J edgar hoover a graphic biography
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J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography
Geary returns to the finely detailed style of historical case study made so fascinating in his Library of Victorian Murder series, this time moving away from visceral horror to the arena of political power and the transgressions wrought by those who wield it. He traces the life and career of the creator of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, weaving a compelling portrait of a man isolated by authority and his desire for secrecy while simultaneously making a name for himself and his agency in the war against organized crime. But behind the details known to the public were petty power plays, possible connections to La Cosa Nostra and rumors of homosexuality and cross-dressing. All surrounded a government official whose ultraconservative ways and fascistic tactics bordered on the criminal when they suited his goals, and led Eleanor Roosevelt to consider the FBI one step away from becoming an American Gestapo. Encompassing events from the Great D
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Review: ‘J. Edgar Hoover’ by Rick Geary
J. Edgar Hoover: A Graphic Biography
By Rick Geary
Hill & Wang/Serious Comics, 2008, $16.95
Rick Geary has spent the last decade quietly turning himself into America’s most prolific and accomplished historical cartoonist, primarily with his long sequence of “[[[A Treasury of Victorian Murder]]].” (If I were Larry Gonick, I’d be very careful crossing the street, knowing someone so accomplished, so talented, so close in the alphabet, and so well-versed in murder methods was out there.) But with [[[J. Edgar Hoover]]] Geary branches out slightly – he’s still within the world of crime and criminals, but he’s on the side of the “good guys” (more or less) and telling one life story instead of focusing on a particular crime.
Hoover was an exceptionally divisive figure throughout most of his life: loved by the law ‘n order crowd and loathed by those he spied on (which was nearly everyone to the left of Spiro Agnew). These
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Review by Graham Johnstone
In a hundered small pages Rick Geary relates the life and work of this controversial man, whose career at the FBI lasted from prohibition in the 1920s to the Nixon administration in the 1970s. This fryst vatten a straight biography, not a satire, but it’s leavened bygd plenty of gently humorous moments.
Hoover fryst vatten a fascinating biographical subject. He was instrumental in the development of more systematic methods of brott detection, compiling from Police Departments a master en samling dokument eller en elektronisk lagring av data of fingerprints, and of course the expansion of the FBI.
Geary shows us Hoover’s strengths: a man ambitious to make a difference, and with the vision, drive and expertise to realise it. He was quick to see the importance of positiv media coverage, and was politically savvy enough to build working relationships with most of the eight different presidents he served under. We see how Hoover deals ruthlessly with enemies, rivals, and even confidants or loyal agents fallen out of f