The debut hardcover graphic novel from Noah Van Sciver follows the
twenty-something Abraham Lincoln as he loses everything, long before become our
most beloved president. Lincoln is a rising Whig in the state's legislature as
he arrives in Springfield, IL to pracitice law. With all of his possesions under
his arms in two saddlebags, he is quickly given a place to stay by a womanizing
young bachelor who becomes his friend and close confidant. Lincoln builds a life
and begins friendships with the town's top lawyers and politicians. He attends
elegant dances and meets an independent-minded young woman from a high-society
Kentucky family, and after a brisk courtship, becomes engaged. But, as time
passes and uncertainty creeps in, young Lincoln is forced to battle a dark cloud
of depression brought on by a chain of defeats and failures culminating into a
nervous breakdown that threatens his life and sanity. This cloud of dark
depression Lincoln calls "The Hypo." Dense crosshatching and an attention to
detail help bring together this completely original telling of a man driven by
an irrepressible desire to pull himself up by his bootstraps, overcome all
obstacles, and become the person he strives to be. All the while unknowingly
laying the foundation of character he would use as one of America's greatest
presidents.
This graphic novel is based on Lincoln's battle with depression.
