Bloody Mary: A Graphic Biography of Mary Tudor

Gehrmann (The Jungle) lights Tudor England ablaze in this adroitly drawn biography of Mary I of England. Though Mary is the eldest surviving child of King Henry VIII, her gender and the king’s numerous affairs and marriages complicate the line of succession. The princess’s education includes royal skills like archery and falconry, and she begins to act as a ruler before she’s in her teens—even as her father disinherits her in favor of her younger half siblings Elizabeth and Edward. Mary’s strong will and loyalty to the Catholic church earn her as many enemies as supporters. “This woman is as cunning and ruthless as her father,” a nobleman warns. “A dangerous, stubborn heretic.” Gehrmann renders the late-medieval setting in watercolor dappled detail, paying careful attention to clothing, food and drink, palace interiors, city squares, and Tudor architecture. She evokes the atmosphere of conflict and paranoia in which Mary learns to survive and, as she grows older, to use and abuse her power. The characters are sketched with lively charm; Mary has a thoughtful and expressive face, while Henry VIII looks less like the iconic figure in his portraits and more like a fallible, stubble-faced dad. Readers of all ages will find this accessible history a royal treat. (July)