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  • Published: 5 September 2023
  • ISBN: 9781662665233
  • Imprint: Astra Publishing House
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 48
  • RRP: $29.99

Paul Bunyan: The Invention of an American Legend

A TOON Graphic




Did you know that a mainstay of American folk culture was in fact created as an advertising ploy?

Few people realize that Paul Bunyan, the legendary lumberjack, and his blue ox are the product of corporate marketing by a highly industrialized commercial enterprise.

Cartoonist NOAH VAN SCIVER shows us the myth creation as real life marketing man extraordinaire W.B. Laughead spins ever more wondrous tall tales. Van Sciver's story is bracketed by rich contributions from contemporary Native artists and storytellers with a very different connection to the land that the Bunyan myths often conceal. Readers will see how a lumberjack hero, a quintessential American fantasy, captures the imagination but also serves to paper over the seizure of homeland from First Peoples and the laying bare of America's northern forests. It’s a tall tale with deep roots . . . in profit-making!

  • Published: 5 September 2023
  • ISBN: 9781662665233
  • Imprint: Astra Publishing House
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 48
  • RRP: $29.99

About the authors

Noah Van Sciver

Noah Van Sciver is a multiple award-winning cartoonist who first came to comic readers’ attention with his critically acclaimed, Eisner-nominated comic book series Blammo. His work has appeared in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Best American Comics, Kramers Ergot, as well as countless graphic anthologies. Van Sciver was a regular contributor to MAD Magazine and has written and drawn numerous bestselling graphic novels including Joseph Smith and the Mormons, One Dirty Tree, Saint Cole and the Fante Bukowski: Struggling Writer series for Fantagraphics books. In 2015 he was the Artist in Residence/fellow at The Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont.  His books and comics are translated into more than 6 different languages around the world.

Marlena Myles

Marlena Myles is a self-taught Native American (Spirit Lake Dakota/Mohegan/Muscogee) artist who grew up on her traditional Dakota homelands. Her work includes children’s books, murals, fabrics, and augmented reality. Her fine art has been shown in places like the Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Red Cloud Heritage Center, and the Minnesota Museum of American Art, to name a few. She enjoys using the land as a teacher to share with Minnesotans of all backgrounds the Indigenous history of this place we all call home. She runs her own Dakota publishing company, Wíyouŋkihipi (We Are Capable) Productions, to create a wider platform that educates and honors the culture, language, and history of Dakota people. She currently lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.​