This was an incredible visual interpretation of a fantastic and classic book. The artwork is perfect, and I still found the text to be essential reading for all of us. The visual art makes it more accessible to a younger audience and its message.

I loved the artistry of this graphic novel. I did however feel that it was a much heavier read (not necessarily in concept but amount of text on each page) than expected. I really enjoyed the ideas explored however I would as a teacher want to use this in support of original texts and would suggest reading the original text first.

Thanks for Netgalley and publisher for sending an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review!

I was apprehensive about this graphic novel but W.E.B Du Bois Souls of Black Folk: A Graphic Interpretation, art and adaptation by Paul Peart-Smith, is a wonderful presentation of the original with contextual intros for each section.

One of the concerns when I opened this book was how much things would have changed from the original book. Admittedly I was pleasantly surprised more often than not, and such is the case here. While selective, this is not, or at least doesn't appear to be, paraphrasing. So we have Du Bois' words with graphic images to illustrate the points being made.

I think the introductions to each section help those coming to either the work or Du Bois for the first time understand the context within which he wrote and, perhaps more important, how it still speaks to us today.

I highly recommend this whether for yourself or for a young reader as an introduction.

The impact of DuBois on African-American visibility and enrichment of the culture cannot be minimized and continues to inspire to this day in this inspired illustrative interpretation.

A straightforward adaptation of a seminal American history text that pulls no punches and leaves the reader asking why we haven't come further forward in the decades since the original was published.

I decided to pick up this graphic novel adaptation because I was not yet familiar with the works of W. E. B. Du Bois but had great interest in be. My rating is in no way a reflection of his work.
This was not a good start for me. This adaptation is very heavy, the tone is academic and the pages are very overfilled with both text and illustrations. I would much rather just read the original text, which I will.

Having read The Souls of Black Folk several times, I can say that this graphic novel is a wonderful alternative format to the traditional text. The graphic novel opens with the announcement of DuBois’s death, which is a nice frame for the rest of the text. Scenes from the chapter after an introduction set a great historical context for the reader. The illustrations of “twoness” and double consciousness are a particularly strong highlight. The text uses the original language rather than trite contemporary colloquial substitutions. That is something that I appreciate greatly as the other seems to be a trend amongst publishers trying to modernize older texts, or thinking that it will somehow prove more engaging to younger readers (teenagers are quick to recognize it as pandering). The text provides a strong explanation of the Freedmen’s Bureau, one that would be fantastic even in excerpted in US History courses.

My only sticking point is the cover, which seems a trivial complaint. The font is intriguing, but the color story is trying to evoke an earlier era. My fear is that the subdued design decision will cause this book to be easily overlooked, and it is one that is worthy of attention. Thank you NetGalley and Rutgers University Press for access to this ARC in exchange for a review.

A graphic version of The Souls of Black Folk?

Well, I would have said this couldn't be done. Happy to be proven wrong by this fine book.

Paul Peart-Smith's artwork is amazing - dark and brooding, disturbing, yet beautiful. His images provide a perfect compliment to the thought provoking text.

Paul Peart-Smith I see has mainly done art work in “erotic fantasy” and Lovecraft horror illustration. This is a rather different project, operating on a different plane, creating wider access to W.E.B. DuBois’ The Souls of Black Folk, one of the key texts in African-American history. DuBois is one of the great thinkers in American history, period, and I highly recommend his original text, a collection of essays, engaging as it does with post-slavery America, and contending with other leading figures of the time such as Booker T. Washington and the Pan-Africanist minister Alexander Crummell.

There’s also a move to connect DuBois with sixties activism, particularly C.L.R. James, in 1968, and by implication, I suppose, current BLM struggles.

The book is subtitled “A Graphic Interpretation”; there’s an academic introduction by Jonathan Scott Holloway, and introductions to excerpted anecdotes based on various chapters from DuBois’s classic, and an afterword by editors Paul Buhle and Herb Boyd, with an appendix listing some sources. The artwork is really good, bringing to life the history DuBois narrates.

Paul Buhle, the editor whose work I know on this project, is like me, a leftie, a radical with lots of work on things I also love such as The Beats,Eugene Debs, Paul Robeson, Howard Zinn, and so on. One, on Johnny Appleseed, is illustrated by one of my fav alt-comixer Noah Van Sciver, but as works of art and history they are just jam-packed with words, with information. They’re more illustrated histories than comics works, where the images tell much of the story. Dense, crammed panels. That dramatic and beautiful cover is evidence of what Peart-Smith can do, but the text overwhelms the images in many respects.

But the words of DuBois, his text, is what is being honored here, Buhle and Boyd contend! A conundrum, I agree. I love DuBois’s text and he’s crucially important for understanding American history and needs to be read today. I guess I think over all that this illustrated book will work as an accompaniment to the original text, or as a way into the text for first-timers, especially for readers that have a hard time visualizing the time and place (as many young readers do).

A rich taste, shall we say, of images to help us “see” the text? The question I guess I have is about audience, as the intro and afterword seem to be directed to older student readers, which is fine, of course. Maybe illustrating and commenting on one of his narrative essays might have been a better way to go? Not sure. This is ambitious, for sure. I hope the book does well, introducing DuBois’ work to millions of new readers.

Thanks to Negalley, Rutgers UP and the authors for the advanced read!

I liked the idea of this book, but I didn’t like the execution. I was expecting a traditional graphic novel and I think this is actually an academic book with illustrations. This isn’t a bad idea, just not what I was expecting. I was expecting something a bit easier which would introduce Du Bois to me. I am not familiar with the works of Du Bois and I am interested enough to read them in full prose version but this version was not what I was expecting.

I enjoyed this interpretation of Du Bois, which presents itself as a graphical one, but is in fact graphical snippets with short introductory or explanatory essays. This does make it rather less straightforward; I went into it thinking it would be a more accesible way to read Du Bois's book, but this is actually a more complicated way, and would therefore possibly be harder to access for young people. However, the images are striking and memorable, and the sections chosen for re-interpretation are powerful passages. It might just need a lot more application of the intellect to appreciate than one might have expected from the description.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Rutgers University Press for the ARC.

This was an enjoyable read and the perfect introduction to W.E.B DuBois for those unfamiliar to his works. The artwork is was well done and inviting without distracting from other parts of the work.

This was a great and accessible intro to Du Bois! While it was more academic than expected, I appreciated the contextual introductions. The artwork was very well done, and I feel it kept the integrity of the original work. I enjoyed sitting with this one, though it was necessarily uncomfortable art points. The file opened fine on the NetGalley app but was fragmented and scattered when I opened it on my computer; not sure if anyone else experienced this issue (this does not affect my rating).

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974

The words of W.E.B Du Bois presented in a way that appeals to children and adults alike. The focus is on his words and ideals. The graphics are good and provide pictorial representation of Mr. DuBois' words.

Pro:
* Intro that gives a strong argument for the graphic novel adaptation
* Moments of impactful combination of text and illustration

Con:
* Tone of the intro is condescending in places
* Too much academic/cerebral framing at the beginning of each section
* Audience???

Thank you to Pau Peart-Smith, Rutgers University Press, and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Rutgers University Press and NetGalley for the access to the e-arc.

Let me first tell you that I’m Swedish, the first time I remember hearing the name W.E.B. Du Bois was in 2022. I took note, I am someone who enjoys non-fiction but I always doubt my ability to properly understand non-fiction.

My hopes when I started reading this was to give me an overview of the original work and get me to be brave enough to pick it up. It did just that and so much more. If I can afford it, this is one that I am planning on purchasing after publication.

The prose is stunning, the art so very fitting to the content. I had to do quite a bit of googling to understand phrases and words but that is entirely on me (as I previously said, I’m Swedish and English is my second language.)

The structure of having a good introduction and at the start of every chapter having a page giving you an idea of what the content will be for the following pages were very helpful to me.

Some chapters feel like a documentation of history, but some are even more personal to Du Bois. I have been reading this over the span of 15 days and I honestly don’t know what I can say other than I have kept thinking about it every day since I started it.

This give an overview and made me feel encouraged to read more..

Also, the page of further reading at the end is one that I have saved for my future reading.

CW: Racism, slavery, child death, death, hate crimes, slurs, classism, violence.

This was a beautiful adaptation of a powerful cultural work — well worth including on the school library or classroom shelf. Recommended for students, teachers, and comics readers.

This graphic novel is an excellent introduction to W.E.B. Du Bois. The students who might not otherwise have heard of him, or would hesitate to pick up his book, would be intrigued by this graphic novel representation. The first essay might be hard for middle schoolers to understand, but the eloquence of the wording, and the brilliance of the thoughts, would be perfect for high school. However, the Reconstruction essay and artwork is outstanding, and would be perfect for middle schoolers. I can easily see this book being used in both middle and high school classrooms with ease. Additionally, the graphic novel format would not be as scary to those kids who are less comfortable with books. This is excellent, and copies of it will become part of my classroom library for use in learning about reconstruction and the Freedmen’s Bureau in particular. Fabulous book. Thank you to NetGalley for the preview copy. No compensation has been provided nor will be accepted for this or any of my reviews.

W.E.B. Du Bois is an important Black man and more people should be reading his book. That being said I know our school does not teach it. However, this would be an amazing book to bring into the curriculum. I loved the images and thought they helped bring Du Bois' message to life. This is a great book that I will buy for my school library and I will be encouraging my English teachers to teach.

This was a great graphic novel. I learnt things I didn't know through really beautiful art. I suggest it to everyone.