The Great White Intransigence

Much of the work I'm currently doing at the Grand Comics Database is cleaning up existing records which use an out-of-date term called "filler." You can understand how a "strange facts of history" page might be a filler compared to surrounding super hero and cowboy tales, but the term is so broad as to be unhelpful.

I've used the Digital Comic Museum to help identify what many of these "fillers" really are and it means I occasionally come across some interesting pages, but usually the pages are instantly forgettable. Here's a somewhat memorable page, from 1946's Sparkling Stars #10:

It's credited to "Ink Higgins" (Morris Weiss) and was one of three Fight Facts pages which appeared in that issue. This page stayed with me while others I checked over were forgotten; while many of these "filler" types contain several facts which may or may not be related, this particular page chose a single topic: legendary boxer Joe Louis. And, as you may have noted, it's not precisely laudatory.

At the time, Louis was the reigning heavyweight champion, although his service in World War II had interrupted his career trajectory and he never really regained it. Louis worked hard to promote himself not only as a good fighter but a good man - to present himself as morally unimpeachable to help counter the sex-and-booze antics of former heavyweight Jack Johnson. Why did Louis have to take so much care about his life outside the ring because of Johnson? Because he and Johnson were both African-American.

And that's the point where this page makes me uncomfortable. After all the effort Louis placed into being a good man, people still wanted him to fail. And thus, this page does not celebrate Louis' victories, but instead questions them (essentially, "Hey you guys, Louis isn't that great!"). It points to three fights which Louis either almost lost or could have lost. That he did, in fact, win those fights seems beside the point to Weiss. Louis is barely even seen on the page, obscured by the referee in the central image and being struck in the face in the lower left (not sure what to make the ridiculously huge frame Weiss gave him either; he looks like a circus strongman, not a fighter).

Oh, and those other two Fight Facts pages Weiss drew in Sparkling Stars #10? One was of John L. Sullivan and the other of Max Baer. They were laudatory towards their subjects.

Review: The Original Johnson, Book 2

Having looked at the Original Johnson volume one earlier, I knew I'd get around to the second half of this biography eventually. However, I have to say: I'm not impressed by some of the creative decisions.

In the continuation of Trevor Von Eeden's adaptation of the life of boxer Jack Johnson, the story resumes as Johnson's career soars, leading to a run of successful bouts and eventually to Johnson's victory over Tommy Burns for the title of heavyweight champion, then defending his title against Jim Jeffries, but years later he lost his title to Jess Willard. Along the way Johnson's relationships with various women are recounted with erotic detail.

I felt the first volume spent too little time on Johnson's boxing career so I'm pleased to see the second half gets into the sport itself, even providing a quick history of boxing, properly framing Johnson's ascension through the ranks. Further, the Burns and Jeffries bouts are depicted in great detail.

However, Von Eeeden's depiction of Johnson's love life continues to be an unwelcome distraction for this reader; pages and pages are devoted to Johnson's lovemaking. I still feel Jack Johnson's biography belongs in high schools, but Von Eeden's graphic sex scenes will ruin this particular version's chances. The most glaring bit of business is Johnson's relationship with Dominique St. John, a wealthy white female painter. I don't know if St. John was a real person or not, but the entire sequence (48 pages long!) reads like the first chapter of "the Erotic Adventures of Jack Johnson," not the continued narrative of Johnson's life. Further, Dominique is dropped from the story when the 48-page sequence is over.

Many of the scenes involving Johnson and his partners devolve into lengthy speeches as Johnson opines how much better he is than other people; it begins to feel as though Von Eeden is using Johnson as his mouthpiece for his own view of the world, rather than summarizing Johnson's own life. As to Johnson's life, Von Eeden's version is ultimately a very idealized interpretation. Johnson's achievements are lauded, but his negative aspects - like his deteoriating relationships, his reckless driving and his eventual defeat by Willard - are glossed over. In fact, when the defeat by Willard enters the story, Von Eeden doesn't relate the story as it happened (as he did earlier with Burns & Jeffries), but instead tries to "set the record straight." He tells the audience about "the famous photograph." What "famous photograph?" This is clearly your version of Johnson's life, Mr. Von Eeeden - all along, you've been our guide. Why the sudden assumptions that we came into this book with certain facts or prejudices about the Johnson-Willard fight? His writing here becomes hopelessly hyberbolic: "No one ever noticed this -- ever."

The Johnson-Willard fight is still a point of controversy - that is, did Johnson throw the fight (as he later claimed), or did he honestly lose the match. It's up for debate, which is to say, there's no clear answer. I'm reminded of a piece of dialogue from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, concerning how Davy Crockett died: "The only real question is whether you believe in the legend of Davy Crockett or not. If you do, then there should be no doubt in your mind that he died a hero's death. If you do not believe in the legend, then he was just a man, and it does not matter how he died." Thus, your informed perspective on the Johnson-Willard fight has more to do with your belief in Johnson's legend than anything; Von Eeden is firmly in the grasp of the legend.

I wish Von Eeden had delved more closely to the events of Johnson's life - in chronological order and with weight given to both his highs and lows - and that he'd let Johnson speak to us rather than Von Eeden speak through Johnson. But as this is the only graphic novel of Jack Johnson's life I know of, it is, by default, the best.

Review: the Original Johnson volume one

As I mentioned in my review of African-American Classics, Trevor Von Eeden's biography mentioned he'd created a graphic novel about Jack Johnson, the first African-American to win boxing's heavyweight champion title. I was instantly fascinated to learn of 2009's the Original Johnson, which tells Johnson's life over the span of two volumes. I have a passing familiarity and interest in Johnson, having seen Ken Burns' 2004 documentary Unbearable Blackness.

The Original Johnson (yes, the book's title is a double entendre) volume one was the only half available at my local comic shop, but I hope to obtain volume two in the near future. Most of the text is spent detailing Johnson's early years, which, since Burns' movie skipped over that part of his life quickly, is mostly new information to me. However, by the end of the volume, Johnson's boxing career is only just on the rise, meaning the second volume must cover his entire quest for the heavyweight title, his retirement from boxing, his ultimately tragic return to boxing and loss of his title, then his death. At this pace, I think the story needs at least four volumes, not two!

The novel contains a few sex scenes, emphasizing how Johnson's unashamed virility - and frequent white female partners - would eventually earn him a lot of enemies (amongst both whites and blacks). I feel the sex scenes are more graphic than they have to be - this book should be on the shelves of high schools, but the graphic sex will restrict its distribution.

Von Eeden's art shifts in style during the book; in many scenes, his art is smooth and ground like Brent Anderson, but delves into dream sequences with brush-like strokes evocative of Gene Colan. The dream scenes also enable Von Eeden to break from reality and let his imagination take flight, as in a scene where Johnson dons golden armour, strikes down white men and takes their women.

Strangely, the narrative approaches Johnson's life in non-linear fashion, travelling back and forth within his own life and flashing back to the struggles of African-Americans in the days of slavery. For me, it interrupted the momentum of Johnson's life - it feels as though the story halts and starts over again about three times. However, overall it's a pretty satisfying volume, thanks to Von Eeden's outstanding layouts and I will add the second tome to my collection eventually.