The Battle of Churubusco: American Rebels in the Mexican-American War: American Rebels in the Mexcian-American War - Softcover

A haunting allegory of human resilience amidst the cruelty of war.

Ferraris uses a richly textured charcoal style to capture the heat and dust of the environment and the shocking visceral experience of war.

Franco-Italian cartoonist Ferraris brings historical acumen and impressive artistic craft to this tale of heroism and morality in the Mexican-American War. ... Ferraris' dynamic black-and-white charcoal drawings rivet attention with their vivid depiction of the barren desert landscapes and the grisly battles.

The Battle of Churubusco is cinematic in the extreme, practically begging you to imagine it on the big screen with a John Ford type behind the camera. ... It's very effective and cruelly beautiful.

Today, Churubusco is a residential suburb of Mexico City. in 1847, it was the stronghold of the San Patricios, a motley battalion of soldiers ― even some runaway American slaves ― who deserted the United States Army for a just, if suicidal, cause. In this graphic novel, Ferraris uses a bold charcoal technique to tell their story through the eyes of Gaetano Rizzo (based on a real U.S. soldier). A 22-year-old Sicilian immigrant, he joins the U.S. Army, who has promised him citizenship and a parcel of land if he will fight to take California away from Mexico. Soon, he sees sees the cruelty he is being ordered to inflict is no different from what he had escaped from in his home country.