The Slings & Arrows Graphic Novel Guide, a website with reviews of thousands of comics and graphic novels, published a review of Wayne Vansant’s popular non-fiction graphic novel Normandy, praising “Vansant’s achievement in compressing so many stories into 96 pages is remarkable”. Frank Plowright notes the proven educational value of Wayne Vansant’s historical graphic novels in his review:
For many years Wayne Vansant has been the go-to creator for clear and well-researched books on wars and military campaigns, yet as far as the traditional comics venues go he flies well under the radar. However, working primarily for military and educational publishers means a lot of his projects end up in schools. It means that Vansant has considerable experience in supplying the maximum amount of information in restricted space, which is essential for complicated and multi-faceted subjects. The Normandy invasion of June 6th 1944 certainly meets those criteria.
Plowright also notes the great detail Vansant’s work despite the books compact page count:
The narrative ends with the allied forces freeing Paris on August 25th 1944. It had taken countless lives over eleven weeks to cover the 125 miles distance between the landing stages and the French capital. Vansant’s achievement in compressing so many stories into 96 pages is remarkable. As World War II fades ever further into history and the lessons of it are forgotten, circulating books like Normandy through schools cultivates an important awareness of what war is really like.
Click here to read the full article at the Slings & Arrows Graphic Novel Guide.
Wayne Vansant has authored more than a dozen fiction and non-fiction graphic novels on military history. His works have won praise from educators for their direct way of presenting history to readers, and have proven especially successful with reluctant readers.