X

by Sue Coe, Judith Moore

"This book is for Malcolm X and all those who have been Xed out by the American Dream-a nightmare where profit is valued more than human life."--Back cover.; A comic book with illustrations by Sue Coe; text by Sue Coe with Art Spiegelman; "concurrent events" by Judith Moore; edited by Françoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman; design by Francoise Mouly.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Politics, Biography, Comics

40 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1986

About the author

Sue Coe grew up next to a slaughterhouse in Liverpool. She studied at the Royal College of Art in London and left for New York in 1972. Early in her career, she was featured in almost every issue of Art Spiegelman’s groundbreaking magazine Raw, and has since contributed illustrations to the New York Times, the New Yorker, The Nation, Entertainment Weekly, Time, Details, The Village Voice, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Esquire and Mother Jones, among other publications. Her previous books include Dead Meat (winner of the 1991 Genesis Award) and Cruel. Among her many awards are the Dickinson College Arts Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women’s Caucus for Art, and a National Academy of Arts Award (2009).

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

The dark and abstract paintings of Sue Coe add to this nightmarish vision of the life of Malcolm X. This nightmare occurred because the government decided to use Kafkaesque methods right out of The Trial - in many situations the name Josef K. could be interchangeable with what Malcolm X had to go through. Powerful and thought provoking.

[D.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sue Coe's X, originally published as a 'Raw One-Shot,' is not (as might reasonably be assumed) a comic biography of Malcolm X, a la Ho Che Anderson's King series. Instead, Coe has created a series of nightmarish, largely symbolic paintings and accompanying rhyming text to compose an anti-capitalism screed in the same vein of angry frustration as Malcom X preached during his brief heyday in the mid-60s. Her work is strong, if a bit to naively dichotomic, and does an admirable job forwarding the X ethos into the 80s (when the book was originally produced).
Interspersed with the paintings and verse are pages of encapsulated history during Malcolm X's lifetime, with a slight focus on civil rights and racial injustice. This part of the book is titled 'Concurrent Events' and is authoured by essayist Judith Moore. These are given as straight fact and offer a context and counterpoint to Coe's more cerebral offerings.
I've read this book a number of times, and while I can never remember what's inside from one read to the next, I can't help feeling it helped to nudge my own perspective at least a little toward Coe's. She produced here a tight little volume of brutal imagery, both graphic and verbal, which is a suitable homage to the Raw credo of the power of art.

[Lydell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read and concept. A chronology of the life and times of Malcolm X presented in a graphic novella using verse (think early hip-hop) that mostly criticizes Western/corporate capitalism through dark, unsettling images. Only a few illustrations focus on Malcolm's life: mother, FBI, and assassination.

[StrictlySequential · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's goes back and forth between Malcolm X's poetry on top of paintings and a quick text timeline that spans 1955-1965. The timeline decisions are those of someone who thinks that they know what best non-X related events to add for the climate of the times but they get too "cute" with it.

Read Malcolm X's sequential art biography by Hill and Wang 0809095041- it's SO MUCH BETTER at portraying a fascinating person while bringing the issues to the reader in a way that sinks in and gets appreciated and acted upon.

[Nick Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Bert Huisman]

25 a

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coe's drawings are always masterful and melancholic. She can draw into the heart of her subject in a way few contemporary artists can.