Comics Aren't Just Super-heroes

It's not often I buy a 200+ page graphic novel and read it that same day but it happened today. I went to flip through 'Johnny Cash - I See a Darkness' and could not put it down. Wow.

It's a biography of the man told primarily in flashback from the point-of-view of Glen Sherley, writer of the song 'Graystone Chapel' and former Fulson Prison inmate. Leading up to Johnny's famous concert in Fulsom, Glen works to get a copy of his song to Johnny and explains his fascination with the man to a fellow inmate, going through the history of John R. Cash. We see his childhood, the death of his brother, his first marriage, forming the Tennessee Three, recording at Sun Records, his growing addiction to uppers, accidentally burning down a national park, and so much more. An entire chapter is dedicated to the concert at Fulsom and Johnny playing 'Graystone Chapel' in front of Glen for the first time. The main story ends there, wrapped up by a coda section which is mostly an old man Johnny speaking with producer Rick Rubin as they record some of Johnny's last works, filling us in one what happened to certain people.

The art is of a sketchy style but totally works, capturing the emotions of the moments, and accurately rendering the people in a way that a photographic reproduction wouldn't achieve. While song lyrics are used, more fascinating are the graphical versions of some of Johnny's songs, some as little 'movies', others as a series of 'snapshots'. Certain classic photographs are used as reference, intentional reproductions of familiar moments from the history of the Man in Black.

This was well worth the $18. In fact, I'd go so far to say it was a steal at that price.

Very recommended. Thank you Reinhard Kleist!