Welcome to Double Take, a column dedicated to highlighting different comics and each’s merits through a discussion between two veterans of the comic site space. One is yours truly, the person behind the Eisner Award-losing SKTCHD, David Harper. The other is friend of the site and the Eisner Award-winning comics critic Oliver Sava.

After this column debuted with a returning creator-owned series in Lazarus Fallen and then continued with the most polarizing of Absolute titles in Absolute Green Lantern, it’s time for a major swerve, at least relative to those titles. Instead of fictional characters, we’re taking on real people. Fascist futures are out, only to be replaced with a look at fascist pasts. So long, direct market comics, we’re headed towards the book market this time.

That’s because this month’s subject for Double Take is cartoonist Mimi Pond’s Do Admit! The Mitford Sisters and Me, a recently released graphic novel from Drawn & Quarterly that’s part biography of the famous Mitford sisters that were intimately connected to world history (for better or worse) and part autobiography that explores Pond’s life and relationship with these historical figures. Truth be told, I wasn’t sure what to expect when Oliver suggested this one. It’s a massive book, and one that dives deep into decades of history. I’m glad he pushed for it, though, because this one was a feast to read and discuss, as you’ll soon discover.

It was a feast…but was it good? Or did its downsides outweigh its merits, sort of like Unity Mitford herself? Even though the title of this article may spoil those questions, that is what we’ll be discussing today, as we chat about our own awareness of the Mitfords, Pond’s approach to the book, its art and design, our favorite pages, and a whole lot more. If you want to read this book, you can pick it up from Drawn & Quarterly or grab it at your favorite bookstores that just so happen to be refined like the Mitfords themselves. Spoiler alert: You should pick it up.

Let’s get to the chat, though, which does contain spoilers for the book, even if it isn’t that spoiler-y because it’s built from actual world history.