Comics / Spotlight / Black Astronaut

The Original Johnson Book One

By Leroy Douresseaux
February 23, 2011 - 10:00

The Original Johnson Book One cover image

The Original Johnson is a webcomic originally published by the website, Comicmix.  Written and drawn by longtime comics veteran, Trevor Von Eeden, The Original Johnson is a biographical graphic novel about the life of John Arthur “Jack” Johnson (1878-1946).  Jack Johnson was an American boxer and was the first African American “World Heavyweight” champion, a title he won in 1908 and held until 1915.

Boxing aficionados know Johnson, and others may be familiar with him through Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, Ken Burns’ Emmy-winning, 2005 PBS documentary about Johnson that was based upon the 2004 book by Geoffrey C. Ward of the same title.  Some readers may have seen the 1970 film, The Great White Hope, starring James Earl Jones, a fictional account of Johnson’s life.

IDW is publishing Von Eeden’s 240-page graphic novel, The Original Johnson, in two paperback volumes.  The Original Johnson, Book One depicts Johnson’s life, mostly from the age of 13 to 22.  Von Eeden portrays Johnson’s early encounters with physical violence, his teenage wanderlust, his introduction to boxing, and the virulent racism he saw and experienced during his travels, particularly in and around his hometown of Galveston, Texas during the late 19th century.

Von Eeden’s narrative, at least the first half, is not just about Johnson’s life.  The Original Johnson, Book One juxtaposes the young Jack Johnson’s struggle to define himself as a man of accomplishment with the desire of white racists to destroy any sense of accomplishment on the part of black people.  Von Eeden presents Johnson’s youth as metaphor for a black awakening to the possibilities of what being strong and independent could bring black folk.

Von Eeden makes The Original Johnson more than just a straight biography or historical document about racism.  A veteran of superhero comics, Von Eeden presents Johnson’s journey and the setting in which that journey takes place as a heroic epic, so he uses the visual language and graphic cues of superhero comic books.  He combines the compositional raw power and majestic figure drawing of Jack Kirby with the enthusiastic page design of Neal Adams.  In that way, Von Eeden can emphasize passion, emotion, and symbolism.  In this way, he can also draw the reader into the narrative by presenting the elements he wants to emphasize in visual appealing ways.

That is the one thing that I can say for certain at this halfway point in The Original Johnson: for all the ways that Von Eeden tells this story, he presents this in a comic book language that is familiar to readers.  This is a good and interesting way to introduce a historical figure, especially someone like Jack Johnson, a transformative figure in American history.  This is a superhero story about a man who, in hindsight, was a hero to many.

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www.trevorvoneeden.com

www.comicmix.com

 

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12