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Jack Jackson's American History: Los Tejanos & Lost Cause
Jack Jackson loved American history and creating comics. He combined these into a single vocation and created a legacy of historical graphic novels that has never been equaled.
Jackson is credited with creating what many consider the first underground comic, God Nose, in 1964. He co-founded Rip-Off Press in 1969, and made some of the most scathing satirical comics about contemporary America ever seen. But, Jackson was a Texan, and in the 1970s he returned to his roots and began writing and drawing short historical comics about Texas history. He then went on to produce six graphic novels chronicling 19th century Western history focusing on his beloved Texas and the Plains Indians. Fantagraphics, which published Los Tejanos originally in 1981, is proud to bring his graphic histories back into print in a series of three volumes, each reprinting two of his long narratives. The first volume features Los Tejanos, which Fantagraphics published as a solo book in 1981, and Lost Cause (1998) — chronicling Texas history before and after the Civil War.
Los Tejanos is the story of the Texas-Mexican conflict between 1835 and 1875 as seen through the eyes of tejano (literally Texan of Mexican, as distinct from anglo, heritage) Juan Seguín. It is through Seguín, a pivotal and tragic figure, that Jackson humanizes Texas’ fight for independence and provides a human scale for this vast and complex story.
Lost Cause documents the violent reaction to Reconstruction by Texans. As Jackson wrote, “Texas reaped a bitter harvest from the War Between the States. Part of this dark legacy was the great unrest that plagued the beaten but unbowed populace.” The tensions caused by Reconstruction are told through the Taylor-Sutton feud, which raged across South Texas, embracing two generations and causing untold grief, and the gunslinger John Wesley Hardin, who swept across Texas killing Carpetbaggers, Federal soldiers, and Indians.
Jackson’s work is as known for its rigorous research — he became as good an historian as he was a cartoonist — as well as its chiseled, raw-boned visual approach, reproducing the time and place with an uncanny verisimilitude.
This edition includes an essay by and interview with Jackson about the controversy Lost Cause generated, and an introduction by the novelist Ron Hansen.
Jackson is credited with creating what many consider the first underground comic, God Nose, in 1964. He co-founded Rip-Off Press in 1969, and made some of the most scathing satirical comics about contemporary America ever seen. But, Jackson was a Texan, and in the 1970s he returned to his roots and began writing and drawing short historical comics about Texas history. He then went on to produce six graphic novels chronicling 19th century Western history focusing on his beloved Texas and the Plains Indians. Fantagraphics, which published Los Tejanos originally in 1981, is proud to bring his graphic histories back into print in a series of three volumes, each reprinting two of his long narratives. The first volume features Los Tejanos, which Fantagraphics published as a solo book in 1981, and Lost Cause (1998) — chronicling Texas history before and after the Civil War.
Los Tejanos is the story of the Texas-Mexican conflict between 1835 and 1875 as seen through the eyes of tejano (literally Texan of Mexican, as distinct from anglo, heritage) Juan Seguín. It is through Seguín, a pivotal and tragic figure, that Jackson humanizes Texas’ fight for independence and provides a human scale for this vast and complex story.
Lost Cause documents the violent reaction to Reconstruction by Texans. As Jackson wrote, “Texas reaped a bitter harvest from the War Between the States. Part of this dark legacy was the great unrest that plagued the beaten but unbowed populace.” The tensions caused by Reconstruction are told through the Taylor-Sutton feud, which raged across South Texas, embracing two generations and causing untold grief, and the gunslinger John Wesley Hardin, who swept across Texas killing Carpetbaggers, Federal soldiers, and Indians.
Jackson’s work is as known for its rigorous research — he became as good an historian as he was a cartoonist — as well as its chiseled, raw-boned visual approach, reproducing the time and place with an uncanny verisimilitude.
This edition includes an essay by and interview with Jackson about the controversy Lost Cause generated, and an introduction by the novelist Ron Hansen.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published November 19, 2012
3 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
About the author
Jack Jackson
123 books6 followersJack Edward Jackson, better known by his pen name Jaxon, was an American cartoonist, illustrator, historian, and writer. He co-founded Rip Off Press, and many consider him to be the first underground comix artist.
Jackson was born in 1941 in Pandora, Texas. He majored in accounting at the University of Texas and was a staffer for its Texas Ranger humor magazine, until he and others were fired over what he called "a petty censorship violation".
In 1964, Jackson self-published the one-shot God Nose, which is considered by many to be the first underground comic. He moved to San Francisco in 1966, where he became art director of the dance poster division of Family Dog. In 1969, he co-founded Rip Off Press, one of the first independent publishers of underground comix, with three other Texas transplants, Gilbert Shelton, Fred Todd, and Dave Moriaty. Despite this, most of his underground comics work (heavily influenced by EC Comics) was published by Last Gasp.
Jackson was also known for his historical work, documenting the history of Native America and Texas, including the graphic novels Comanche Moon (1979), The Secret of San Saba (1989), Lost Cause (1998), Indian Lover: Sam Houston & the Cherokees (1999), El Alamo (2002), and the written works like Los Mesteños: Spanish Ranching in Texas: 1721–1821 (1986), Indian Agent: Peter Ellis Bean in Mexican Texas (2005), and many others.
Jackson was born in 1941 in Pandora, Texas. He majored in accounting at the University of Texas and was a staffer for its Texas Ranger humor magazine, until he and others were fired over what he called "a petty censorship violation".
In 1964, Jackson self-published the one-shot God Nose, which is considered by many to be the first underground comic. He moved to San Francisco in 1966, where he became art director of the dance poster division of Family Dog. In 1969, he co-founded Rip Off Press, one of the first independent publishers of underground comix, with three other Texas transplants, Gilbert Shelton, Fred Todd, and Dave Moriaty. Despite this, most of his underground comics work (heavily influenced by EC Comics) was published by Last Gasp.
Jackson was also known for his historical work, documenting the history of Native America and Texas, including the graphic novels Comanche Moon (1979), The Secret of San Saba (1989), Lost Cause (1998), Indian Lover: Sam Houston & the Cherokees (1999), El Alamo (2002), and the written works like Los Mesteños: Spanish Ranching in Texas: 1721–1821 (1986), Indian Agent: Peter Ellis Bean in Mexican Texas (2005), and many others.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 27, 2025
It's a beautiful reprint using his original drawings. We have proper forewords and a clean design with everything looking detailed. I appreciate this despite this not being colored which is still a huge issue when you are talking about the colorful Wild West. American Indian paint, Mexican army uniforms, flags, commanders uniforms. Everything is black and white and color could have made this a masterpiece design wise as the drawings are extremely detailed and historically accurate.
This is a volume that collects 2 books. I rather this not be done. I'd keep them separate.
THE FIRST STORY is about a Mexican who helped created the country of Texas by defeating the Mexicans and their evil leader, Santa Anna. Post Battle of Alamo, that he won, Santa Anna massacres captured Americans and leaves for home with all the loot and women. Yet his smaller army group tags behind and is beaten. He hides in a bush, but some lazy soldiers out on a deer hunt find him and bring him in. His own soldiers reveal who he is and he fears for his life so he agrees to all deals with Texans. And unfortunately I feel like it jumps all over the place. We are skipping crucial details. Are presented to some big figure then never see him again even though he famously died at the Alamo fort. And we are presented to 100 names yet seldom see where they go. It's hard to follow the history and maybe even not possible unless you know it already. Luckily I know the main outline so I could string it all together - but this was not easy. Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: Alamo All-Stars comic book goes over this story and by random chance I read it a few weeks ago. It explains it much better and in color. This gives you more background info, but without the story structure I don't recommend this as the intro over a documentary, movie, or another book.
There is a heavy anti-racism bias to all his writings and retellings. He tries to make up for what he claims is racist and unfair descriptions of American Indians and Mexicans in Texas. Same thing is seen in his book Indian Lover focused on American Indians and often skipping huge significant moments in the life of the Indian Lover Sam Houston, who may have laid name to Houston, as those parts are not about American Indians. Jack Jackson constantly points out this bias and sees it as correcting history. Which of course is wrong as it's just another bias, but that's how he explains it.
The first story is all about the Mexican who lives in Texas and initially fights for liberty to make Texas a country. But Texas as a country goes bankrupt and can't afford an army so the Mexican army and Mexican rebel groups keep attacking the area. All fight all. American Indians attack and kill. Anglo-Saxon gangs attacks farms to steal live stock. Mexican gangs can rob and hide away in Mexico. Black slaves run away to Mexico and Texas stages raids into Mexico to recapture the slaves as slavery is not legal in Mexico so the slaves are free down there and will not be sent back unlike slaves running away to other US territories. Juan Seguín is a mayor in one such town as he's an Alamo legend. He leaves it then hides away expecting Mexico to attack. Mexican army arrives and loots it. And the town people rebel against him. He is desperate to create a business so he smuggles illegal goods into Mexico, but all gets confiscated. He owes money to a lot of people and is seen as as potential traitor as he makes so many deals with Mexicans. He runs away to Mexico and is imprisoned for fighting the Mexican army to create the Texas country. Yet is let out on the condition that he will lead one raid out of many to take back Texas and he attacks his old town, as I recall. Yet doesn't loot it. Later he goes back to Texas when conditions seem to have improved. Seemingly Mexico is quite a hellhole at this point. Even lawless men wanted for murder barely want to go there.
The author claims Seguin is unknown as he was a traitor for both nations so no one wants to build monuments to him anywhere. The author just feels people were too racist to accept such men. Yet I'm not convinced. There are things named after him in USA and there are things named after a bunch of rebels and killers like for example the Black Hawk helicopter. Black Hawk fought with the British against the Americans yet the helicopter is the most famous helicopter in the US army. Even the author himself shows that Seguin was famous and respected as an old man despite warring against his own people in Texas. Not only that, but the Wild West was known for making criminals famous. American Indians who attacked and killed innocent settlers were forced into compliance and they too could experience fame like Black Hawk did as they were an extreme curiosity so people were just eager to meet them. As we learn in the intro text he made under $2544 in 20 years from this comic book. And I think he was largely unknown because of his biases as the whole progressive idea about history. The history can feel off. Of course this is still very much recommended though a tad dry and not anything kids could possibly understand. Can I learn about Texas history somewhere else? I don't know as there are not many movies or TV shows depicting the real stories.
SECOND story about the Sutton–Taylor feud is a considerable step down in quality. A lot of people keep killing people. That's it. His writing style is jarring. Each panel a huge drawing each taking hours. So we jump from murder to murder. It's nice to know about John Wesley Hardin who must have killed about 40 men. The guys who are fast on the gun and accurate shots kill anyone coming at them unless they are at a bar and are shot in the back. That's the only way to stop them unless you arrest them. But here these guys escape all the time. The families are quite large so if you arrest a guy for killing Black soldiers patrolling the street some family member will come to rescue them. Hence lynching was extremely popular as it's the only way to stop them otherwise they will escape, or the witnesses will be threatened and never show up. Hence why a single family can kill hundreds of people over 50 years. This Texas from 1830 to 1900 was a lawless zone. You could kill a guy and go on with your life. As cattle stealing was prosperous you kept shooting to get rich. I would say Lost Cause is his weakest story. Just too many characters. But I think the story is extremely fascinating if told correctly with focus on singular characters and more space to unfold. I just couldn't recall who did what. This is why the book is an issue. It's one good story combined with one weaker story. Still, it's for sure worth your time.
This is a volume that collects 2 books. I rather this not be done. I'd keep them separate.
THE FIRST STORY is about a Mexican who helped created the country of Texas by defeating the Mexicans and their evil leader, Santa Anna. Post Battle of Alamo, that he won, Santa Anna massacres captured Americans and leaves for home with all the loot and women. Yet his smaller army group tags behind and is beaten. He hides in a bush, but some lazy soldiers out on a deer hunt find him and bring him in. His own soldiers reveal who he is and he fears for his life so he agrees to all deals with Texans. And unfortunately I feel like it jumps all over the place. We are skipping crucial details. Are presented to some big figure then never see him again even though he famously died at the Alamo fort. And we are presented to 100 names yet seldom see where they go. It's hard to follow the history and maybe even not possible unless you know it already. Luckily I know the main outline so I could string it all together - but this was not easy. Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: Alamo All-Stars comic book goes over this story and by random chance I read it a few weeks ago. It explains it much better and in color. This gives you more background info, but without the story structure I don't recommend this as the intro over a documentary, movie, or another book.
There is a heavy anti-racism bias to all his writings and retellings. He tries to make up for what he claims is racist and unfair descriptions of American Indians and Mexicans in Texas. Same thing is seen in his book Indian Lover focused on American Indians and often skipping huge significant moments in the life of the Indian Lover Sam Houston, who may have laid name to Houston, as those parts are not about American Indians. Jack Jackson constantly points out this bias and sees it as correcting history. Which of course is wrong as it's just another bias, but that's how he explains it.
The first story is all about the Mexican who lives in Texas and initially fights for liberty to make Texas a country. But Texas as a country goes bankrupt and can't afford an army so the Mexican army and Mexican rebel groups keep attacking the area. All fight all. American Indians attack and kill. Anglo-Saxon gangs attacks farms to steal live stock. Mexican gangs can rob and hide away in Mexico. Black slaves run away to Mexico and Texas stages raids into Mexico to recapture the slaves as slavery is not legal in Mexico so the slaves are free down there and will not be sent back unlike slaves running away to other US territories. Juan Seguín is a mayor in one such town as he's an Alamo legend. He leaves it then hides away expecting Mexico to attack. Mexican army arrives and loots it. And the town people rebel against him. He is desperate to create a business so he smuggles illegal goods into Mexico, but all gets confiscated. He owes money to a lot of people and is seen as as potential traitor as he makes so many deals with Mexicans. He runs away to Mexico and is imprisoned for fighting the Mexican army to create the Texas country. Yet is let out on the condition that he will lead one raid out of many to take back Texas and he attacks his old town, as I recall. Yet doesn't loot it. Later he goes back to Texas when conditions seem to have improved. Seemingly Mexico is quite a hellhole at this point. Even lawless men wanted for murder barely want to go there.
The author claims Seguin is unknown as he was a traitor for both nations so no one wants to build monuments to him anywhere. The author just feels people were too racist to accept such men. Yet I'm not convinced. There are things named after him in USA and there are things named after a bunch of rebels and killers like for example the Black Hawk helicopter. Black Hawk fought with the British against the Americans yet the helicopter is the most famous helicopter in the US army. Even the author himself shows that Seguin was famous and respected as an old man despite warring against his own people in Texas. Not only that, but the Wild West was known for making criminals famous. American Indians who attacked and killed innocent settlers were forced into compliance and they too could experience fame like Black Hawk did as they were an extreme curiosity so people were just eager to meet them. As we learn in the intro text he made under $2544 in 20 years from this comic book. And I think he was largely unknown because of his biases as the whole progressive idea about history. The history can feel off. Of course this is still very much recommended though a tad dry and not anything kids could possibly understand. Can I learn about Texas history somewhere else? I don't know as there are not many movies or TV shows depicting the real stories.
SECOND story about the Sutton–Taylor feud is a considerable step down in quality. A lot of people keep killing people. That's it. His writing style is jarring. Each panel a huge drawing each taking hours. So we jump from murder to murder. It's nice to know about John Wesley Hardin who must have killed about 40 men. The guys who are fast on the gun and accurate shots kill anyone coming at them unless they are at a bar and are shot in the back. That's the only way to stop them unless you arrest them. But here these guys escape all the time. The families are quite large so if you arrest a guy for killing Black soldiers patrolling the street some family member will come to rescue them. Hence lynching was extremely popular as it's the only way to stop them otherwise they will escape, or the witnesses will be threatened and never show up. Hence why a single family can kill hundreds of people over 50 years. This Texas from 1830 to 1900 was a lawless zone. You could kill a guy and go on with your life. As cattle stealing was prosperous you kept shooting to get rich. I would say Lost Cause is his weakest story. Just too many characters. But I think the story is extremely fascinating if told correctly with focus on singular characters and more space to unfold. I just couldn't recall who did what. This is why the book is an issue. It's one good story combined with one weaker story. Still, it's for sure worth your time.
September 21, 2017
Los Tejanos is Jaxon's masterpiece, and one of the seminal works of comics history. Besides its beautiful art, it effectively tells the story of a forgotten piece in American history, and it presents that story from a minority perspective. On its own, Los Tejanos would be worth five stars.
Unfortunately, Fantagraphics did a disservice to Jaxon's memory by combining it with Lost Cause, which, number one, has much worse art and a much less tightly structured narrative, and number two, contains blatantly racist depictions of black people. As Michael Ventura pointed out in his Austin Chronicle review, the black people in this story are never presented in a sympathetic light, and I don't think any of them even has a name. In the interview published at the end of the book, Jaxon digs the hole deeper by showing complete ignorance of why people found the book offensive. Lost Cause and the accompanying interview should have remained out of print. Fantagraphics should have published Los Tejanos either on its own, or accompanied by Comanche Moon.
Unfortunately, Fantagraphics did a disservice to Jaxon's memory by combining it with Lost Cause, which, number one, has much worse art and a much less tightly structured narrative, and number two, contains blatantly racist depictions of black people. As Michael Ventura pointed out in his Austin Chronicle review, the black people in this story are never presented in a sympathetic light, and I don't think any of them even has a name. In the interview published at the end of the book, Jaxon digs the hole deeper by showing complete ignorance of why people found the book offensive. Lost Cause and the accompanying interview should have remained out of print. Fantagraphics should have published Los Tejanos either on its own, or accompanied by Comanche Moon.
May 27, 2024
Jack Jackson, AKA Jaxon, was one of the earliest pioneers of the underground comix movement. Though a lot of Jaxon's more transgressive and surreal works have been lauded, so has his contribution to more historical works. This book collects two such Jaxon comics - Los Tejanos and Lost Cause - stories that chronicle the history of Texas, Mexico and the Native Americans. The impressive feat here is Jaxon's capably distilling down the extensive research he did with consulting library records of unpublished material and navigating the complexity that is the folklore of the region with the actual historical events. The two stories combined allow for an intricate portrait of Texas' path to statehood from Mexican territory in 1835 to its state 60 years later following the death of John Wesley Hardin, the famed gunslinger who left behind a tantalizing autobiography.
Los Tejanos is told primarily from the perspective of Erasmo Seguín, a politician that helped drive the American colonization of Texas and would also be a father to Juan Seguín, a Tejano revolutionary during the Texas Revolution. Jaxon's take here serves to highlight the role the Seguíns played in history, something he felt was largely minimized in contemporary retellings of the state's history. There are personal aspects to Juan Seguín's story that were pieced together using unpublished documentation which further adds to the significance of this piece since Seguín
never really had any detailed biographies at the time of publication.
Lost Cause observes the Sutton-Taylor feud, a contentious period in Texas history where the Texas Taylor family got into conflict with local lawman William E. Sutton. The word "feud" might be putting things too lightly since the conflict lasted nearly a decade and would eventually include famous gunslinger John Wesley Hardin and several Texas Rangers, costing 35 lives along the way. The conflict was heightened by a lot external factors like Mexican traders and the Civil War, with both sides engaging in some truly detestable actions. It is however, a tad off for Jaxon to present one side as a bit more sympathetic given the historical facts, but it's not overly distracting since the overall narration takes on a bit of a dry narrative to it. The story behind the feud is a fascinating one for sure, but I do think Jaxon gets a little too caught up in some of the more mundane details here.
Overall, these are both fascinating insights into Texas history told from the skilled hand of Jaxon's illustrative prowess. His rigorous linework with dense cross-hatching and shading makes these two stories gorgeous to behold. The narration is a bit too dull at times and overly descriptive, but I suppose that's just how historical records are meant to be delivered. There's very little sensationalizing happening here which I do appreciate to an extent.
Los Tejanos is told primarily from the perspective of Erasmo Seguín, a politician that helped drive the American colonization of Texas and would also be a father to Juan Seguín, a Tejano revolutionary during the Texas Revolution. Jaxon's take here serves to highlight the role the Seguíns played in history, something he felt was largely minimized in contemporary retellings of the state's history. There are personal aspects to Juan Seguín's story that were pieced together using unpublished documentation which further adds to the significance of this piece since Seguín
never really had any detailed biographies at the time of publication.
Lost Cause observes the Sutton-Taylor feud, a contentious period in Texas history where the Texas Taylor family got into conflict with local lawman William E. Sutton. The word "feud" might be putting things too lightly since the conflict lasted nearly a decade and would eventually include famous gunslinger John Wesley Hardin and several Texas Rangers, costing 35 lives along the way. The conflict was heightened by a lot external factors like Mexican traders and the Civil War, with both sides engaging in some truly detestable actions. It is however, a tad off for Jaxon to present one side as a bit more sympathetic given the historical facts, but it's not overly distracting since the overall narration takes on a bit of a dry narrative to it. The story behind the feud is a fascinating one for sure, but I do think Jaxon gets a little too caught up in some of the more mundane details here.
Overall, these are both fascinating insights into Texas history told from the skilled hand of Jaxon's illustrative prowess. His rigorous linework with dense cross-hatching and shading makes these two stories gorgeous to behold. The narration is a bit too dull at times and overly descriptive, but I suppose that's just how historical records are meant to be delivered. There's very little sensationalizing happening here which I do appreciate to an extent.
October 14, 2024
Jack Jacksonin "Los Tejanos & Lost Cause" (Fantagraphics, 2013) sisältää kaksi Teksasin historiaan keskittyvää sarjakuvaa, joissa toisessa keskitytään Juan Seguínin (1806-1890) elämäntarinaan ja toisessa käydään läpi sisällissodan aikaista epävakauden aikaa, jolloin rajaseuduilla vaikutti muun muassa pyssysankari John Wesley Hardin. Ihan mukiinmeneviä historiallisia sarjakuviahan nämä ovat, vaikka runsas henkilögalleria tahtoo tehdä asiaan vihkiytymättömälle tepposet.
Jacksonin vaikutteet ovat amerikkalaisessa underground-liikkeessä ja ehkäpä taiteessa onkin hieman Robert Crumb -vaikutteita, mutta noin muuten tarinat ovat aika konservatiivisesti kerrottuja. Sarjakuvataiteilija on saanut kotimaassaan vastata myös rasismisyytöksiin, johon en tässä itse osaa ottaa kantaa muuten kuin toteamalla, että voi olla aika työläs urakka kuvata 1860-luvun meininkiä etelävaltiolaisten näkökulmasta.
PS: Suosittelen muuten historiasta kiinnostuneita sarjakuvien ystäviä tutustumaan Nathan Halen maanmainioon Alamo All-Stars -lastensarjakuvaan, jonka lopussa tämäkin albumi mainittiin!
Jacksonin vaikutteet ovat amerikkalaisessa underground-liikkeessä ja ehkäpä taiteessa onkin hieman Robert Crumb -vaikutteita, mutta noin muuten tarinat ovat aika konservatiivisesti kerrottuja. Sarjakuvataiteilija on saanut kotimaassaan vastata myös rasismisyytöksiin, johon en tässä itse osaa ottaa kantaa muuten kuin toteamalla, että voi olla aika työläs urakka kuvata 1860-luvun meininkiä etelävaltiolaisten näkökulmasta.
PS: Suosittelen muuten historiasta kiinnostuneita sarjakuvien ystäviä tutustumaan Nathan Halen maanmainioon Alamo All-Stars -lastensarjakuvaan, jonka lopussa tämäkin albumi mainittiin!
April 10, 2022
Really enjoyed Los Tejanos; Lost Cause was less compelling and difficult to follow.
December 14, 2015
I first becme familiar with Jack Jackson in my undergrad years at the University of Texas at Austin. Immediately I became enthralled at his superb way to combine art and narrative in his graphic novels. His panels and maps made history come alive. Although he penned numerous award winning books and his work has dotted numerous history texts... he always wrote it, as he understood it. Also, his want to pay attention to stories not often told (such as giving the Native American side of the story of Cynthia Ann Parker and using that as a launching point to a deeper reader knowledge of the Commanche). In Los Tejanos and Lost Cause Jackson went where most historians didn't go, and did so brilliantly. Although I just got done creating a documentary that did the same thing, Jackson points towards the tale of Tejanos through the Texas revolution and afterward. In Lost Cause, relying mainly on family lore, Jackson tackles reconstruction in Texas. He is totally honest in his story, telling the readers exactly how it was told to him or apologetically depicting the way he thoughts things to be. Both interesting reads, but just as a heads up, one should have a little understanding of the turbulent times of Reconstruction (as in probably not recommended for readers under 12)before undertaking Lost Cause. Either way, both books are excellent starting points for conversation.
February 9, 2013
Given my reading focus recently on David Crockett, I read this collection more for the "Los Tejanos" portion on Juan Seguin and his role in Texas' independence from Mexico than the "Lost Cause" section on John Wesley Hardin but both were incredibly well done and together provide a superb history of Texas from part of Mexico to independent to part of the Confederacy to dealing with Reconstruction. This book is a treasure for the history, the artwork, and lastly for the truly beautiful printing and binding done by Fantagraphics. If we as a nation could only clone Jack Jackson and have him do such a wonderful job with each subject in American History, we'd have students truly interested in history rather than bored by dull textbooks.
May 9, 2013
I'm a longtime fan of Jackson's work, and am excited to see it getting such a deluxe reprint. Although I own a copy of the original Lost Cause GN, Los Tejanos was unfamiliar to me. In addition to the two stories, there's also an interview transcript reprinted from The Comics Journal as well as some supplemental historical material. Being history, this gets a bit dry in places, but Jackson has clearly done his research and brings a wealth of detail to both the story and the art.
January 25, 2016
Fairly decent retelling of the road to statehood for Texas. Quite a bit of glossing and fairly narrow in scope, the story of the Tejanos focuses primarily on Juan Seguin whos story is quite amazing. As far as history, its fair and not academic. The additional stories are fair. The style of graphic novelization is not my taste as each panel is just imagry of the description, much like that of a picture book. All in all a fun read but nothing fantastic.
January 20, 2013
Real history....it isn't always pretty...it does not follow our preconceptions regarding how its narrative should flow....it does not have to be about people we like....and it doesn't always fit our modern world view. Jack Jackson wrote and drew "real history."
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March 16, 2013Amazing!!! Such a great interprutation of Wesley's storie through out American western history!!! Loved it. Not exact, but has many little spots in the story that are Fact. Aswe know them from his biogrophy.
July 16, 2016
Amazing artwork. The book was referenced at the end of a Nathan Hale's Treacherous Tales book. My middle schooler enjoys them, but this one can wait for a few years. The violence is more pronounced and the sexual innuendo is more obvious.
July 4, 2016
Superb book about the early history of Texas Independence and the Civil War afterward. Hihgly detailed and great drawing.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews