Black History Month may be over, but comics by and about POC still continue to roll out, and this is a banger! This is a true story about the life of Nathaniel Calloway, a black doctor who was forced to turn to working with the mob to make ends meet in the ’30’s. Great story, great art, and a great purchase!

Topical Stuff

We all know what’s been happening the past year, I certainly don’t need to rehash either the pandemic or the traction that the civil rights movement has regained. As a white guy, I’ve made it my mission to not only support black causes, but also to educate myself about black history in this country, and to support black creators. I got to do all three with this book, and the bonus is that this is one of the best-written and illustrated books I’ve read this year!

I think it’s important to keep in mind that even though we’ve had a leadership change, and things have calmed down a bit, that doesn’t mean the issues of racial inequality and justice have gone away. Now is the time to keep up the pressure, and keep up the support, lest all the work that has been done in the past year fade away again into complacency. I’ll step off the soapbox and get into the review, but keep fighting the good fight people!

Muni, Not Pacino

This story is about the author’s paternal grandfather, Nathaniel Calloway. It’s all told by Nathaniel to his son, David (so the author’s dad), on his deathbed. What you find out within the first few pages is that Nat used to help some small-time gangsters run whiskey in the early ’20’s, but decided after a shootout to become a doctor. He got his doctorate, but was unable to find work in 1931 due to racism and the Great Depression, so he goes back to working for the mob. I won’t spoil who he works for, but I’m sure I’ll write about future issues of this book, so we’ll get there ;0

Peter Calloway is not a name that I recognize, but a quick DuckDuckGo search reveals that he’s mainly a T.V. writer (for Under The Dome, Cloak & Dagger and Legion), although he did some work on Gotham City Sirens. Georges Jeanty, though, I am super familiar with through his work on Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season Eight, a series that I was very into. As far as I know, I’ve never seen any work by JUANCHO!, but I like what I see in this book, for sure.

Calloway is great with a turn-of-phrase, and really nailed it with both the pacing and the narrative. This is one of those books that when you’re reading it, you’re IN IT. I was totally engrossed, and surprised when it was over. The writing alone is worth the price of admission, but I was also absorbed by the gorgeous art and colors.

I consider myself much more qualified to be a writing critic than an art critic, but I know what I like in art, and I have a familiarity with how comic art should look. One of the most important things for me are faces. It can be really difficult to tell comic book characters apart for me, especially in a lot of hero books (hence the wild color schemes in hero comics, much easier to tell characters apart). I’ve always loved Jeanty’s faces, they are expressive, easy to distinguish, and just plain well-done. His backgrounds are also great in this issue, and JUANCHO!’s colors really make it pop.

I have no complaints about this book, which is pretty rare for me, I love complaining. But I gave it five stars on Comixology, and I’m damn excited for the next issue to come out. Go pick this up today if you can, you won’t be disappointed!