A nifty biography of Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben that fully claims him as a gay icon even as it lays out all his faults as a person. He was certainly a colorful figure, a military lifer who survived the Seven Years' War and became a key figure of the American Revolution by whipping George Washington's troops into shape.

Thankfully, this is not a dry history, as the author inserts himself in the telling to share his personal feelings about von Steuben and the all-too-spotty history of LGBTQIA+ people in America's story that often necessitates writers having to rely on conjecture as they build a narrative from scraps.

Josh Trujillo and Levi Hastings previously worked together on a short story about von Steuben, "The American Revolution’s Greatest Leader Was Openly Gay," that is still available to read on The Nib and has been reprinted in the graphic anthology Be Gay, Do Comics. Now it serves as a nice trailer of sorts for this full-blown graphic novel. ( )

Josh Trujillo and Levi Hastings’ graphic novel biography, Washington’s Gay General: The Legends and Loves of Baron von Steuben, examines the Inspector General of the Continental Army’s career and personal life from his rise through the ranks in the Prussian military through his later life in New York after the American Revolution. Trujillo and Hastings make it clear from the beginning that modern readers should not attempt to ascribe modern concepts of sex and gender to the eighteenth century, though they also note that von Steuben wasn’t the only person living a queer life in early America. Describing his relationships, Trujillo and Hastings write, “This complicated romantic order is so common to the modern queer experience, but it’s insane to think this was happening in the middle of the American Revolution. Modern couples run the entire sliding scale of monogamy. These variations are very common among queer relationships. Society’s boundaries simply mean less when that society also undervalues, or outright oppresses, your existence” (p. 129). In addition to contributing to the Revolution, Trujillo and Hastings note how von Steuben’s work continues to influence the modern U.S. military through his Blue Book.

Trujillo concludes, “Like America, von Steuben’s story is one of unrealized promise and disappointment. His sense of longing – of unrealized potential – feels more real to me than the other myths we perpetuate about our Founding Fathers. Not just the military stuff, but his human side as well. The Baron built a family out of friends and lovers and everyone in between. And he made the most of what he had, often defying the judgement of society. He refused to let anything or anyone get in his way. If that doesn’t ring true to the queer experience, nothing does” (p. 168). Trujillo and Hastings’ book reveals more about American history, deepening readers’ understandings of these semi-legendary figures with human details that rarely enter the triumphalist narratives of high school history classes. Von Steuben played a key role in U.S. history, but his personal life makes him more accessible while also highlighting how queer people have always been here despite society’s efforts to suppress their narratives. Hastings’ art perfectly punctuates Trujillo’s writing with recognizable figures. His use of color and expression brings them to life in a way that photorealistic portraits would not; von Steuben, William North, Peter Stephen du Ponceau, Prince Henry, and others are animate in the graphic novel format. Washington’s Gay General belongs alongside other graphic novel histories, such as the work of Jonathan Fetter-Vorm, John Lewis’ March trilogy, George Takei’s They Called Us Enemy, and David F. Walker’s The Black Panther Party. Similarly, those teaching about the history of gender may find it a useful companion to Cynthia Russett, Kristin Hoganson, Melissa Stein, and other historian’s works. Trujillo and Hastings demonstrate the power of graphic novel storytelling. ( )

Di found this disappointing. The artwork is half-assed; I don't know why there wasn't more variation in the palette (switching to b&w was used only once when there were multiple sequences where it would been appropriate and useful). The writing is dry, with an occasional joke that relies on gay stereotypes and the odd swear word that reads as misplaced. And the choice to force so many random queer characters into the story ruined what might have been an interesting narrative if more value had been placed on storytelling. This is supposedly a biography but the writers clearly wanted to write more broadly about lgbtq+ history so insist on blundering off in multiple directions instead of using the framework of vonStuben's life to get the point across. ( )