a deeper understanding of it (I even pre-ordered a copy for my classroom library). I honestly can't wait to share this book with my students to see their reactions and to build it into my current writing unit.

Told from the perspective of Manteo and Wanchese, two Native Americans from Algonquin tribes who met the Roanoke colonists and visited England, this graphic novel relates the history we know about the settling of Roanoke Island in present North Carolina, USA in the 16th century before and after the English arrived (so detailed info on the way of life of the Algonquin tribes there and then the settlers’ set up), the challenges the English settlers faced and their relationship with the surrounding Native Americans, and then the disappearance of the 2nd round of settlers when their governor returned from England after a 3 year absence. Following that, various theories people have developed about what happened to the missing colonists are presented, and a look at what evidence really exists and which theory the evidence most supports.

This was a highly informative look at life for both Native Americans and English colonists in Roanoke. If you’re looking for a great crash course on the history and culture of Algonquin tribes, this does a great job presenting that at the beginning of the book. I thought the author did a very fair presentation of all the sides involved: Manteo, Wanchese, their tribes and other tribes, the English, the Spanish, the privateers and pirates, the Queen of England, the King of Spain, etc. No one comes out looking perfect. Everyone was flawed, and nobody handled everything perfectly. Of course, some, like the first blood-thirsty, power-crazed, greedy governor of Roanoke had very little positive qualities and he is presented thus. Those who were doing what they thought best and were possibly misguided or overly optimistic are presented as flawed but well-meaning with the reader left to draw their own conclusions. And cultural misunderstandings are also enlightened. I feel like every US history book has to make at least a passing mention of the Roanoke colony, but very few present what collective historical knowledge now presents as the most likely answer to the mystery so I learned a lot about what we do know from historical sources. I think some just want to preserve the mystery so they don’t really talk about actual evidence. Of course, the book is fair in presenting ALL kinds of theories including Algonquin folklore and alien involvement. The theories are then evaluated based on the evidence available. It provides a good model of how to approach historical mysteries where maybe we don’t have 100% conclusive information but we have some pretty good evidence that can point us to a theory that seems the most plausible. While the other debut History Comics book on Chicago’s Great Fire seems aimed at the middle grade crowd, this one seems more aimed at the young adult crowd due to the amount of information and the violence level. They have very different feels. Both are great at presenting history in engaging ways, but different. So even if you’ve read one of these don’t assume every book will have the same style/feel. Highly recommended to anyone interested in unsolved mysteries, US history, Native American cultures, and graphic novel fans.

Notes on content [based on the ARC]: No language issues. No sex scenes. It talks about how Queen Elizabeth I like to flirt a lot and Sir Walter Raleigh was considered a sexy man and like to flirt with her, but nothing beyond talking about flirting. Violent clashes between privateers and ships, Spanish/English, English colonists and Native Americans, Native Americans with each other, and humans vs nature are described. Some gruesome details about some of these events are included, violence depicted on page is cartoon-ized so not as gory as if it were realistically painted but some still disturbing things presented and deaths on page.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest view.

I'm going to make my review in bullet points because I had a lot of thoughts on this book.

* First of all, the note at the end of the book about some aspects of this story being author's liberty (like Manteo and Wanchese meeting Queen Elizabeth) is VERY IMPORTANT to keep in mind

Things I like:
* I like that the author is not completely sugar coating the way colonists treated Native Americans, and that more often than not white settlers were the agressors
* Actually uses tribe names to talk about the Native Americans surrounding Roanoke instead of just referring to them as "Native Americans" or "Indians"
* There are numerous areas of humor which will help keep kid's interest level up
* It appears (to a white person not familiar with these tribes) that the author/illustrator at least attempted to avoid using stereotypes in the illustrations)


Things I'm iffy on:
* While I LIKE that the author at least attempted to portray how Native Americans feel- I also feel iffy about a white (I'm assuming- since I can't find anything giving any indication otherwise) author assuming what indigenous people were feeling. And I know that seems contradictory-- but it's one of the things I'm personally struggling with right now.


There was nothing that I flat out didn't like about this book. I enjoyed reading it, I enjoyed re-learning some of the history and learning new aspects that I didn't know (Or I just didn't remember ANYTHING about it).

Before the pilgrims set foot on Plymouth Rock; before Captain John Smith landed at Jamestown, the first English settlers arrived in what we now call the United States, on Roanoke Island. Colony governor John White returned to England to get supplies for the colony, but we delayed for three years. When he returned, the colony was abandoned; the settlers, gone. No trace. It's one of the biggest mysteries in American history, and Chris Schweizer investigates in this History Comic.

Similar in format to Science Comics, we get two guides through the story: in this case, Wanchese a Roanoke Indian, and Manteo, a Croatan chief, inspired by the actual Native Americans who met with the settlers and Sir Walter Raleigh in the earliest days of the settlement. At once a history of the Roanoke Colony and the politics behind its settlement and a discussion of Native Americans and the settlers' condescending treatment of them from the beginning, The Roanoke Colony is an historical mystery filled with explorers, pirates, jealous queens, shady businessmen, and a brewing war. Very readable and with cartoon-realistic illustrations, this will enchant a new generation of budding historians the same way In Search Of pulled me in when I was a kid. The book examines theories, some plausible and some... well, out there, that persist as people try to work out what happened to the colonists at Roanoke. An afterword from the author on what we know about Roanoke includes a discussion of primary and secondary sources: hugely helpful when working on research reports!