Willie Nelson: A Graphic History

by Jesse Lonergan, Jason Pittman (illustrator), Coskun Kuzgun (illustrator)

Since he was a child in Hill County, Texas, he has been writing and performing for adoring crowds. Though his mainstream success did not come until later in his life, he has been determined to take his unique sound and voice to the people even before he was a household name. There have been tragedies, missteps, IRS troubles, good times and bad along the way, but Willie continues to shine his positive outlook and project his humble voice out into the world. In this graphic novel biography, all the chapters represent a different era of his life and struggles - each illustrated by a unique indie comics talent.

Genres: Music, Graphic Novels, Biography, Nonfiction, History, Graphic Novels Comics, Comics

104 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 2020

About the author

I grew up in Saudi Arabia and Vermont, attended Hampshire College, was a Peace Corps volunteer, and have always been an only child. I'll never be a real uncle, but I'll be a pretend to be one to my friends' children. I like Star Wars, Elvis, and black coffee. I don't like waiting in line, whistling, or writing biographies about myself. I'm worried about the state of modern America and the individualism and self-importance that has become the norm. There seems to be a lot of loneliness out there and a lot of anger too, but then again, maybe I just like to worry.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short bio comic is a great way to learn about the life and career of Willie Nelson. Willie's a true rebel and music legend, doing things his way.

Received a review copy from NBM Publishing and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty basic and straightforward biography of a very entertaining individual. Told mostly in captions, it is not an exciting presentation, but Willie has led quite a life, with a focus here on his years of professional struggle and his tempestuous love life -- a repeating cycle of marriage, children, infidelity and divorce. And, hey, there are a couple panels with my main man, Johnny Cash, so bonus day!

Each chapter is drawn by a different artist. I preferred the detailed style of Chapter 1 by Coşkun Kuzgun, but the rest are fine enough even though they vary wildly in style, with only one inky and blotchy chapter dipping down to below-average.

[Nate]

I've always liked Willie Nelson, but it's only in the past few years that I've become a big fan of his music. Willie's career is long; as of 2023, he's still going strong at 90 years old! I only knew the basics of his life story, so I sought out this comic biography. It's a solid overview of his life. Brief but informative. Each chapter is illustrated in black-and-white by a different artist, and while some are definitely better than others, none are bad.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

That's our Willie.
A team of artists tackle the long life story, and mostly, the graphic biography works. Helps if you, like I do, like this sort of thing.
Nice short list of recommended reading, too.
Happy 90th, Willie!

[Tisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Won this book from the giveaways section of Goodreads. Overall, the story was decent. The illustration is where I had an issue. Different illustrators were utilized for different chapters which caused a noticeable variation in the images in general as well as Wiilie looking completely different throughout the book. I didn't care for the use of widely differing styles. Otherwise, not a bad read.

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Willie Nelson: A Graphic History is a biographic graphic novel written by T.J. Kirsch and illustrated by the team of Havard S. Johansen, Coskun Kuzgun, Jesse Lonergan, Jeremy Massie, Jason Pittman, Adam Walmsley, and J.T. Yost. It is a graphic biography that highlights the phases and stages of the musician's extraordinary career.

Willie Hugh Nelson is an American musician, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie, combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust, made Nelson one of the most recognized artists in country music.

Taking a uniformly upbeat approach, Kirsch and a half dozen other artists start with Nelson's small-town Texas childhood and his wandering, sometimes wildly contradictory young adulthood during which he taught Sunday School and began enjoying marijuana. Despite his laconic persona, Nelson is a scrappy hustler, singing and playing guitar in seemingly any bar with a stage and shilling his DJ recordings.

After years of struggle, he moves to Nashville and grinds away as a songwriter, finally getting a hit when Patsy Cline records "Crazy." Uncomfortable with the Nashville industry machine’s forced polishings, Nelson returns to Texas in the 1970s, where his eccentric style brings together hippies and rednecks and helps birth the outlaw music genre.

Willie Nelson: A Graphic History is written, researched and constructed rather well. This anthologized graphic bio packs the eventful 60-plus-year career of the deceptively laid-back dynamo musician Willie Nelson into such a slim package that the attempt can't help but fall short. However, it is a wonderful attempt and a great launching pad for readers who want to know this musician better.

All in all, Willie Nelson: A Graphic History is a straightforward graphic biography that puts Nelson’s success in perspective.

[Tom Donaghey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Willie Nelson: A Graphic History (2020) by T.J. Kirsch. If you listen to his music you hear pure Americana. A look at his face tells the story of a man who has struggled with his demons, with his chosen industry, but most of all with himself. The book depicts his life from the east Texas Hill Country as a boy, to his journey about the country trying to find “his” place, to the days he finally found a home.
And that burned down.
We know the story of “Willie Nelson”, song writer, guitar player, troubadour for the masses. This book looks long and hard at the imperfect man with that wonderfully perfect voice. Showing his struggle with the bottle, marriage and being faithful, to trust in those around him, to the IRS who came knocking with their hands out, to the Honeysuckle Rose and his trip to a fulfilled , hard earned, fame.
The books shows the different phases that Willie went through, each illustrated by a different talented indie comic artist. Some chapters look better than others, on my opinion, but each tells the story in a straightforward, often sad, some times hilarious fashion and each honors the subject.
The chapter leading portraits are very fascinating.
This book is a good, QUICK look into this music idol’s life. Look elsewhere for a deeper incursion, but I am more than satisfied with this quick, amusing peek into an outlaw’s life.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love reading about Willie Nelson. He has provided such unique and groundbreaking art to the American music world. His life and personality are always a fascinating read. This graphic novel includes a Bibliography of sources, many of which I have already read, and this title does a good job of summarizing his life.
Of special note is the really cool artwork in this book. Each chapter is a different style that kind of matures along with Willie. The final pages are just absolutely gorgeous and and I also enjoyed the splash chapter intro pages which feature portraits of Willie growing older.
I am unsure where this book should be placed in a library collection. I would like to recommend it to young people because it does share Willie Nelson's unabashed love of poetry, literature, and songwriting which I believe would encourage young readers to embrace their own emotional, philosophical, and sensitive sides. However, there is a lot of violence, pot smoking (I mean of course), and some sexualization that might get some complaints from parents. Therefore it may "fit" better in the general graphic novel collection. With that being said, I would let my kids read as I think it would spark some great conversation.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent comic book biography of country and western star Willie Nelson. The genre isn't always done right, but this – even when saddling itself with the idea of a different artist for every stage of the man's life – is. And so even when we jump from painterly beginnings to a brasher, more cartoonish black and white of his young married life, and growing local renown, we don't mind (and the whole concept is a lot more easy to take than, say, that oddball Bob Dylan movie that did similar a few decades ago). Ultimately it's a little too indiscriminate – both trying to be as pro-weed as the old hippy (sorry, outlaw) himself, and doing a fair bit of arse-licking at the end, when something critical might have actually been allowed to creep on to one page at least. (On that regard, everyone's failed marriage seems such a common thing to be just a fact of life, and nobody's real fault.) So it isn't exactly unbiased, and is a little light at times, but it certainly contained as much detail and music in tribute as I, a non-fan, would have wanted. Four stars is a little generous, but not too OTT.

[EyrisReadsTheWorld · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting mix of artworks telling Willie Nelson's life

Key words: music, Willie Nelson, biography, graphic novel, non-fiction

This graphic novel is a biography of Willie Nelson, famous American country musician. The book is divided into seven parts, each about a certain period of Willie Nelson’s life and each drawn by a different illustrator. I thought it was a really good idea even though it made it more difficult to follow who was who has the style changed sometimes drastically. My experience didn’t take place in the best condition as the PDF I download from Netgalley wasn’t in good quality and made it really difficult to read. However, I enjoyed learning about this famous musician and I listened to his songs while reading which, I think, suited the story well.
Overall, It is not my style but I liked it and enjoyed the different artworks. I think it’s perfect for country lovers.

3/5

Thank you Netgalley for this eArc in exchange of my honest opinion.

[Baker · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love a graphic novel, but this book did not feel cohesive at all. It’s like when you’re in a high school AP class with only 7 people, and the teacher has y’all do one long project with each person getting one part, but no one really talks about what they’re doing or what info they’re presenting until it’s done. Some of the info is the book is unclear or redundant, and I really don’t know what I learned now that I’ve stepped away from it. I love country music, but even this story felt so cut and dry that it didn’t have the mysticism and atmosphere of a western legend the way Willie deserves. Part of this might be that I read a phenomenal graphic history of Johnny Cash so recently and I’m therefore comparing it, but I can’t expect someone not passionate about southern music (the way I am) to want to pursue more knowledge about it after reading this. Clear that the intention was good, but execution was sloppy and the themes muddled by inconsistency. Some good illustration though. 1.5 stars rounded to 2.

[Diane Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who doesn’t know Willie Nelson? From his iconic long braids to his Farm Aid concerts, Willie has long been in the public eye. But what other things about Willie’s history are most people aware of? Not many. For that, there is Willie Nelson: A Graphic History.

Willie was born in a small Texas town during the Great Depression. Raised by his grandparents after his folks ran off, Willie always loved music. But his first real music job was working in a polka band. Marching to his own tune was the rule for Willie. He had a huge variety of jobs before hitting it big. Willie had three wives and many children to support. So he was, and continues to be to this day, constantly on the road.

Willie Nelson: A Graphic History is the perfect gift for the country music fan in your life. 4 stars!

Thanks to Papercutz and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can’t resist a graphic novel biography, so I was happy to get this new one about Willie Nelson. The difference between ‘by’ and ‘about’ is strong in this one. This one attempts to hit the highlights of Willie’s storied life-which is a long one and yep, it does that. I can’t say that it’s done with any real depth, though. The text did however provide nice accompaniment for me as I scanned through his discography, as it helped to flesh out his varied music iterations, and introduce me to stuff beyond the big hits, such as the great Teatro album and even “Shotgun Willie” a big hit that I had never heard before. And speaking of iterations, this was drawn by 5-6 different artists, each handling a different phase of willie’s life. But not to the degree where the art style really reflected or brought greater meaning or depth to any of these phases.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Willie Nelson: A Graphic History is a succinct graphic novel covering all the important points of Willie Nelson's life from childhood to today. Despite being a graphic novel of under 100 pages, this book is not for children, as some adult themes are discussed.

I love the art style in this book, and it was really interesting learning about Willie Nelson's life. I like that they used a different artist for each chapter of the book. For those who want a brief summary of Willie Nelson's life, this graphic novel is worth checking out! If it leaves you wanting to know more about him, there is a list of novels referenced in the creation of this graphic novel where you can get more detailed information.

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Thank you to Net Galley and Papercutz/NBM Publishing for the advance copy*

Kirch's graphic novel biography of Willie Nelson offers a barebones biography of one of country music's most legendary songwriters and performers. For someone with such a prolific career, I was hoping for a more robust biography, but it still had a few humorous anecdotes that passive Nelson fans may not have heard before.

The illustrations are fantastic. I especially loved the attention to detail on each portrait that began a new chapter; they almost look like photographs.

This book left me wanting more. However, I think it's a great intro and would love to see other musical artists graphic novel biographies.

[Joan Hoffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sure fans of Willie Nelson already know his story. For someone like myself who isn't, this graphic format will provide a good introduction to the man and his music. He lived his life with some stumbles along the way, but never lost sight of his goal: to have his voice and his songs heard by all. Not letting himself be stuffed into the Nashville mold, Willie marched to his own beat and made his own path. To paraphrase from the book, he's living the life he wants, surrounded by the people he loves. That's success.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a really well done graphic novel. I've been a fan of Willie's music for almost my entire life,but I didn't know much about him. I really enjoyed reading about about his career and personal life. I never knew he struggled so much to get his career off the ground. He's such an icon that I never would have thought music executives didn't like the style of his music. There were some great & very life like illustrations included in this book.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great biographical graphic novel about Willie Nelson’s life and career. Very brief, but filled with some interesting facts that even a huge fan like me didn’t know! The artwork collaboration of 9 different illustrators made the visuals so interesting. Writing was a tad bit choppy, and I was somewhat annoyed about a glaring and obvious edit mistake on page 50. Overall a fun and enjoyable read. It’s also on the Texas Maverick award list for 2021.

[Chelsey Hostetler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love graphic novel biographies and was SO EXCITED to be approved for the ARC for this one. I adored this book! Willie Nelson is an interesting musician and this graphic novel did not disappoint. Multiple art styles during different points in Nelson's life really kept me reading. I will be adding this to my recommendation list ASAP.

[Carly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a fun read! I learned many new little things about Willie. Even thought it is a graphic/comic book style reading- it is for adults (content). I would see myself getting it out from time to time and rereading and admiring the art. I would have given it 5 stars but I think I found a few errors. A fun book for my collection and book case.

[J.D. DeHart · Rating 5 out of 5]

The graphic novel experience of Willie Nelson’s life is professionally done and features detailed images. I love the use of the graphic novel is biography for my own reading, and for use in the classroom. This is a lovely example of how the medium can be used in different ways.

[Lisa Zinkie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is it about graphic novels that feels more like “real talk” on so many matters, including this biography. I’m a fan of Willie’s so I admit my bias, but this book does not paint him in a positive or negative way. It is pretty non-judgmental. I appreciate that.

[MK · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-thought out biography of the man, done in a greyscale photorealistic style. I wanted to learn about him and did. It doesn't shy away from his flaws, especially relating to his marriages. Enjoyable.

[Quentin Vasseur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun/light book about Willie and his life history.

[Stefanie MagMag · Rating 5 out of 5]

Willie Nelson is a national treasure.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting text and interesting choice to have each chapter illustrated by a different artist. Not sure I liked that.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to get into and follow. A well-told history of a man who can't stop writing, or philandering.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an easy enjoyable graphic novel if you are interested in learning about Willie Nelson’s life.

[Abby Frye · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was fun to see Willie's story through the eyes and art of others.

[Jasmin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Graphic novel biography: interesting and concise.