'Boot Black Vol. 1' with story and art by Mikael is a graphic novel about an orphan on the streets during the Great Depression.

Starting with the German front in 1945, we get flashbacks of the life of self-named orphan Al Chrysler. He and his street gang worked as bootblacks, or shoe shiners, until they begin running money for the local mobster. It's Al's way up and his way to impress Maggie, the girl who will have nothing to do with him.

The story is a bit of a new world stereotype, but the art is pretty stellar. I liked the art more than the story.

Well, that was bleak and depressing, but then again, it's a book that is pretty much set in the Great Depression so it's really right there in the setting.
Bootblack is the story of Al, a young man who as a child, on a night when he fought with his parents, ran away from home. When he returned very late that night he discovered that his apartment building was completely in flames and his parents were dead... and it kind of only gets worse from there.
Al meets another homeless kid, and they start working as shoe-shiners on the streets of Manhattan, scraping together just enough to get by. they befriend the mute brother of a girl named Maggie, whom Al has a crush on, and also a shifty pickpocket kid who is new to the neighborhood. Connections to the mafia, Maggie's family issues, and a beef with some German immigrants in the neighborhood all lead up to World War II and decisions that change all the boy's lives

The first half of this saga, but one I won't be returning to. We're supposed to like our hero because he is more level-headed than some of his contemporaries, he has great taste in girls, and he grows up to be an American GI in Europe burying a lot of colleagues in the USArmy. But before that is a large amount of nothing much, for the artwork is so poor it's impossible to keep track of who's who in the gang, and what might be going on. A few shoeshine boys collaborate, then someone comes along and says they can do more by being runners for gangsters, and before long it's Gangs of New York, with no end of racist thought from each and every nationality of immigrant, and again with this artwork little way to tell who's who. I don't think this was ever going to be a book I really liked, but it's still a disappointment, for I can easily imagine it as being better. One and a half stars.

I really enjoyed reading Al's story through this graphic novel. Every drawing was beautiful and could tell the story without the words. It was dramatic and kept me me interested throughout to find out what was going to happen next. The plot and characters were rich with detail.

Set during the Great Depression, Mikaël’s Bootblack follows Al Chrysler and explores how his life on the streets of New York City shaped his perceptions of the world and led to his enlistment in the U.S. military. The story is rather somber in tone and like so many graphic novels, reflects only half its hero’s experience.

I liked the ideas that inspired this piece but admit I was not fully captivated by the narrative. Of the cast, Maggie intrigued me the most and while I had no trouble following along, I found the decision to jump back and forth across the timeline distracting.

It isn't the most amazing book I've read, but it has lots of potential. The art is great and I love the muted colors, it works well with the time period and setting. The start is a little slow and the time skips are a bit clunky, but overall the story is interesting and I'm curious about Al's story.

History and graphic novel combine — and it works well. Recommended for lovers of comics and historical fiction.