Audubon: "There is so much loss of wildlife due to settlers! It's terrible!"
Also Audubon: *kills rare birds to paint them and make people appreciate them more*

I've long been aware of Audubon's beautiful bird paintings. This graphic novel biography -- re-imagined but using many primary sources -- shines a light on many of his struggles and flaws: An obsessiveness that led him to leave his wife and children and ignore his physical health. A rivalry with fellow bird painter Alexander Wilson and, more largely, science vs. art (unlike Wilson, Audubon painted his birds in active, emotional situations, which won him no regard in the scientific community). His racist views of Indians and slaves (even as most of his work was dependent on Indian guides). The paradox of his environmentalism (killing animals to draw attention to the importance of their conservation). The hypocrisy of criticizing European settlers even as he changed his own French immigrant name from Jean-Jacques to John James.

Although it's a biography, I think this book is actually strongest in the creative license taken with dream and fantasy sequences that illustrate Audubon's inner emotional life -- his rival, his family, his hopes. The large bird illustrations and the lighting are also fantastic. And don't miss the backmatter -- a color portrait of Audubon, a short biography, and several color plates of his famous paintings referenced in the book. With the benefit of hindsight, I do think his work did much for people's awareness of birds and their beauty and importance.