Midnight Sun
Story and Art: Ben Towle
SLG Publishing (Slave Labor Graphics)
Midnight Sun is a beautifully done piece of historical fiction and should be highly recommended to all readers. Ben Towle writes and illustrates the story of the airship Italia’s exploratory North Pole voyage and subsequent crash. Towle tells the story through the eyes of the stranded airmen and an American reporter sent to cover the rescue efforts of a Russian icebreaker. The art perfectly captures the bleak and isolated Arctic, and the writing is a compelling story of loss and survival.
Ben Towle admits in the postscript that while Midnight Sun is historical fiction, it’s more fiction than historical. And it doesn’t matter. Towle extracted an already complicated story out of the convoluted mess of real event, and to give us a play-by-play account of every rescue attempt and international finger-pointing would be beyond dull. The postscript also mentions several historical accounts for those who would like to read the actual facts. For anyone else, an adventurous story like Midnight Sun is enough.
Midnight Sun for purchase at SLG Publishing
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