Find my review on No Flying No Tights.

3.5 stars

I hadn’t heard about Benjamin Lay until this year, and this was a quick way to learn about his life as an outspoken Quaker abolitionist before Quakers got on board with abolitionism, decades before. He was excommunicated from four different Quaker meetings for speaking out against slavery. He wasn’t afraid to get in people’s faces and call out the rich and powerful on their hypocrisy.

I’m glad to know more about this incredible man, and I enjoyed the pencil sketch style of the artwork. The afterword was worth reading, as well as the commentary on the artist, David Lester, and the thought process behind his artistic choices. Lay’s dwarfism is portrayed visually and through a few comments without making the book more about that than what he accomplished.

The downside for me was the dialogue, which didn’t sound so much like dialogue as it did different characters (including Lay) telling each other about/commenting on the events of Lay’s life. There wasn’t a lot of natural flow to it, and I found that distracting. It’s a good read for its educational value and the artwork. ( )

Based on The Fearless Benjamin Lay by historian Marcus Rediker, this graphic novel portrays the revolutionary life of an eighteenth-century dwarf activist who was among the first to fight against slavery and animal cruelty. The prejudice that Benjamin Lay experienced, as well as his devout faith, fueled his passion for human and animal liberation. Using shocking guerilla theater tactics to shame slave owners and traders in his Quaker community, Lay is a singular and compelling figure who speaks truth to power and resonates for us today.

Born in 1682 to a humble Quaker family in Essex, England, Lay was a forceful and prescient visionary. Understanding the fundamental evil that slavery represented, he would unflinchingly use guerrilla theatre tactics and direct action to shame slave owners and traders in his community. The prejudice that Lay suffered as a dwarf and a hunchback, as well as his devout faith, informed his passion for human and animal liberation. Exhibiting stamina, fortitude, and integrity in the face of the cruelties practiced against what he called his “fellow creatures,” he was often a lonely voice that spoke truth to power. (Amazon.com)

I'm not particularly fond of the art or the script, but I'm rounding my rating up simply out of gratitude for being introduced to such a fascinating historical figure as Benjamin Lay. He was an activist, who was repeatedly "read out of Meeting" -- unfriended, that is, by the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers -- for daring to call out their hypocrisy and sin for owning and trading slaves. From the early 1700s until his death in 1759, Lay would make speeches, perform attention-getting stunts, boycott goods produced by slave labor, and even have a book published by Benjamin Franklin, all to call attention to the humanity and suffering of slaves and demand the immediate abolition of their enslavement.

And his efforts helped to move the needle, with Quakers banning slave trade in his lifetime, banning the ownership of slaves amongst members in 1776, and becoming a force in the abolition movement leading up to the Civil War.

Also of note: this social justice warrior was a vegan who advocated against animal cruelty, stood all of four feet and seven inches, and doted on his wife.

I wish the art weren't so flat and scratchy. If you have the time to invest, it might be better to seek out the history book from which this graphic novel is adapted: The Fearless Benjamin Lay: The Quaker Dwarf Who Became the First Revolutionary Abolitionist by Marcus Rediker. I might check it out myself. ( )