Certainly the most unlikely candidate for one of the year’s great graphic novels is LOGICOMIX: AN EPIC SEARCH FOR TRUTH. Why? Because it’s about math.

Let me repeat that for those among us still not paying full attention: math.

And, miracle of miracles, it’s really something special. Written by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos H. Papadimitriou, with art by Alecos Papadatos and color by Annie Di Donna, the Greek import takes a long, hard look at the long, hard life of mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell, best known as one of the premier logicians of the 20th century and co-author of the groundbreaking text PRINCIPA MATHEMATICA.

Via his appearance at a university lecture as a framing device, Russell tells his own story about his quest for absolute truth in mathematics. If it can’t be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, it may as well be a lie. How closely did he adhere to these principles? He spent 362 pages to prove that 1+1=2.

He helped revolutionize math by applying logic to it, by approaching it in philosophical terms as much as in numbers. Such a practice — decades in the making and arguably never finished — can’t be undertaken without one’s personal life taking a hit, and the book doesn’t fail to cover Russell’s adulterous heart and neglect of family. Still, he comes across as no villain — just a real human being with exceptional intellect and equal flaws.

That adjective of “exceptional” can be stuck on the book, as well. Doxiadis and Papadimitriou bravely insert themselves and the artists into their own story, in a modern-day framing device (around Russell’s own framing device), struggling on how to condense and adapt his true story, getting frustrated with the process, taking breaks to blow off steam. The fourth wall isn’t just broken — it never existed. (Can you prove that it did?)

Somehow, the story remains interesting and occasionally gripping for all of its 352 pages, and Papadatos’ art is perfect for this tale: buttoned-up cartooning that’s unfussy and unstuffy. Academics as accessible entertainment? LOGICOMIX proves it can be done, and done very well. —Rod Lott

Read on the Bookgasm website.