#108–FEYNMAN

#108–FEYNMAN

Writer: Jim Ottaviani

Artist: Leland Myrick

First Second, 2013

I’ve known who Feynman was for a long time but what I didn’t know was who he was and why he was so important.  Even after reading this book, I still don’t really understand his science but I have a much better understanding of the man.

Richard Feynman was one of the greatest modern physicists of our time.  From his days at the Manhattan Project to his Nobel Prize winning theories to his inadvertent philosophy, this book brings Feynman to life through his writings, monologues and tales.  I am noticing here (and in other gn biographies) that there is a tendency to ‘dramatize’ episodes from the life of the subject.  This is rather surprising to me and somewhat brave on the part of the creators.

In this book, we learn about Feynman’s youth growing up in New York and his first marriage (which ended, unfortunately, with his wife’s early death while he was working at Los Alamos) through his life at Caltech and his many other experiences.  Through it all, Feynman the character shines through and reveals him to be interesting, amusing and flawed.

Despite the over 200 pages, this book flew by and has left me with a desire to seek out more books about Feynman and even to try to understand some of his science.  Which, after all, is probably the best compliment I can give a biographical graphic novel.

Rating (1-5):

5.  Truly outstanding.  At this point, it is the pinnacle against which I will measure all other biographical graphic novels.