I approached this book with a great deal of trepidation following the supernatural rubbish and fever dreams that ruined the Audubon biography by the same creative team. But, no, this voyage was amazing and engrossing!

Beautiful coloring greatly enhances the rather simple but effective linework.

The writing dominates, making Darwin a very relatable guy who realizes he has lucked into the opportunity of a lifetime. Already a forward thinker, especially when it came to slavery and indigenous people, the years on the HMS Beagle opened his mind to possibilities and ideas that are still sending reverberations through our world today. With a tinge of romance, a smidge of adventure, a touch of humor, the narrative entertains as much as it educates.

Highly recommended. ( )

Turning their attention again to a notable naturalist in Darwin: An Exceptional Voyage (Nobrow), French author Fabien Groleau and illustrator Jérémie Royer (Audubon, On the Wings of the World) tell the story of Charles Darwin’s first expedition in graphic format. Highly eye-pleasing, accessible artwork and engaging writing bring to life Darwin’s five-year journey aboard the H.M.S. Beagle and the discoveries that would eventually drive his theory of evolution, focusing on the young man’s development as a naturalist. This retelling stays close to Darwin’s experience, with narrative drawn from his journals; a notable thread throughout is his horror of slavery, shown without glossing over his Victorian dismay at the lives of “savages.”

Groleau and Royer take full advantage of all the storytelling techniques in their graphic toolbox, letting the reader share Darwin’s wonder and delight through skilfully cinematic treatment: wide pans of lush land- and seascapes share spreads with closeups of birds and butterflies; flashbacks and shifts in narrative viewpoint through inventive layouts give this chapter in Darwin’s history a novelistic feel. ( )