I have to admit that I spent the first half of the book assuming Cravan was fictional, a Zelig or Gump type figure put among real historical figures of the early 20th century. A nephew of Oscar Wilde, encountering figures like boxer Jack Johnson, pre-revolution Leon Trotsky (who Geary would return to in more depth a few years later), artist Marcel Duchamp. It wasn't until the story got to him marrying poet Mina Loy that I began to suspect he was real, and turns out he was. Well, that was unexpected. Looks like this book sticks pretty close to his actual reported life, at least up to the point of his 1918 disappearance. Then it engages in a bit of speculation about connections between him and another figure with a mysterious past in the early days of Hollywood. I'm unclear on the merits of that theory.
Visually the book is pretty much standard for Geary's historical fiction, which is a pretty high bar. Everything looks well researched and is drawn with his usual precise and pleasing style. I'm not sure if it was my confusion over the reality of the character or the co-writing of Richardson (Geary writes most of his long-form comics solo), but something seemed a bit off in the script, lacking some of the whimsy and dry humour that I associate with Geary. I'll have to try reading it again someday knowing in advance that it's about a real historical figure. And the Geary artwork alone is more than enough to recommend the book.
