Published: December 10, 2008 01:18 pm      

The man, not the town

Graphic novel recounts Gen. Cleburne’s last year

It started with an e-mail advert Jeannie Savell happened across while Web surfing recently. Although the Comic Boxx — a downtown Cleburne store Savell owns and operates with her husband, Dennis Savell, and daughter, Janice Savell — stopped stocking new comics 12 years ago, this looked too interesting not to investigate further.

“I thought neat,” Savell said. “A book about Cleburne!”

The book, it turns out, is about Cleburne, just not that Cleburne. Instead, “Cleburne: A Graphic Novel” tells the story of the town’s namesake, Gen. Patrick Ronayne Cleburne, during his last year.

“He [the author, Justin Murphy] sounded surprised to get a call from Cleburne, Texas,” Dennis Savell said. “I don’t think he knew too much about the town.”

Murphy found the local pronunciation of Cleburne a bit surprising, Savell said, given the actual pronunciation of Gen. Cleburne’s name, which sounds like Clayburn.

Nonetheless, the chat led to Dennis Savell ordering 100 copies for the Comic Boxx.

“I stress that it’s not a history book,” Murphy said. “It’s entertainment, like [the movie] ‘Braveheart,’ only more accurate.

“It’s not a bio so much as the story of Cleburne’s revolutionary idealism, romance and death.”

Actually, Murphy sells the book a bit short. Although a couple of fictional characters appear within, the book remains largely accurate historically.

The small artistic licenses taken and comic-book format are not necessarily drawbacks, said Ben Hammons, Layland Museum curator of collections.

“He’s taken a few liberties, which is fine and which some might criticize,” Hammons said. “But it’s a wonderful book because it may open history to a wider audience past just those interested in the scholarly works. It may spur readers to find out more about Gen. Cleburne.”

Lushly illustrated, the book’s pictures move the story forward at least as much as the text. And what a ride it is, several battle sequences, especially the Battle of Franklin, match any action movie sequence of recent memory. Parents be warned, however. Comic format aside, the battle scenes are portrayed grisly and realistic. Blood and body parts fly across the pages.

Actually, the book’s cool Civil War battle scenes are a blast. But, Murphy said, the book is really about a man, “really out of the box and ahead of his time.”

Ahead of his time because of his shocking, at the time, proposal to enlist black men into the Confederate Army and grant them their freedom upon enlistment. An idea some supported and many opposed. Either way, Cleburne was never promoted again, while less able officers were, Murphy said.

Murphy, a self-proclaimed Civil War buff since he was a teenager, published an earlier graphic novel, “Southern Blood” while still in high school. He later transformed that book — which, unlike “Cleburne,” is fictional — into a stage play.

Digging deeper into Civil War history and learning of proposals to enlist slaves into the Confederate Army led to Gen. Cleburne, Murphy said. Which prompted Murphy to write the book given Cleburne’s story and the fact he’s barely remembered.

Hammons applauds Murphy’s book on that count.

“You don’t hear a lot about him [Cleburne]; he has been largely ignored,” Hammons said. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if within 10-15 years he’s a big deal along with the other well-known Civil War generals.

“His life, it’s just a story that’s too good, is a movie waiting to happen.”

Murphy’s book lists several books for those wanting to learn more about Cleburne’s entire life, most of which, Hammons said, can be found at the Layland Museum or Cleburne Public Library.

“I started the book thinking about his birth in Ireland, time in the British Army and legal career but then thought, ‘My God! That would take 20,000 pages to do as a graphic novel,’” Murphy said. “Then I realized the most fascinating things, his proposal regarding slaves, falling in love with the woman he never got to marry and his death all happened during his last year of life.”

Focusing on Cleburne’s last year makes sense as it makes for a very readable tale of drama, romance and action, something for everyone in other words.

Additional graphic novels are forthcoming, Murphy said. Some may be historical tales, others pure fiction.

“After a year’s worth of writing and another year of drawing horses, cannons and muskets, I need a break,” Murphy said. “I love it, but it can be very time consuming and tedious too.”

Oh, and for the record, Murphy admits he was largely unfamiliar with Cleburne, Texas, before hearing from the Savells.

“During my research I ran across mentions of the town in Texas and other places named after Gen. Cleburne,” Murphy said. “But that’s about it.”

“Cleburne: A Graphic Novel” by Justin Murphy with illustrations by Al Milgrom and J. Brown is published by Rampart Press and costs $24.95.

The book is available at the Comic Boxx on 106 E. Henderson St. in Cleburne and at Borders Bookstore in Burleson.



On the Web: www.rampartpress.com

www.comicboxx.com