The Battle of Guadalcanal: Land and Sea Warfare in the South Pacific

Osprey Graphic History #7

by Larry Hama

In comic book format, describes the land and sea warfare around the island, discussing the American arrival there, various attacks, the American victory, and its aftermath.

Genres: Military Fiction, History, World War II, Graphic Novels, Comics, Nonfiction

48 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Larry Hama is an American writer, artist, actor and musician who has worked in the fields of entertainment and publishing since the 1960s.

During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles on the TV shows M*A*S*H and Saturday Night Live, and appeared on Broadway in two roles in the original 1976 production of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures.

He is best known to American comic book readers as a writer and editor for Marvel Comics, where he wrote the licensed comic book series G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero, based on the Hasbro action figures. He has also written for the series Wolverine, Nth Man: the Ultimate Ninja, and Elektra. He created the character Bucky O'Hare, which was developed into a comic book, a toy line and television cartoon.

Reviews

[Mary Erickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Juvenile non-fiction. This is a short graphic depiction of a turning point in the Pacific theater of WW2. I found this book in our local library after a visit to the New Orleans' WW2 museum, wanting to do some follow-up reading, but not willing to slog through a 600 page adult book. I liked the occasional focus on a specific individual, as well as the historical context the author gives at the beginning and end, with the graphic section in between.

[Sameem Khwaja · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel takes place in Japanese-Held Island of Guadalcanal, in the Solomon’s (During World War 2). The book starts off with a lot of background information about World War 2. Then the comic strips starts. During the graphic novel there is barely any dialogue, which turns the readers off. There is also a lot of information and not enough action and story. Hence I almost fell asleep reading it. The book’s illustrations were very well done. But they get ruined with all the text and information in the slides. I would recommend this book to anyone that can tolerate lots of information, but who also enjoys reading about wars. I would also recommended this book to people who enjoy seeing magnificent illustrations.

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Osprey's Graphic History story of the battle for Guadalcanal, consisting of regular text information, photographs, a glossary, suggestions for further reading, a fold-out poster, and a section done in comic-book style with emphasis on the battle and specific individuals of the battle and what happened to them.

This is an excellent addition to Osprey's line of books, and will help introduce slightly younger readers to a history of World War II. The book compliments the series done for adults quite well.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a decent overview of the events. It would be a good supplement to the less-than-adequate coverage of the Second World War found in textbooks.