Shackleton: Antarctic Odyssey by Nick Bertozzi

I’ve had a fascination with ice and snow since I was born. My favorite film in Empire Strikes Back and I’d just love to visit Hoth. Living in the South, you don’t get a lot of snow but I just adore it. I long for snow days. I don’t care if the roads are bad- just give me a warm pot of soup, a good book, and my wife and kitties and I’m in Heaven. In fact, if I could take a job as a chef for a polar research station, you’d see a me-shaped cloud of dust heading either due south (preferred) or due north.

My wife recently gave me this book as a gift. She knows I love snow and the Antarctic as well as shipwrecks! Plus, comics and graphic novels, naturally. This book combines those passions.

I’ve read a few books on Shackleton’s ordeal on the Endeavor and his treacherous return to civilization, including his autobiography. Most of those books are very much oriented on the exploration of the Antarctic as well as Shackleton’s rescue attempt. This book provided a lot of information on things I’d always wondered about but didn’t ever find the answers to. The book starts with a tutorial on the race to being the first man to reach the South Pole. I did not know Shackleton had been a member of 2 such expeditions prior to launching on Endeavor. I also did not know that the first people to reach the Pole beat another team by just 2 weeks and some fatal hypothermia.

Much of this book focuses on the crew’s attempts to relax during there long periods of down-time. Events like a soccer match, dogsled race, and numerous card games were first played on the continent thanks to Shackleton’s men. These 50 some odd men were stuck in ice flows and on deserted islands and icebergs for days and weeks on end. The boredom would be enough to make one bonkers.

But, Shackleton and his previous experience in the region helped him keep the sanity and safety of the men in order for all to return to the UK alive! Sadly, I learn in the afterword, that many of these men lived for a short amount of time back in their native land as they were soon conscripted and sent off to fight in the First World War which began right as Shackleton’s research vessel was leaving the English Channel.

The art was mostly sketches and doodles- but it worked. It’s mostly in black and white with a limited icy blue palette. Again due to frigid conditions and well nothing but ice, ice, and more ice- the art technique works.

This book is the second in a series of works planned by creator Nick Bertozzi to be devoted to explorers. His first book focuses on Lewis & Clark. Based on this wonderful read, I must get my hands on that book and (hopefully) others in the series (should they ever be published.) Shackleton is a great read that could be devoured in a couple of hours. But really, this book and all of the minute details should be consumed over a span of several nights.

Also, though it’s not an all-ages book, most children 10 and up should be able to enjoy this book with only a couple of light swears and a traumatic amputation scene, along with some hunting of seals and other sea life.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.