Review by Ian Keogh
Ella Fitzgerald was one of the greatest musical innovators of the 20th century, allying immense natural vocal talent with near perfect pitch to an ability to assimilate every new phase associated with jazz music. Her stature makes it surprising that before Ngozi Nwadiogbu’s inspiration there hadn’t been a graphic novel biography.
The Official Graphic Novel is high on facts and low on explanations, and when the latter occur they’re likely to be in the form of characters explaining what they already know to each other for the benefit of the audience. Nwadiogbu also charts a jumpy path through Fitzgerald’s life, for instance cutting from her first success performing at Harlem’s legendary Apollo in 1934 to jump forward two decades to the crisis of needing an operation on her vocal chords. The assumption is that at some stage there’ll be a return to the early struggles and Fitzgerald establishing herself, but that never manifests.
There’s no doubt about Nwadiogbu as writer, but we dive down a deep murky hole in attempting to identify the artists, whereas the assumption would be that the publishers would want people to know as the art is excellent throughout. Two people are credited for “art direction” whatever that might mean, but they don’t seem to have done any actual drawing. Larissa Rivero is credited for laying out the entire book, sharing the colouring with Lindsey Lee, and both of them are noted to have drawn some pages. So have Alberto Balandria, Jorge Mansilla and Juan Riera. As to who drew what, though, you’ll have to guess as Fantoons aren’t telling you. As seen by the sample pages, different styles are identifiable, and they also show the innovative use of colour, not just to separate past from present, but to highlight mood. Fitzgerald is always shown at her happiest when performing, so those are the brightest pages.
Rather than supply an overview, Nwadiogbu reduces a career to a handful of highlights and lowlights. Continual difficulty with segregation in the USA is represented by several pages devoted to a single occasion of Fitzgerald arrested in Houston. She’d refused to perform where poorer seating was allocated to African-Americans, but the official documents note illegal gambling taking place in the dressing room. That the press were tipped off to her arrest suggests the official reason was a lie.
Other unfortunate elements are either frustratingly glossed over such as the tensions with her son, or ignored, such as the poor relationship choices Fitzgerald made. However, there are also immensely powerful sequences. The strain she was under when performing at the Nice Jazz Festival in 1966 is notable. Gradual change is acknowledged over the decades, but while providing a brief anecdotal primer of Fitzgerald’s career, too much is left unexplained or unexplored to satisfy readers familiar with her career. Nice art, though.
