21: The Story of Roberto Clemente - Hardcover

Wilfred Santiago was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. He now lives in Chicago.

“Santiago uses black and white and some yellow-orange fill-ins, but really that’s all he needs. His style is clean, ranging in depiction of Clemente throughout the years to religious leaders to baseball action scenes ... Santiago does Clemente proud with 21.”
- David A. Kirschenbaum, Boog City

“More than anything, ...21 is a book of huge ambition and formal daring. The storytelling is kaleidoscopic... But for all his overt displays of (admittedly dazzling) technique, Santiago never loses track of his story. [...] 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente is a mammoth achievement...”
- Jack Feerick, Kirkus Reviews

“Santiago... creates a well-balanced, yet striking, portrait of the man and his times. This is a book to be enjoyed by teens and adults, baseball fans, and anyone who wants to read an epic story.”
- Largehearted Boy

“The world around [Clemente] is alive, and Santiago’s expressive (and occasionally, bracingly expressionistic) approach to portraying Clemente’s wild athletic genius ensures that it remains thrillingly present.... [A] fitting and vital tribute.”
- David Roth, Los Angeles Review of Books

“Lusciously realised in sumptuous earth-tones and powerfully redolent of the spirit of Unjust Times A-Changin’, this is a fabulous book for every fan of the medium and not simply lads and sports-fans.”
- Win Wiacek, Now Read This!

“It's an artistic tour de force and shows that bio comics do not have to be the stolid, one step at a time narrative that we often see. ...21 is an excellent book... Clemente is every bit the important figure in baseball history that Robinson was, and more people need to know his story. 21 is an excellent place to start, either for you or the baseball fan in your life.”
- Rob McMonigal, Panel Patter

“Wilfred Santiago captures the physical grace of baseball and creates a story of visceral and emotional force... Santiago... has produced a rich and surprising work. The compositions and framing are intricate and varied... Santiago captures Clemente's relentless vitality as a player, frames the story around the historical and religious traditions of Puerto Rico, and handles Clemente's tragic death with restraint, all with a gimlet eye and the sensitivity of a true artist. It is a classic story given new life in this fresh, innovative telling.”
- Alex Belth, Sports Illustrated

“Starred Review. Nearly every page brings a new compositional marvel... The in-game sequences... are show-stoppers... [F]or a book that matches the pure athleticism, unshakable compassion, and towering legacy of its subject, look no further.”
- Booklist

“Wilfred Santiago's 21 is brilliant and beautiful, challenging and lyrical ... which seems exactly right, as Roberto Clemente was all those things and more.”
- Rob Neyer, ESPN.com

“What Santiago has done is to create a sketch of Clemente’s life as he actually led it, not as the legend he became.... Even more impressive is the way Santiago tells this story. His gorgeous illustrations... perfectly capture the period... This is a book to be pored over, not read straight through.”
- Mark Flowers, School Library Journal