Category: Historical

Posted on

I Know What I Am: The Life and Times of Artemisia Gentileschi


By Gina Siciliano (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: ?978-1-68396-211-3 (HB/Digital edition)

A denizen of Seattle, Gina Siciliano studied at Pacific Northwest College of Art and has worked as a musician and bookseller whilst self-publishing highly personal comics such as Summertime. In 2019 she released her first graphic novel, a compelling and comprehensive pictorial biography and sociological reassessment of a figure who has become of late a hard-fought-over darling of art historians and feminists.

In recent years, Artemisia Gentileschi has become the desired property of many factions, all seeking to bend her life and mould her struggles and triumphs to fit their beliefs, opinions, and agendas, almost as much as kings, clerics and merchant princes sought to own her paintings whilst she was alive.

Monumental and scholarly, meticulously researched and refined from what is often too much conflicting information and assumptions, this utterly absorbing account successfully restores some humanity and a portion of muddled, day-by-day dancing to stay alive and ahead of the game desperation that must surely have preoccupied the gifted but generally powerless woman under all those layers of heaped-up symbolism…

I Know What I Am: The Life and Times of Artemisia Gentileschi is an earnest, incredibly engaging narrative built on (whenever possible) first hand quotes and primary sources, whilst also employing some reasonable speculation, extrapolation, and narrative dramatization, all delivered via ball-point pen illustration deriving from Artemisia’s own great works and other contemporary art sources.

Author’s Preface ‘Making New Worlds Out of Old Worlds’ shares Siciliano’s motivations which sparked the project whilst drawing appropriate parallels between creators as subjects of study and how renaissance Europe strangely resonates with modern #MeToo society. Think of it as “A girl artist in 21st century Seattle writes about a girl artist in 17th century Rome…”

The narrative tracks the life of professional artist Orazio Gentileschi and his extended family of jobbing artisans, paying particular – but not exclusive – attention to his daughter Artemisia. Here we see her immediate ancestors and influences: seeing her grow from anonymous assistant to celebrated painter in her own right in a society where women were property, sex objects, servants, bargaining chips or worthless.

As the 17th century opened, art – especially painting – had matchless force as currency and proof of power, with royalty and even Popes commissioning religious, classical and mythological works. There was an especial value to images incorporating beautiful – usually partially clothed – women. That Artemisia used herself as a model and sold many, many biblical scenes will provide a clue to the other recurring motif in her life; how so many men sought to possess her…

A story equal parts sordid, infuriating, shockingly unjust and ultimately just like so many others is shared in Parts I, II and III as the childhood, working life, constant betrayals and eventual passing of one of Europe’s greatest art makers is unpicked in forensic detail and with an empathy that is simply astounding. It’s not dry history here, it’s life in the raw…

Moreover, you’ll soon grasp how multifarious levels of politicking from family dynamics to the whims of kings shapes the lives of ordinary people, no matter how talented they are or of worth to the wealthy…

The compelling melodrama of Artemisia’s struggles are augmented by a ‘Reference section’ comprising a truly massive prose-&-picture section of ‘Notes’, offering context, commentary, specific factual detail plus clarification or speculation. It also expands on general points of detail brought up by the main illustrated narrative and provides candid guidance to Siciliano’s own interpretations of a life now fully co-opted by history-writers seeking to validate their own viewpoints.

Should you seek further fuel for discourse – and yes, I did deliberately avoid mentioning the infamous, attention-diverting rape (because everyone else hasn’t) – there’s a copious and colossal ‘Bibliography’ to work through on your own time.

Passionate, enlightening, emphatically empathetic and unforgettable, this is a book for all seasons and all humans wanting to learn from the past and form a fitter future.
All characters, stories, and artwork © 2019 Gina Siciliano. This edition of I Know What I Am © Fantagraphics Books, Inc. All rights reserved.

Posted on

Sophie’s World – A Graphic Novel About the History of Philosophy: Volume 1: From Socrates to Galileo


By Jostein Gaarder, adapted by Vincent Zabus & Nicoby, colours by Philippe Ory with Bruno Tatti; translated by Edward Gauvin (SelfMadeHero)
ISBN: ?978-1-91422-411-9 (TPB/Digital edition)

It has long been a truism of the creative arts that the most effective, efficient and economical method of instruction and informational training is the comic strip. If you simply consider the medium’s value as a historical recording and narrative system, the process encompasses cave paintings, hieroglyphs, pictograms, oriental prints, Stations of the Cross, the Bayeux Tapestry and so much more: and pretty succinctly covers the history of humanity…

For well over a century and a half, advertising mavens exploited the easy impact of words wedded to evocative pictures, whilst public information materials frequently used sequential narrative to get hard messages over quickly and simply. In a surprisingly short time, the internet and social media restored and enhanced the full universal might of image narratives to transcend language. Who doesn’t “speak” emoji?

Since World War II, carefully crafted strips have been used as training materials for every aspect of adult life from school careers advice to various disciplines of military service – utilising the talents of comics giants as varied as Milton Caniff, Will Eisner (who spent decades producing reams of comic manuals for the US army and other government departments), Kurt Schaffenberger and Neil Adams. The educational value and merit of comics is a given.

The magnificent Larry Gonick in particular uses the strip medium to stuff learning and entertainment in equal amounts into weary brains of jaded students with his webcomic Raw Materials and such seasoned tomes as The Cartoon History of the Universe, The Cartoon History of the United States and The Cartoon Guide to… series (Genetics, Sex, The Environment et al). That’s not even including his crusading satirical strip Commoners for Common Ground, and educational features Science Classics, Kokopelli & Company and pioneering cartoon work with the National Science Foundation…

For decades Japan has employed manga textbooks in schools and universities and has even released government reports and business prospectuses as comic books to get around the public’s apathy towards reading large dreary volumes of public information. So do we and everybody else. I’ve even produced the occasional multi-panel teaching-tract myself. The method has also been frequently used to sublimely and elegantly tackle the greatest and most all-consuming preoccupation and creation of the mind of Man…

Like organised religion, the conceptual discipline dubbed Philosophy has had a tough time relating to modern folk and – just like innumerable vicars in pulpits everywhere – its proponents and followers have sought fresh ways to make eternal questions and subjective verities understandable and palatable to us hoi-polloi and average simpletons.

In 1991 Norwegian teacher Jostein Gaarder found one that became a global sensation. Oslo-born in 1952, he taught Philosophy and the History of Ideas in Bergen until he retired to write a modern prose masterpiece of allegory and symbolism in the guise of a fantastic mystery and quest saga.

In an assortment of languages, Sofies verden became an award-winning bestseller in Europe, before being translated into English in 1994 and – as Sophie’s World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy – metamorphosed into the top-selling book on Earth a year later.

Translated into 59 languages with sales far in excess of forty million copies, it enjoys regular anniversary rereleases, and has been adapted to the large and small screen in many countries, as well as PC and board games, and all the usual merchandising instances of a global sensation…

In 2022, playwright/comics scribe Vincent Zabus (Le Journal de Spirou, Les Ombres, Incroyable!) and prolific, wide-ranging Bande Dessinée illustrator Nicolas Bidet AKA “Nicoby” and “Korkydü” (Ouessantines, Le Manuel de la Jungle, Belle-Île en père, Sang de Sein, Tête de gondola, Poète à Djibouti, C’est la guerre – journal d’une famille confine) joined forces to translate the philosophical phenomenon into words and pictures: deftly embracing the magically realist underpinnings of the tale by fully exploring and exploiting the self-imposed fourth wall (and floors and ceilings) of the “ninth art”…

Big, bold and embracing wonderment head-on, Sophie’s World – A Graphic Novel About the History of Philosophy: Volume 1: From Socrates to Galileo seductively adapts the first half of Gaarder’s masterpiece as 14-year-old Sophie Amundsen and her best friend Colleen anticipate their first protest event. They are fired up about the planet’s imminent demise and ready to fight for its life, but Sophie’s scattershot passions are suddenly derailed and her curiosity enflamed after receiving an anonymous package asking the somehow compulsively significant question ‘Who Are You?’…

The Who and Why of this enigmatic pen pal transaction completely obsess her after the unseen arrival of follow-up question “Where does the world come from”, and as she ponders, she is lured into the first of some frankly weird if not supernatural proceedings…

As Sophie determinedly seeks answers on a range of conceptual levels, further inquiring despatches literally take her on a journey through all of human development, guided at first remotely, but eventually in the shadow and company of a seemingly benign tutor with an agenda all his own.

…And at every moment and juncture – no matter how wild, impossible or magical – the girl learns and grows…

This initial comics session encompasses cunningly targeted and curated visits, affording up-close-&-personal experiences, via the entirety of the evolution of Western history and culture…

However, as bewildering engagements (or at least gripping, interactive syntheses thereof) unfold in ‘Myths and Natural Philosophers’, ‘Atom and Fate’, ‘Athens and Socrates’, ‘Plato’, ‘Aristotle’, ‘Hellenism’, ‘Two Cultures’, ‘St. Augustine, Averroes, St. Thomas’, ‘The Renaissance’, there’s a turning point in ‘The Baroque’ that unlocks and expands Sophie’s understanding whilst addressing a secret tragedy that unconsciously drives her.

Ultimately, the avid teen discovers other forces in play and unknown actors participating in her lessons, as glimpsed in ‘The Dream of Hilde’ and rebellious phase/phrase ‘A Woman is a Man’s Equal’, and before long the seeker is ready to chart her own course…

Completing the educational brief, this opening discourse includes ‘Author Biographies’ of ‘Nicoby’, ‘Vincent Zabus’ and ‘Jostein Gaarder’ and is absolutely To Be Continued…

Rendered in bright, cheerfully inviting colours in the welcoming manner of a children’s book, this vibrant voyage of discovery is mesmerising in its gently mischievous intensity: an outrageously joyous, entertaining rundown of humanity’s evolution and fundamental principles of thought, cunningly disguised as a superb conundrum to rival any detective yarn. Moreover, the seeds have all been laid for a monumental “Big Reveal” in the next volume…
© 2022 Albin Michel. Based on & © Jostein Gaarder’s novel Sophie’s World. English translation © 2022 SelfMadeHero. All rights reserved.

Posted on

Dark Avenger: The Strange Saga of The Shadow (Will Murray Pulp History Series)


By Will Murray, illustrated by Frank Hamilton, Rick Roe, Colton Worley, Joe DeVito & various (Odyssey Publications)
ISBN: 979-8-36971-672-4 (PB/Digital edition)

In the early 1930s, just as the Great Depression hit hardest, The Shadow afforded thrill-starved Americans measured doses of extraordinary excitement via shoddily produced periodical novels and over eerily charged airwaves via an iconic radio show.

The “Pulps” were a blend of book and monthly magazine, made exceedingly cheaply and published by their hundreds in every style and genre. The results ranged from truly excellent to pitifully dire, but for exotic or esoteric adventure-lovers there were two stars who outshone all others in terms of quality and sheer imagination. The Superman of his day was Doc Savage, whilst the premier relentless creature of the night darkly dispensing grim justice was the enigmatic vigilante discussed here.

Detective Story Hour licensed and dramatised stand-alone crime yarns from Street & Smith publication Detective Story Magazine, deploying a spooky-toned narrator (variously Orson Welles, James LaCurto or Frank Readick Jr.) to introduce each tale and set the scene and mood. Think of it as just like our Jackanory, but for grown-ups and rather toned down….

The anonymous usher absolutely obsessed listeners and became known as “the Shadow”. From the very start on July 31st 1930, he was more popular than the stories he highlighted…

Dark Avenger: The Strange Saga of The Shadow is a beguiling and utterly compelling history of how the phenomenon occurred: revealing exactly how that voice evolved through sheer popular demand, smart business acumen and the writing find of a generation, to manifest as proactive character/brand The Shadow: solving instead of narrating mysteries, defending the innocent and punishing the guilty, and reshaping how the public viewed its leisure and entertainments.

Thanks to fervent and incessant demand, on April 1st 1931, the sepulchral stranger began mastering newsstands in his own adventures, mostly written by incredibly prolific and astounding gifted Walter Gibson. He was a journalist, author, historian and aficionado of stage magic and legerdemain who broke records and sired legends under the house pseudonym “Maxwell Grant”.

On September 26th 1937, the radio show was officially rebranded as The Shadow and the menacing call-&-response motto “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of Men? The Shadow knows!” resonated out unforgettably over the nation’s airwaves and into common cultural currency.

Over the next 18 years, 325 novels were published, usually at the rate of two a month. The uncanny crusader infested comic books, movies, newspaper strip and all the hoopla and merchandising paraphernalia you’d expect of an indisputable superstar.

The pulp series officially ended in 1949, although Gibson and others added to the canon during the 1960s when a pulp/fantasy revival gripped the world. This trend generated reprinted classic yarns and new contemporary stories in paperback novels from Belmont Books, catapulting the sinister sentinel back into print in both books and especially comics.

In graphic terms The Shadow had always been a major player. His national newspaper strip – by Gibson & Vernon Greene – launched on June 17th 1940 and, when comic books really took off, the Man of Mystery had his own four-colour title; running from March 1940 to September 1949. Stablemate Doc Savage was also present in his own solo strip…

Archie Comics published a controversial contemporary reworking in 1964-1965, crafted by Robert Bernstein, Jerry Siegel, John Rosenberger & Paul Reinman under their Radio/Mighty Comics imprint. In 1973, DC acquired the rights, producing a captivating, brief and definitive series of classic sagas unlike any other superhero comic on the stands. Thereafter, DC periodically revived the venerable vigilante and even made him an official influencer of Batman…

After the triumph of Crisis on Infinite Earths, The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen, Howard Chaykin was allowed to utterly overhaul the vintage vigilante for an audience at last acknowledged as mature enough to handle some sophisticated fare. This led to further, adult-oriented iterations and one cracking outing from Marvel, before Dark Horse assumed the license for the latter half of the 1990s and beyond.

There’s been another movie (1994) and the promise of still another, whilst Dynamite Entertainment secured the comic book option in 2011: reissuing much of those other publishers’ earlier efforts, and releasing fresh Shadow comics sagas closely adhering to the tone, timing and continuity of the pulp epoch.

In prose, new novels by the author of this mighty monograph have followed, including a fan’s dream teaming of the Man of Mystery and Man of Bronze…

Just as compelling as the stories themselves is how the Dark Avenger was born and precisely how he changed the world. This dossier details how it all came about in fascinating detail, beginning in a ‘Preface’ revealing how Will Murray’s 1970’s fanzine Duende has been retooled and remastered. Sharing the secrets and setting the scene, ‘The Men Who Cast The Shadow’ recounts precisely how The Shadow came to be: introducing the hidden men who made him and telling the tale of wonder scribe Walter Gibson.

What follows is a critical appreciation and outline of the publishing phenomenon, divided into discreet eras and tracked by cited individual issues. The formative cases are covered in ‘Phase One, 1931-1934: The Living Shadow to The Chinese Disks’, laying out how Gibson/Dent crafted fortnightly thrillers whilst building a supporting cast, core mythology, rogues gallery and new ways to enchant and confound readers.

The literary deconstruction continues with a period of confident experimentation in ‘Phase Two, 1934-1936: The Unseen Killer to Crime, Insured’, the pivotal payoffs of ‘Phase Three, 1933-1940: The Shadow Unmasks to Crime Undercover’ and confidant consolidation of ‘Phase Four, 1941-1943: The Thunder Kings to The Muggers’.

Firmly established and perhaps more risk-averse because of it, ‘Phase Five, 1943-1946: Murder By Moonlight to Malmordo’ deals with a managed decline. Wartime restrictions, substitute and auxiliary writers like Theodore Tinsley, as well as the series sheer age and ponderous back canon, augured a lack of assured spontaneity, even though the vigilante was now a cinema star too.

Another supplemental scripter signalled interim era ‘Phase Six, 1946-1948: The Blackest Mail to Reign of Terror’ as Noir-tinged, post-war attitudes and style infiltrated the established mystery detective oeuvre before the end came with a too-late return to first principles in ‘Phase Seven, 1948-1949: Jade Dragon to The Whispering Eyes’…

Although the magazine was gone, certain shadows lingered in the place where he’d begun. The 325th and final issue of The Shadow was cover-dated Summer1949, but his radio crusades against crime continued until December 21st 1954. As the Sixties unfolded he was back on the airwaves again, in comics and in new tales, whilst outside America he never went away. The British Shadow magazine, for example, kept on going until 1957…

Wrapping up the investigations, ‘Epilogue’ explores those later years and discusses that Batman connection and influences, before we learn a bit more of the backroom boys. That includes illustrator Joe DeVito in ‘About the Artist’, “angel” Dave Smith in ‘About our Patron’ and Murray himself in ‘About the Author’.

If you’re addicted to classic pulp fiction but need more than just the stories, you really need to check out Will Murray. New prose stories continue the primal legends of Doc Savage – including sidebar novels starring his phenomenal kinswoman Pat Savage; The Spider; the C’thulu mythos; Sherlock Holmes; King Kong; The Green Lama; The Bat; The Avenger; The Shadow; The Destroyer (Remo Williams); and Tarzan even as his astoundingly accessible scholarly books about the characters, era and especially creators, published as the Will Murray Pulp History Series.

You’ll probably want to see – or may already enjoy – Murray’s comics too: gems like The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (co-created with Steve Ditko), Spider-Man, Hulk, The Destroyer, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Secret Six, The Spider, The Gray Seal, Ant-Man, Green Hornet, Zorro, The Phantom and many more…

When Sherlock Holmes wrote such informational tracts like this one, they were called monographs. These days we just call them unmissable.
© 2022 Will Murray. All rights reserved.

Posted on

Corpse Talk: Groundbreaking Women


By Adam & Lisa Murphy (David Fickling Books)
ISBN: 978-1-910989-60-9(Digest PB)

The educational power of comic strips has been long understood and acknowledged: if you can make the material memorably enjoyable, there is nothing that can’t be better taught with pictures. The obverse is also true: comics can make any topic or subject come alive… or at least – as in this delightful almanac of inspiration – outrageously, informatively undead…

The comical conceit at play in Corpse Talk is that your scribbling, cartooning host Adam Murphy (ably abetted off-camera by Lisa Murphy) digs up famous personages from the past: all serially exhumed for a chatty, cheeky This Was Your Life talk-show interview that – in Reithian terms – simultaneously “elucidates, educates and entertains”. It also often grosses one out, which is no bad thing for either a kids’ comic or a learning experience…

Another splendid release culled from the annals of British modern wonder The Phoenix (courtesy of those fine saviours of weekly comics at David Fickling Books) this collection -regrettably still unavailable in digital editions – quizzes a selection of famous, infamous and “why-aren’t-they-household names?” women from history, in what would probably be their own – post-mortem – words…

Be warned, as you absorb these hysterical histories, you may say to yourself again and again “but… that’s not FAIR…” over and over again.

Catching up in order of date of demise, our fact-loving host opens these candid cartoon conferences by digging the dirt with ‘Hatshepsut: Pharaoh 1507-1458 BCE’, tracing her reign and achievements …and why her name and face were literally erased from history for millennia.

As ever, each balmy biography is accompanied by a side feature examining some crucial aspect of their lives, such as here where ‘Temple Complex’ diligently details the controversial pharaoh’s astounding and colossal “Holy of Holies”: the Djeser-Djeseru Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut.

‘Hypatia of Alexandria: Mathematician & Philosopher 360s-415’ sketches out the incredible accomplishments, appalling treatment and tragic fate of a brilliant teacher and number-cruncher, supplemented here by a smart lesson in the almost-mystical concept of ‘The Golden Ratio’.

Throughout all civilisations, (mostly male) historians have painted powerful women with extremely unsavoury reputations and nasty natures. Just this once, however, the facts seem to confirm that ‘Irene of Athens: Empress of Byzantium 752-803’ was every bit as bad as detractors described her. Her atrocious acts against friends, foes and her own son Constantine are offset in the attendant fact-feature ‘Spin Class’, revealing how Irene employed religious industrial espionage to break China’s millennial monopoly on silk production, and comes complete with a detailed breakdown of how the Byzantine silk trade worked…

Every comic reader or fantasy fan is familiar with the idea of women warriors, but a real-life prototype for them all was the great-granddaughter of Genghis Khan. ‘Khutulun: Wrestling Princess 1260-1300s’ refused to be married off unless a suitor could defeat her in the Mongolian grappling martial art Bökh. So effective a fighter, archer and strategist was she, that the Khan appointed her his Chief Military Advisor and even nominated her his successor on his deathbed – an honour and can of worms she wisely sidestepped to become a power behind the throne.

Her incredible account is backed-up by an in-depth peek into the ferocious wrestling style she dominated in ‘Mongolian Moves’, after which ‘Joan of Arc: Saint 1412-1431’ explains how it all went wrong for her in asks-&-answers feature ‘How Do You Become a Saint?’

On more traditional and familiar ground, ‘Elizabeth I: Queen of England 1533-1603’ recounts her glorious reign and explains the how and why of her power dressing signature appearance in ‘A Killer Look!’ whilst transplanted near-contemporary ‘Pocahontas: Powhattan Princess 1596-1617’ shares the true story of her life before ‘Sad Ending, Continued…’ discloses the ultimate fate of her tribe at the hands of English Settlers.

Another astonishing character you’ve presumably never heard of is ‘Julie D’Aubigny: Swashbuckler 1670-1707’. She was a hell-raising social misfit who scandalised and terrorised the hidebound French Aristocracy. Daughter of a fencing teacher, she fought duels, broke laws, travelled wherever she wanted to, enjoyed many lovers – male and female – and even sang with the Paris Opera (now that’s a movie biopic I want to see!). What else could she offer as a sidebar but a lesson on duelling for beginners in ‘Question of Honour’?

‘Granny Nanny: Resistance Fighter 1686-1755’ started life as an Ashanti Princess, taken to Jamaica as a slave. However, once there she organised the ragtag runaways known as Maroons into an army of liberation. The workings of her rainforest citadel Nanny Town (now Moore Town) are explored in ‘Fortresses of Freedom’ after which a more sedate battle against oppression is undertaken with the interrogation of ‘Jane Austen: Novelist 1775-1817’, complete with cartoon precis of her subversive masterpiece ‘Pride & Prejudice (The Corpse Talk Version)’…

‘Ching Shih: Pirate Queen 1775-1844’ tells of another woman who beat all the odds but has since faded from male memory: a young girl kidnapped by China Seas pirates who rose to become their leader. Ravaging the Imperial coast, the corsair created an unshakable pirate code that benefitted the poor, outsmarted the Chinese Emperor and ultimately negotiated a pardon for herself and all her men to live happily ever after!

That salty sea saga is accompanied by the lowdown and technical specs on ‘Punks in Junks’ and followed by another bad girl with a good reputation.

‘Princess Caraboo: Con-Artist 1791-1864’ was never the Malayan royal refugee British High Society was captivated by, but rather a Devonshire serving maid who made the most of outrageous fortune via her quick wits. Her story is backed up by a delightful opportunity to forge your own faux identity with ‘Caraboo’s Character Creation Course!’…

Far more potent and worthy exemplars, ‘Harriet Tubman: Abolitionist 1822-1913’ ferried more than 300 of her fellow slaves from Southern oppression to freedom in northern American states and what we now call Canada: supplemented here by a detailed breakdown of ‘The Underground Railway’ before emancipation martyr ‘Emily Wilding Davison: Suffragette 1872-1913’ shares her brief, troubled life and struggle to win women the right to vote and participatory roles in society. The history is backed up by an absolutely unmissable graphic synopsis of the long struggle in ‘A Brief History of Women’s Rights’…

Someone who made every use of those hard-won concessions was ‘Nellie Bly: Journalist 1864-1922’, whose sensational journalistic feats and headline-grabbing stunts made her as newsworthy as her many, many scoops. One of the most impressive was beating Jules Verne’s fictional miracle of modernity by voyaging for ‘72 Days Around the World’ – as seen in the gripping sidebar spread – whereas the career of ‘Amy Johnston: Aviator 1903-1941’ was cut tragically short by bad luck and male intractability. Her flying triumphs are celebrated through a fascinating tutorial on her preferred sky-chariot. The ‘De Havilland Gypsy Moth’.

The short, tragic life of ‘Anne Frank: Journalist 1864-1922’ follows, accompanied by a detailed breakdown of the secret hideout and necessary tactics employed to conceal Anne, her family and friends in ‘The Secret Annex’.

Closing on an emotional high note, the rags to riches/riches to rags to riches account of dancer, comedian, freedom fighter and social activist ‘Josephine Baker: Entertainer 1906-1975’ details the double rollercoaster life of a true star and ends this book on a big finish with her teaching the secrets of how to ‘Dance the Charleston’.

Clever, moving, irreverently funny and formidably factual throughout, Corpse Talk: Ground-Breaking Women cleverly yet unflinchingly handles history’s more tendentious moments: personalising the great, the grim and the good in ways certain to be unforgettable. It is also a fabulously fun read no parent or kid could possibly resist.

Don’t take my word for it though, just ask any reader, spiritualist or dearly departed go-getter…
Text and illustrations © Adam & Lisa Murphy 2018. All rights reserved.

Posted on

KIKI de Montparnasse


By Catel & Bocquet, translated by Nora Mahoney (SelfMadeHero)
ISBN: 978-1-90683-825-6 (TPB/Digital edition)

Like all art students in the 1970s and early 1980s I fell in love with Surrealism and Dada and even had a copy of Man Ray’s print of the naked chick mimicking a cello on a wall for a while. The model was his greatest muse – Kiki of Montparnasse.

I revelled in how the image was a clever juxtaposition of idea and image and never gave much thought to the actual woman in the picture. That was a huge mistake, thankfully rectified here in this supremely moving account of the life of an indomitable soul who encapsulated and epitomised an extraordinary era…

Please take heed: this book contains both nudity and nakedness in large amounts. Don’t read it if such drawings might affect you in unwholesome ways…

Alice Ernestine Prin (2nd October 1901 – 29th April 1953) was born in Châtillon-sur-Seine, Côte-d’Or. She was a child of shame and poverty, wilful and a bit wild: surviving life amongst the lowest classes. She grew up in northern France in a region of agriculture, heavy industry and especially winemaking: raised by a grandmother and often-visiting godfather. Alice had her first drink and danced for inn patrons at ten. It kept happening until her already-disgraced mother abruptly returned in 1913 before the girl was packed off to Paris to learn a trade.

That’s when her life really began.

That life is traced from cradle to grave in a rapid-fire procession of black-&-white vignettes, that first focuses on her childhood and brushes with education, whilst concentrating on her happy but unconventional family life and relationships.

Already wise beyond her years in the things that mattered, Alice clashed with a number of employers in crappy jobs – such as bakery assistant or domestic servant – and dreamed of love and adventure, independence and fame…

She reached her majority just as Europe was changed forever by “The War to End All Wars”, and was on hand and at the forefront as the entire continent – but especially France – survived the communal mass PTSD dubbed the Années Folles or “Crazy Years”. An era of wild excess, free thought and fresh art and literary exploration, much of it triggered by shock, disenchantment and crumbling social order: the reaction of a generation who thought they were rebuilding themselves and society, but were in fact only gearing up to do it all over again…

With wounded soldiers everywhere and employment scarce, in 1916 Alice agreed to model for a sculptor buying bread: a scandalous job she at first concealed from her mother. When the outraged matron learned the truth, she disowned her daughter…

Two years later, she was an occasional singer and dancer and a paid escort too, but poverty was still biting too deep. Modelling was not a highly paid profession and most artists were just as poor as their subjects, but life took an upward turn after she was introduced to a promising prospect named Amedeo Modigliani…

He showed her to Utrillo, and thus to Mendjinsky and…

By 1920 she had remade herself and was known only as “KIKI”: bold, brassy, shamelessly confidant and utterly in command of the close community and artistic colony of defiant non-comformists of Montparnasse. Her star was on the rise and everyone one wanted to capture her in their own way. Her intimate associations would include Sanyu, Chaïm Sountine, Jean Cocteau, Julie Mandel, Constant Detré, Francis Picabia, Arno Breker, Alexander Calder, Per Krogh, Hermine David, Pablo Gargallo, Tono Salazar, John Glassco, Moïse Kisling and so many others who would reshape the creative world.

In 1921 she met her most devoted acolyte in Tsuguharu Foujita and the man who would make her immortal: American photographer Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky). She had also begun selling her own paintings, starring in numerous surrealist and Dadaist films and even performed in Ferdinand Leger’s Ballet mécanique in 1923…

Somehow, however, fame never quite equated to fortune, even though in June 1924 Man Ray’s image Le Violon d-Ingres (Ingre’s Violin) was first published in Surrealist magazine Littérature, with her astounding energy, creativity and catalogue of innovations and successes acting as a mere spine to form an impression of the woman whose guiding motto was always “be natural”. In May 2022, an original print of the image sold at auction for $412,400,000.

In love with fame and too forgiving with her lovers, KIKI flowered through those wild days luxuriating in independence and glamour, approval and rejection, notoriety, renown, and – outside her world and the art world – utter anonymity. Always, though, she lived it on her own terms…

How that all worked out comprises the majority of this stunningly inviting and compellingly absorbing cartoon biography: an award-winning tale that is the very picture of a rags-to-“riches”-to-rags melodrama and one as charming and uncompromising as any carefully constructed work of fiction.

This sublimely moving episodic dramatised narrative is a tasty wonder in bite-sized pieces and the first multi award-winning collaboration between graphic novelist Catel Muller (Ainsi soit Benoîte Groult, Adieu Kharkov, Lucie s’en soucie, Le Sang des Valentines, Joséphine Baker, Olympe de Gouges, Alice Guy) and crime novelist, screenwriter, biographer/comics writer José-Louis Bocquet (Sur la ligne blanche, Mémoires de l’espion, Panzer Panik, Joséphine Baker, Olympe de Gouges, Anton Six, Alice Guy).

The result is an exceptionally entertaining, engaging and informative account which is supplemented by a vast supporting structure of extras, beginning with a heavily illustrated and highly informative ‘Chronology’ tracing in minute detail all the pivotal events in KIKI’s short sharp life, which never changed the world but certain embraced and enjoyed it…

That’s further augmented by ‘Biographical Notes’ offering scholarly character portraits in prose and sketch form: all key historical figures impacting the model’s life, including Chaïm Sountine, Amedeo Modigliani, Moïse Kisling, Tsuguharu Foujita, Henri-Pierre Roché, Man Ray, Marie Vassilieff, Pablo Picasso, Tristan Tzara, Robert Desnos, André Breton, Marcel Duchamp, Trieze, Ivan Mosjoukine, Jean Cocteau, Henri Broca, Lee Miller, Ernest Hemingway, Jamblan, and André Larocque, and a Filmography of the movies researchers have since confirmed and acknowledged, and a colossal ‘Bibliography’ of books about her.
© 2011 SelfMadeHero. Illustrated by Catel. Written by José-Louis Bocquet. All rights reserved. Digital edition © May 2016.

Posted on

Fruit of Knowledge – The Vulva vs. The Patriarchy


By Liv Strömquist, translated by Melissa Bowers (Virago)
ISBN: 978-0-349-01072-4 (B/Digital edition)

We’re going to be using grown-up words today and there’s stuff discussed and depicted here that many strident, officious (and mostly male) people simultaneously deny, deny access to, denigrate and demonise. They even dare to police how actual possessors & users of these body parts may employ or maintain them. Those guys won’t like this book at all.

If that’s you, Go Away. There’s nothing for you to see here and you’ll only get upset. If that’s not you, but you know where they live or hang out, there’s no law that prevents you from buying a copy and sending it to them. Just a thought…

If you know anything about female anatomy, all this will be funny, frightening, glaringly obvious and even enlightening. However, if you’re male – or really, really repressed and/or religious to a fundamental degree – you might want to stop here and pretend this book doesn’t exist.

Wars are fought with intolerant attitudes, economics and misinformation far more than with guns, bombs, knives or deadly chemicals. Oddly enough, that latter arsenal has been used far more than you might imagine: by an ostensibly well-meaning parochial and explicitly patriarchal establishment intent on suppressing women in every walk of life.

In 1978, Liv Strömquist was born in Lund, Sweden. After studying political science, she rekindled an early interest in comics and fanzines to explore topics that gripped her. A cartoonist and radio presenter, she is dogged, diligent, meticulous and devastatingly hilarious when exploring themes important to her. Her first graphic enquiry was 2005’s Hundra procent fett (Hundred Percent Fat) and she’s since followed up with another 10 books, as well as articles and features for newspapers, magazines, assorted media platforms …and comics. She leans left, despises hypocrisy and champions socio-political iniquities like income inequality and gender-determined disempowerment. She does it with scrupulously researched facts translated into cruelly hilarious satirical cartoons.

A ferocious truth-speaker incensed by injustice, in 2014 Strömquist released Kunskapens frukt, an historical exploration of taboos surrounding women’s bodies. It was a global sensation translated into a dozen languages and arrived in English as Fruit of Knowledge.

In a string of carefully constructed comic polemics, she explores, elucidates upon and demystifies the biology of women, how power-seeking groups and individuals have suppressed female autonomy, how male-led societies suppress knowledge, stifle debate, and use shame and gaslighting techniques to keep females downtrodden, destabilised and totally dependent at every level. We’ve even twisted science and history to the cause: excising the very terms needed to efficiently debate the problem…

Guided by a curating avatar, a journey of rediscovery begins with Chapter 1: a history lesson discussing the quirks, insane beliefs and perpetrated atrocities of ‘Men Who Have been Too Interested in the Female Genitalia’…

A staggering listicle of ignorance, arrogance and criminal callousness, this section details beliefs and actions of prominent personages who dictated how women should be. I’m staying vague on detail for reasons of taste, but our countdown begins with the socially-applauded misdeeds of John Harvey Kellog and Dr. Isaac Baker Brown before spending lots of time with mega-misogynist St. Augustine.

The shocking influence of “sexologist” John Money is outdone by the combined results of the instigators of Europe and America’s witch trials (including an outrageous game of “hunt the devil’s teat/clitoris”), before aristo fetish slaver Baron George Cuvier mixes kink with racism to a degree that shaped decades of followers. Top dishonours go to those who exhumed Queen Christina of Sweden’s 300-year old corpse in an attempt to prove that the incredibly effective and pioneering monarch had been a “pseudo-hermaphrodite” – AKA Man – all along…

The appalling litany of deranged anti-female delusion is not simply cited for comedic effect (much of it is actually stomach churning to read) but is used to prove Strömquist’s argument that the aggregated efforts of “Men” shaped today’s unjust system: from toxic medical attitudes regarding “women’s issues” to the nonsense-&-prejudice minefield of gender attribution/reassignment policies to the eternal verity that women only exist for men’s use…

Crushing pressure to conform and excel is tackled in ‘Upside-Down Rooster Comb’: showing how women and girls are deprived of knowledge of themselves and groomed to believe their most intimate parts are sub-standard, ugly, unhygienic, freakish and utterly unacceptable.

In discussing a rise in labial plastic surgery, we see how men from every walk of life dictate what women must look like. There is special, prolonged, recurring an hilarious focus on how NASA airbrushed out a human vulva in images on the 1972 Pioneer space probe, and how successive male experts “proved” the female state of being (and attendant reduced self-esteem) was subordinate and dependent on male primacy…

The philosophical, negativistic macho clap trap of Jean-Paul Sartre, Stig Larsson and others is balanced by the views of psychologist Harriet Lerner, but in the end science and school books confirm that the world believes women are there for men to put things in…

It wasn’t always so though, and Strömquist’s masterstroke is a formal lesson on anatomy, supported by thousands of years of art proudly “putting the Vulva on display.” Starting with the Greek myth of Demeter, an almost sidelined fuller history of civilisation follows, citing how women “exposing” themselves remained a component of life everywhere well into the 1800s…

Because there aren’t shocks enough yet, ‘AAH HAA’ re-examines female orgasm, revealing how much even the most supportive and in-tune bloke has been misinformed and misled, and how that elusive “Big O” was cynically reclassified and deemphasised. God and his earthly representatives don’t do well in this chapter, and there’s a stunning parade of quotes from medical men down the ages showing how we all slowly switched from “did the earth move?” to “what’s wrong with you?”…

Throughout, but especially here, historical anecdotes back up the argument. If the thought of woman after woman being maimed or killed by male intransigence is likely to upset you, suck it up: it’s the least anyone can do to expiate centuries of accumulated and unwarranted sexual privilege…

A whimsical peek at a potential matriarchy and more revelatory biology regarding the clitoris heralds a full colour reworking of the Judaeo-Christian creation story in ‘Feeling Eve – or: In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens’. Interview excerpts illustrate women’s eternal concerns: uncovering intimate moments of shame, fear, guilt, menstruation, masturbation, assault, body image and general ego-sabotage…

The book confronts head-on the uncomfortable occurrence we’ve all been programmed to shy away from in ‘Blood Mountain’: challenging adamant yet unshakably coy assumptions that make period products so gosh-darned profitable via some inspired role swapping, targeted historical trawling, a catalogue of nasty myths, modern psychoanalytic theories, episodic exposés of the magic power of blood from “down there”, reports of male PMS from ancient Greece, the revolting habits of Sigmund Freud and fellow period fan Dr. Wilhelm Fliess and examples and depictions of the “red flowering” from as far back as 15,000 years ago…

All that climaxes with a hard look at manufacturers’ obsession with “freshness” and “cleanliness” and how many of their “hygiene” products are killing the planet, all backed up by evaluations of fairy tales through the lens of menstruation rituals…

Fierce, funny and thoroughly thought-provoking, Fruit of Knowledge is acute, astute and magnificently uplifting: challenging and negating centuries of divisive bias and propaganda by asking women to be their own person. This is a book to arm and unite everyone everywhere in accepting that women’s biology and sexuality has never been the business of any man or organisation.
© Liv Strömquist. Original Swedish edition 2014 Ordfront/Galago. Translation © 2018 Fantagraphics Books. All rights reserved.

Posted on

The Provocative Collette


By Annie Goetzinger, translated by Montana Kane (NBM)
ISBN: 978-1-68112-170-3 (HB)

Publisher NBM struck pure gold with their line of European-created contemporary arts histories and dramatized graphic biographies. This one is one of the very best but is tragically still only available in physical form. Hopefully that oversight will be addressed soon as it is a most enticing treat: diligently tracing the astoundingly unconventional early life of one of the most remarkable women of modern times.

Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (January 28th 1873 – August 3rd 1954) escaped rural isolation and stagnation via an ill-considered marriage but, by sheer force of will and an astonishing gift for self-expression, rose to the first rank of French-language (and global) literature through her many novels and stories. The one you probably know best is Gigi, but you should really read a few more such as La Vagabonde or perhaps The Ripening Seed…

For her efforts she was elected to the Belgian Royal Academy in 1935 and France’s Académie Goncourt a decade later. She became its President in 1949, the year after she was nominated for a Nobel Prize. Her grateful country also celebrated her as Chevalier (1920) and Grand Officer (1953) of the Légion d’honneur.

Colette’s relentless search for truths in the arena of human relationships – particularly in regard to women’s independence in a hostile and patronising patriarchal society – also led her to pursue freedom of expression through dance, drama, acting & mime, in film and as a journalist.

The fact that – for most of her early life – men controlled her money also prompted her far-reaching career path until she finally managed to win control of her own destiny and coffers…

Our drama unfolds in 1893 as 20-year-old Sidonie-Gabrielle readies herself for her wedding to prestigious and much older music journalist Henry Gauthier-Villars. The great man is celebrated nationally under his nom de plume “Willy”.

That’s also the name under which he will publish his wife’s first four, hugely successful Claudine novels whilst pocketing all the profits and attendant copyrights…

Eventually breaking free to live a life both sexually adventurous and utterly on her own terms, Colette never abandoned her trust in love or reliance on a fiercely independent spirit. And she shared what she believed about the cause of female liberty with the world through her books and her actions…

This bold, life-affirming chronicle was meticulously crafted by the superb and much-missed Annie Goetzinger (18th August1951 – 20th December 2017). Tragically it was her last in a truly stellar career. The award-winning cartoonist, designer and graphic novelist (The Girl in Dior, The Hardy Agency, Félina, Aurore, Marie Antoinette: Phantom Queen, Portraits souvenirs series) supplied here sumptuous illustration perfectly capturing the complexities and paradoxes of the Belle Epoque and the wars and social turmoil that followed. Her breezy, seductively alluring script brings to vivid life a wide variety of characters who could so easily be reduced to mere villains and martinets, but instead resonate as simply people with their own lives, desires and agendas…

The scandalous escapades are preceded by an adroit and incisive Preface from journalist and author Nathalie Crom: and bookended with informative extras such as ‘Literary References’, and full ‘Chronology’ of the author’s life, plus potted biographies of ‘Colette’s Entourage’: offering context and background on friends, family and the many notables inevitably gathered around her.

Additional material includes a suggested Further Reading and a Select Bibliography.

A minor masterpiece honouring a major force in the history and culture of our complex world, this book should be at the top of the reading list for anyone who’s thought “that’s not fair” and “why do I have to?”

The Provocative Colette is a forthright and beguiling exploration of humanity and one you should secure by any means necessary.
© DARGAUD 2017 by Goetzinger. All rights reserved. © 2018 NBM for the English translation.

Posted on

Sax Rohmer’s Dope


Adapted by Trina Robbins from the novel by Sax Rohmer (It’s Alive/IDW)
ISBN: 978-1-63140-957-8 (HB/Digital edition)

The 1980s were a hugely fertile time for American comics-creators. An entire new industry started with the birth of the Direct Sales market and – as dedicated specialist retail outlets sprung up all over the country (operated by fans for fans) – new companies experimented with formats and content whilst eager readers celebrated the happy coincidence that everybody seemed to have a bit of extra cash to play with.

Most importantly, much of the “kid’s stuff” stigma finally dissipated. America was catching up to the rest of the world in acknowledging that sequential narrative might just be a for-real actual art-form able to handle sophisticated themes and notions…

Consequently, many new publishers were soon competing for the attention and cash of punters who had grown resigned to getting their on-going picture stories from DC, Marvel, Archie and/or Harvey Comics. European and Japanese material had been creeping in and by 1983 a host of young companies such as WaRP Graphics, Pacific, Capital, Now, Comico, Vortex, First, Dark Horse Comics and many others had established themselves and were making impressive inroads.

New talent, established stars and fresh ideas all found a thriving forum to try something a little different both in terms of content and format. Even smaller companies had a fair shot at the big time and a lot of great material came – and too often, as quickly went – without getting the attention or success it warranted.

At the forefront of the revolution – and a perfect example – was Eclipse Comics who entered the arena at the start in 1981 with a black-&-white anthology magazine; quickly followed by a terrific line of genre titles crafted by the industry’s top talents and emerging superstars.

Although the bold fledglings were gone a decade later, their influence still lives on, as does much of the material they originally released: picked up, reprinted and expanded upon by more fortunate successors…

The latest long-overdue returnee is a decades-anticipated and awaited (by me at the very least) cartoon compilation of a scarce-remembered book adaptation. The inspirational original tome was a scandalous classic of crime and debauchery from a semi-mythical era, penned by Sax Rohmer …mostly remembered these days for inventing the ultimate personification of stranger-danger… Fu Manchu.

Starting its serialised run in monochrome anthology Eclipse (The) Magazine and concluding in the pages of full-colour indie anthology Eclipse Monthly, Sax Rohmer’s Dope was deftly adapted by pioneering cartoonist, historian and activist Trina Robbins, beginning in issue #2 (July 1981) and featuring in all the rest until the 8th and final one (January 1983).

Uncompleted, the saga continued and climaxed over the first three issues of Eclipse Monthly (August – October 1983) before promptly vanishing from view, despite magazine stablemates such as Ms. Tree, I Am Coyote, Ragamuffins, Masked Man and others all going on to greater success – and collected editions…

Here then at last is Trina Robbins’ lost masterpiece: a moody interpretation of a rather infamous and groundbreaking book – sensationally based on the first recorded celebrity death due to recreational drug abuse, and available as a sturdy monochrome hardback or digital edition. The stark shenanigans are preceded by an effusive Foreword from artist and publisher C. Spike Trotman, and a revelatory, reminiscing Introduction by Robbins herself, disclosing the origins of her adaptation whilst confronting head-on the dreadful truth: Dope was a book of its time, unashamedly racist (as was its author) and probably even unaware of any harmful connotation to such an attitude…

Robbins then makes a rock solid and potently valid case for why we elevated 21st centurians should read it anyway…

The astounding shocker opens in ‘London, 1919’ as sound fellow Quentin Gray meets up with fellow swells Mrs. Irvin and her raffish companion Sir Lucien Pyne before being introduced to the seductive and tantalising half-world of the High Society drugs scene; as disseminated through the machinations of ostensible perfume trader Sheikh El Kazmah…

It’s the same old story: flighty Rita Irvin has succumbed to addiction but has no more money. Yet still she baulks when the seedy dealer suggests another manner of payment…

‘Chapter Two: The Fatal Cigarette’ opens a little later when Quentin greets formidable government official Commissioner Seton (recently returned from the east where he earned the title “Pasha” for his services to the Empire). The wise authoritarian has come to view the recently expired corpse of Pyne: stabbed to death soon after Gray left him and now lying in Kazmah’s apartments. Of Rita there is no sign…

On later meeting Rita’s physician Dr. Margaret Halley, Quentin’s disquiet grows. The boldly modern young woman even demands he throw away the cigarettes Pyne gave him before she speaks further. Of course, he had no idea until she warned him that they were laced with opium…

‘Chapter Three: A Star is Born – and Falls’ relates the sad tale of rising theatrical sensation Rita Dresden and how the nightly pressures of performing were temporarily assuaged by the scheming Pyne who offered her comfort and calming chemical gifts: comforts that she soon could not do without…

Rita’s fall retroactively continues in ‘Chapter Four: Pipe Dreams’ as she is introduced into a dope ring of well-heeled degenerates: attending the “poppy parties” of Mr. Cyrus Kilfane and encountering the striking and sinister Lola Sin…

Fleeing that debauched debacle, Rita literally ran into well-meaning Monte Irvin and was almost saved.

Almost…

‘Chapter Five: Limehouse Blues’ relates how the triply-addicted (veronal, cocaine and opium) Rita decides to marry Monte but cannot shake the corrupting influence of Pyne, his circle of privileged peers and the implacable beast her addiction has become…

Even her marriage proves no bulwark and ‘Chapter Six: To the Brink’ sees the new bride drawn into a cycle of abuse and exploitation as Madame Sin and her enigmatic husband fleece the newlywed and seek to use her to expand their clientele…

Events rush towards a sordid, inevitable conclusion in ‘Chapter Seven: Mollie Gets Amorous’ as Gray, Seton and formidable Police Chief Inspector Kerry close in on the poppy club and the nefarious dealers; leading to a daring Limehouse raid in Chapter Eight: A Visit to Sin’ with shocking disclosures in ‘Chapter Nine: Above and Below’ and the exposing of even darker secrets and an intoxicating conclusion in ‘Chapter Ten: The Song of Sin Sin Wa’…

Following an in insightful Afterword from groundbreaking cartoonist Colleen Doran, Jon B. Cooke offers a wealth of background and historical context in ‘Sax, Drugs, and the Yellow Peril’: describing the nativity of Rohmer’s novel and the very real scandal of London actress and rising Society ingenue Billie Carleton whose death from a cocaine overdose rocked the Empire and beyond in 1918.

The photo-filled feature section also offers “Background Dope” sidebars on Rohmer’s ‘The Red Kerry Mysteries’, ‘Her Other Drugs of Choice’, ‘Slumming in the East End’ and ‘The Devil Doctor in Comics’ as well as a captivating ‘Trina Robbins Biographical Sketch’ and other contributors.

Potent, innovative, powerful and – in comicbook terms at least – a damned fine read, Dope is a sheer delight no lover of the graphic medium should miss and this hard-hitting stylish hardback may be the best thing you’ll buy this year.
Dope © 1981-2017 Trina Robbins. Foreword © 2017 C. Spike Trotman. “Sax, Drugs, and the Yellow Peril”, Trina Robbins bio © 2017 Jon B. Cooke. Afterword © 2017 Colleen Doran. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Invisible Men – The Trailblazing Black Artists of Comic Books


By Ken Quattro, and featuring material by Adolphus Barreaux Gripon, Elmer Cecil Stoner, Robert Savon Pious, Jay Paul Jackson, Owen Charles Middleton, Elton Clay Fox & George Dewey Lipscomb, Clarence Matthew Baker, Alvin Carl Hollingsworth, Ezra Clyde Jackson Alfonso Greene. Eugene Bilbrew, Orrin C. Evans, George J. Evans Jr., John H. Terrell, William H. Smith, Leonard Cooper, Calvin Levi Massey & various (IDW/Craig Yoe Books)
ISBN: 978-1-68405-586-9 (HB) eISBN: 978-1-68406-912-5

I’ve spent a lot of time here talking about “firsts” and “breakthroughs”, “role models” and changes in culture, and frankly, I’m not apologizing for any of it. We are not just the Naming ape and the Making ape, we’re also the Worshipping ape: contriving a never-ending blend of guesses, fiction and unexplained phenomena to bolster our courage, feed our hopes and explain away bewildering mysteries.

No other animal worships anything or uses supposition to build a model of the universe. Well, maybe cats do, but only in front of refrigerators. I’m still pondering that one and I’ll get back to you…

In comics we have always noted what hero and villain does what, mused on how that affects the reader and generally congratulated ourselves on how far we’ve come. What we don’t do so often is focus on how those comics are made, who did the work and how their lives were and are shaped by and impacted upon in what has always been a very hard-hearted if not actually cutthroat commercial industry.

For decades, a notion persisted that American comic books and the newspaper and magazine strips they grew out of were the sole preserve and creation of white men. It’s a blatant lie of omission fuelled by ignorance and apparent lack of interest. In recent years, as the world of word/picture stories became both an acceptable art form and cultural wellspring as valid and profitable – and high-fallutingly pompous – as movies, ballet or even jazz, it’s a belief that has been thoroughly challenged and utterly rubbished.

This superb, Award-winning collection drives a final great big stake through the notion by detailing the lives of black contributors to and workers in comics who were unnecessarily neglected and sidelined from the start. Here is a catalogue of almost universally unsung stars whitewashed out of comics history – just like in so many other areas of human endeavour over the last three centuries…

This scholarly examination details and commemorates the artists (some of whom you may have even heard of), threading and weaving them back into the full tapestry through a concise history of America’s negro culture spanning the end of slavery to the latter quarter of the last century. when the Civil Rights movement reminded white America and the wider western world that black people still dwelt amongst them and would no longer tolerate being Separate and (un)Equal…

Published under the aegis of Craig Yoe’s pioneering, tireless efforts to legitimise the world of funnybooks, Invisible Men is Compiled and written by author, essayist and historian Ken Quattro (Hoo-Hah!, The Al Williamson Reader). It shines a light on dozens of African Americans who contributed to the burgeoning comic book field. Many also had lengthy careers in a parallel but unspoken, black-only publishing industry (to which, just like the movies, made books, comics and magazines white audiences were utterly oblivious). Others were not so fortunate…

These personal histories are supported by copious examples of their work and even the other sort of stories: complete strips to read and enjoy, elevating this collection beyond mere historical tract and cultural correction whilst conveying and sharing the joyous exuberance and “anything goes mentality of Golden Age” comics entertainments…

Setting the scene is an Introduction from archaeologist, cultural anthropologist and comics fan Stanford W. Carpenter, PhD, addressing the vast, varied and deliberately buried social and racial mix that was almost uniformly subverted to a male, white, Anglo-Saxon sensibility and agenda in the natal moments of the comics industry…

Then Quattro’s essay ‘Seeing the Unseen’ scrupulously details the lousy, dangerous working world for non-white mass media artists and how the situation so-slowly altered over decades. He also bravely takes the bull by the horns in addressing the ever-shifting terminologies used to define racial (and religious) differences over decades. If even reading certain words or mercifully archaic and obsolete phrases might cause you difficulties, you’re better off stopping here and staying unenlightened. We’ll just go on without you…

The first candidate for your attention is ‘Adolphus Barreaux Gripon – Visible Man, Invisible Pioneer’ and he is the perfect example to discuss the far from clear-cut social scene of this era. Well-educated and relatively well-off, he was also called Adolphe Leslie Barreaux and was officially classified by the US Census Bureau as “mulatto”. For many that meant he was just white enough to acceptable…

He worked as a magazine illustrator, newspaper strip artist and – when comic books were born – drew those too. Here, that translates to beautiful examples of The Enchanted Stone of Time (Dell’s The Comics), Flossie Flip (a regular of the Police Gazette), Dragon’s Teeth from Champion Comics, and the legendarily salacious Sally the Sleuth (Private Detective Stories, Crime Smashers). His entry concludes with Sally saga ‘Death Bait’, as seen in Private Detective Stories volume 21, #3 from June 1949.

‘Elmer Cecil Stoner – Harlem Renaissance Man’ traced his lineage back to George and Martha Washington (before the first First Lady freed his ancestors), and became a prominent artist in Pennsylvania. His comics efforts included The Golden Age Blue Beetle, The Challenger and Phantasmo whom he created for Dell’s The Funnies. After WWII he moved into producing commercial and promotional comics as well as high profile advertising work. His major contribution here is ‘The Threat from Saturn’ as originally seen in The Blue Beetle #34, September 1944 and biographic strip ‘Rev. Ben, Fighter of Fascism’ (detailing the life of black anti-fascist preacher Ben Richardson from 1945’s The Challenger #1).

Money talks and at this juncture enforced egalitarianism. The new big thing in entertainment was exploding and publishers needed pages filled as cheaply as possible, even if they had to be written, drawn and lettered by black people or even women…

Legendary designer and Civil Rights activist ‘Robert Savon Pious – The Afrocentric Historian’ is represented by many of his most important works. However we’re focussing on his early strips The Dopes, Blue Bolt covers and Kalthar the Giant Man (Zip Comics). Also on show is informational feature ‘Facts on the Negro in World War Two’ with horror classic ‘The Ghost from Algol’ (Adventures into the Unknown #8: December 1949/January 1950). Tragically short-lived ‘Jay Paul Jackson – an Artist Apart’ is celebrated in many racy works (such as Tisha Mingo, Speed Jaxon and Home Folks) from black newspapers; patriotic cartoons and paintings and his only known comic book strip ‘Blond Garth’ (from Colossus Comics #1, March 1940).

Troubled ‘Owen Charles Middleton – Resilient Idealist’ reveals a talented creator who spent much of his as an incarcerated black man, union worker, and American political campaigner. His art entries include paintings, political advertising imagery, newspaper cartoons and comics such as Fawcett’s Spy Smasher. His complete tale is ‘Two Months in the Bush’ from Dell’s War Heroes #5 (July-September 1943).

The contrasting lives of ‘Elton Clay Fox & George Dewey Lipscomb – The Progressive and the Professor’ displays Fax’s landmark posters for the NAACP and his rousing anti-“Jim Crow” newspaper cartoons. Less well known are pioneering teen magazine Young Life, syndicated biographical panel cartoon ‘They’ll Never Die’, cover/interior illustrations from Dr. George Washington Carver, Scientist and extracts from the Classics Illustrated newspaper serial. Also on view are Susabelle and Afro Comics strips, as well as a complete Bull’s-Eye Bill episode from Target Comics (vol. 6, #3 May 1945). Lipscombe’s contribution is the script for African adventure strip ‘Simba Bwana – Lion Master!’, limned by Fax for Jack Armstrong #1 (November 1947).

If the nebulous cohort of black comics artists had a super star, it was absolutely ‘Clarence Matthew Baker – The Natural’ who lived fast, drew lots and died notoriously young. Matt Baker is famed for racy sexy adventure, but he evolved into a sublimely gifted master illustrator of subtle drama and romance. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Baker did most of his work in comic books, as seen here in covers for Phantom Lady, Seven Seas Comics, Cinderella Love and Teen-Age Temptations. Interior Tiger Girl pages complement extracts from Canteen Kate – an early, outrageous “crossdresser” challenging those hidebound male role models…

Examples of his magazine illustration work comes from Pulp Mystery Tales #6 and the Flamingo newspaper strip, but the true gold here is the complete Voodah adventure from Crown Comics #3. Cover-dated Fall 1945, it featured the first clearly, indisputably black hero in American comics: an otherwise standard jungle god type character battling white hunters and marauding natives. By issue #6, the editors had noticed what was happening and Voodah magically and without fuss turned into a far more believable white guy king of the jungle…

Baker is so darned wonderful that his chapter includes a second complete strip with the improbably pneumatic Phantom Lady polishing off ‘The Subway Slayer!’ in a wild romp from the appropriately dubbed All Top Comics #12 (July 1948)…

A pre-eminent illustrator of a later era, ‘Alvin Carl Hollingsworth – The Young Professional’ blends fascinating tales of the educational opportunities enjoyed by young black and ethnic artists (like Joe Kubert or Alex Toth) with later adult success. Many comic books ultimately benefited from New York’s forward-looking scholastic integration policies as seen in images re-presented here.

These include Hollingworth excerpts from Diary of Horror #1, Inspector Roc’s Felony Files (inked by Kubert), ‘Farewell to Love’ (True-To-Life Romances #9, 1949), and even superhero Bronze Man. Horror snippet ‘The Ripper’s Return’ precedes a selection of prospective newspaper features about black schoolteachers. Somehow, neither Dorothy Tutor or Bob Mentor caught on in the 1950s…

Hollingsworth was of Afro-Caribbean rather than African American origins and the dichotomy and tensions between the distinctly different communities makes for fascinating reading here, supplemented by later fine art, design, political, editorial and journalistic paintings and prints.

His comic book section delivers biographical tale ‘Lena Horne’ (Juke Box Comics #2, May 1948) and ‘Where Zombies Walk!’ (Witchcraft #5, December 1952/January 1953)…

Triumph and tragedy tinge the stories of ‘Ezra Clyde Jackson & Alfonso Greene – A Tale of Two Students’ who attended Manhattan’s High School of Industrial Art.

Originally Jackson paired with white veteran Maurice Whitman before going solo, in features such as The Iron Ace (Airboy Comics), ‘The Secret Seven’ (Patches Comics #1, 1945) and Classics Illustrated: Typee. His complete solo outing here is eerie chiller ‘Sentence of Death’ (Suspense Comics #9, August 1945).

As described in a heartbreaking testimony from Alex Toth, Alfonso Greene had a far harder ride and died the way so many black men still do today, but his work at least survives in strips like ‘Swimming Lessons Save a Life’ and true crime yarn ‘Bandit Patrol’ (both from New Heroic Comics #64, January 1951), ‘Boy Hero’ (life-saving black youngster Roy Marshall Jr.in New Heroic Comics #53, March 1949), and ‘Wonder Women of History: Sojourner Truth’ (Wonder Woman #13, Summer 1945).

‘Eugene Bilbrew – A Different Talent’ found his place in comics via popular music and record design, via strips like Astro Girl, The Charlie Mingus Record Club, fetish magazines and the comedic Clifford back-up strip in Will Eisner’s syndicated Spirit Section.

As previously stated, America at this time supported two separate worlds, one black and the other acceptable. Even in liberal states that championed full equality, most black folk kept to their own neighbourhoods, ran their own businesses and ran their own churches and entertainments. Inevitably, that led to comics for coloured folks thanks to ‘Orrin C. Evans, George J. Evans, Jr., John H. Terrell, William H. Smith, Leonard Cooper – At Last, The First’ who acted in concert and launched All-Negro Comics in June 1947. Closely allied to left wing political movements the output was target-specific, limited in distribution and short lived, but it proved there was room for many kinds of readership. This chapter includes formative strips from black papers – such as Adventures of Tiger Ragg by John Terrell – and describes how All-Negro Comics was born and died. On show are house ad, covers, excerpts from assorted series ‘Sugarfoot’, ‘Lion Man’ various gags and cartoons and the complete first exploit of two-fisted street tough private eye ‘Ace Harlem’…

This astounding chronicle concludes with the life of breakthrough artist ‘Calvin Levi Massey – Vanguard of the Next Generation’. His later artistic endeavours advanced black culture on a rapidly-shifting world stage, but only after a relatively stellar comics career as a cartoonist. Employers included James Warren, and he was a mainstay of Atlas/Timely and a jobbing illustrator; as seen here in moments from ‘The Milton Berle Story’ (Uncle Milty #2, February 1952), and all of ‘Absent-Minded Professor’ (Horror from the Tomb #1, September 1954)…

Augmented by an affirming ‘Afterword by Ken Quattro’ and a prodigious ‘Index’, this powerful tract balances some historical scales and bestows acclaim on those unjustly excluded, by offering a sublime selection of strips and stories crafted by Invisible Men who – like women – were always there, if we’d only bothered to look…
™ & © 2020 Gussoni-Yoe Studio, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Paul Robeson for Beginners


By Paul Von Blum, illustrated by Elizabeth Von Notias & Ramsess (For Beginners)
ISBN: 978-1-934389-81-2 (PB/Digital edition)

For Beginners books are heavily-illustrated text primers: accessible graphic non-fiction foundation courses in a vast variety of subjects ranging from art to philosophy, politics to history and much more, all tackled in an accessible yet readily respectful manner. This particular volume was written by Paul Von Blum, author and Senior Lecturer in African American Studies and Communication Studies at UCLA, wedded to a wealth of strips and illustrations by graphic design specialist Elizabeth Von Notias and self-taught multi-media creator Ramsess.

If remembered at all, Paul Leroy Robeson ((9th April 1898-23rd January 1976) is regarded by most people as that African American performer with an incredibly deep voice. Maybe some will recall that he was a left wing political activist who particularly incensed Senator Joe McCarthy during America’s infamous “Red-baiting” witch-hunting period… so, kudos for that, too…

That’s all true enough, but he was also one of the most accomplished and gifted individuals in the nation’s history: a true Renaissance man who was cheated of his ultimate potential simply because his skin was the wrong colour…

An Introduction lists Robeson’s astonishing accomplishments – all the more amazing when you realise the lack of opportunities if not outright repression facing negroes in segregated America at the time of his birth and not truly tackled until the Civil Rights movement began gaining traction in the late 1950s. If even then…

As told in more telling detail – via word and pictures in ‘The Early Days’, ‘Paul Robeson the Athlete’, ‘Paul Robeson the Stage Actor’, ‘Paul Robeson the Screen Actor’ and ‘Paul Robeson the Singer’ – he was the son of a preacher and born in Princeton, New Jersey. He was the last of five children, locked into a time and place rigidly defined by class and race divisions…

A brilliant student, Paul Robeson graduated Somerville High School in 1915 and won a 4-year scholarship to Rutgers University, where – despite initial hostility and actual physical assaults – he became the star of the Football, Baseball, Basketball and Athletics squads. He was twice designated “All-American”.

Graduating from Rutgers, he attended New York University Law School before transferring to Columbia University Law School. Talented and seemingly tireless, Robeson turned an interest in the dramatic arts into a part-time stage career and became a professional Football player in 1920.

He married, acted, sang, played Pro ball and kept on studying: graduating Columbia in 1923 to work as a lawyer at a prestigious firm… until the bigotry he experienced from his own subordinates became too much.

In 1924, during the enthralling localised period of negro liberality and cultural growth dubbed “The Harlem Renaissance” (1923-1927), he switched from stage acting to movies, but still carried on a glittering international career: starring as Othello in London and playing in many hit plays and musicals including Showboat, Emperor Jones, Stevedore and All God’s Chillun’s Got Wings…

Incessantly, helplessly politically active, he visited the Soviet Union in 1934, spoke out against Fascism during the Spanish Civil War, co-founded the anti-colonial Council on African Affairs and used his name and fame to agitate for social and legal changes in such contentious areas as Southern lynch law and trade union legislation. These activities made him a prime target in the USA and in 1941 J. Edgar Hoover ordered the FBI to open a file on him…

In 1950, the US government took away his passport because he refused to recant his pro-Soviet, pro-socialist stance, making Robeson an exile in his own country. He was unable to leave America for 8 years, until a Supreme Court ruling decreed the State Department had no right to revoke passports due to an individual’s political beliefs.

Somehow, I’m reminded of how successive British Home Secretaries have smugly wallowed in the shameful, self-granted ability to revoke and deny the nationality and movements of its own citizens: especially the young, brown, non-Christian, groomed and trafficked one…

Robeson’s life was filled with such astounding breakthroughs and landmarks. Once free to travel again, he became an international political celebrity and social commentator, using his concerts and stage appearances in places as disparate as Wales, Australia, Russia, New Zealand, East Germany, Canada, and elsewhere to promote a dream of World “Freedom, Peace and Brotherhood”…

His beliefs, struggles achievements and failures are scrutinised in ‘Paul Robeson the International Activist’, ‘Paul Robeson the Domestic Political Activist’ before a thorough appreciation in ‘The Final Years and His Lasting Legacy’…

Augmented by a ‘Bibliography’, ‘Selected Chronology’ and creator biographies, this absorbing documentary proves again the astounding power of visual narrative when wedded to the life story of a truly unique individual, and begs the question: where are his graphic biography and definitive biopic?
© 2013 Paul Von Blum. Illustrations © 2013 Elizabeth Von Notias & Ramsess. All rights reserved. A For Beginners Documentary Comic Book © 2013.