Writer Mat Johnson (HELLBLAZER: PAPA MIDNITE), winner of the prestigious Hurston-Wright Legacy Award for fiction, constructs a fearless graphic nov...
read full description
reviews
Jul 03, 2008
Oscar
rated it: 
Mat Johnson writes a fantastic murder mystery set in a small town, complete with the outsider trying to reach the truth despite the local powers-that-be. But add that our outsider is Zane Pinchback--a Southern Black journalist based in Harlem, light-skinned enough to pass for white, that infiltrates and reports back on lynchings--and the small town is pre-Civil Rights era Mississippi, and you have the makings of a serial that cuts to the heart of White and Black racism.
Warren Plee More...
Warren Plee More...
Nov 29, 2008
Betsy
rated it: 
This slim noir novel packs a lot into its pages. The text and pictures work extremely well together to paint the portrait of a "high yellow" investigative reporter who goes undercover, i.e. "incognegro" to report first-hand on the brutalities of lynchings of black men in the South. Although he had vowed to stop taking any more of these assignments in favor of working from the newspaper's offices as an editor, he gets an assignment he just can't refuse. His latest assignment i
More...
Jul 06, 2011
Jennifer
rated it:
I'm left with unease after reading this. The art is gorgeous; the story moves quickly; the discussion of race, and how it's a social construct designed to elevate some people at the expense of others, was handled really perceptively. I liked the book's anger; I liked that Mat Johnson managed to make clear why a story about lynching in the 30s is relevant right now.
I also feel like Mat Johnson tried to avoid the typical under-the-busing that seems to be an intrinsic part of discussion More...
I also feel like Mat Johnson tried to avoid the typical under-the-busing that seems to be an intrinsic part of discussion More...
Jun 10, 2010
Dan
rated it: 
This has to be one of the most disappointing approaches to a painful subject in African-American history (the lynchings in the deep South) since Rosewood. Anyone who knows me will know that thoughts of that movie fill me with a potent rage.
"Incognegro" is about a light-skinned black reporter who "passes" for white to infiltrate lynch mobs. Apparently, it's based on an actual reporter from the 1920s who wrote for the Harlem papers. After dancing around this book and its More...
"Incognegro" is about a light-skinned black reporter who "passes" for white to infiltrate lynch mobs. Apparently, it's based on an actual reporter from the 1920s who wrote for the Harlem papers. After dancing around this book and its More...
Apr 29, 2010
Msladydeborah
rated it:
Incognegro is the first graphic novel that I have ever read. I discovered it in the library and decided to borrow it.
Mat Johnson does a stellar job of re-creating the classic black and white movie style in this book, while dealing with the subject of lynching in the southern part of the United States.
Incognegro is Zack Pinchback a news journalist who goes undercover. He can pass for a White male and he gives eye-witness accounts of lynchings. He is also a frustrated jour More...
Mat Johnson does a stellar job of re-creating the classic black and white movie style in this book, while dealing with the subject of lynching in the southern part of the United States.
Incognegro is Zack Pinchback a news journalist who goes undercover. He can pass for a White male and he gives eye-witness accounts of lynchings. He is also a frustrated jour More...
Dec 10, 2009
Robert
rated it: 
Mat Johnson, Incognegro (Vertigo, 2008)
Johnson, responsible for the Papa Midnite Hellblazer story arc, here offers his latest solo joint, a thriller set during the twenties, in the Deep South, featuring two black protagonists. I'm sure you can see where this is going, but there's a twist: one of said protagonists is light-skinned enough to be able to pass for white among, as one character says, “those who ain't lookin'”. As such, our hero, Zane Pinchback (loosely based on NAACP executi More...
Johnson, responsible for the Papa Midnite Hellblazer story arc, here offers his latest solo joint, a thriller set during the twenties, in the Deep South, featuring two black protagonists. I'm sure you can see where this is going, but there's a twist: one of said protagonists is light-skinned enough to be able to pass for white among, as one character says, “those who ain't lookin'”. As such, our hero, Zane Pinchback (loosely based on NAACP executi More...
Sep 13, 2010
Trisha
rated it:
I went into this graphic novel expecting an education on race relations in the 1930s and what I got was an entertaining mystery which was also powerfully informative and moving. The author, Mat Johnson, "grew up a black boy who looked white" and dreamed of using his appearance to promote racial equality. While in college, he read about Walter White, a pale-skinned black man who went undercover to investigate lynchings in the deep south. This is the inspiration for Incognegro.
More...
More...
Oct 02, 2009
James
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jul 18, 2009
Daniel
rated it:
This was an amazing graphic novel. Johnson does an phenomenal job at taking the classic 'who done it' plot and making it his own. The novel explores race & gender dynamics in a unique way, especially the notion of being 'ambiguous'. I was specifically intrigued by the ambiguity around race because of my own life experiences. I am sure this is why Johnson, a black man who 'doesnt look black', *needed* to write this book. The choice to draw the novel in black and white adds a twist of irony becaus
More...
Jan 11, 2011
Anne
rated it:
Wow. "Graphic" says it all -- graphic novel, but also graphic violence. How could you tell the story of lynchings without it? Very grim, especially the first few pages. But there's a lot of heart to this story, too. Parts are even funny, and there are more surprising plot twists in this short book (I read it in one setting while up in the middle of the night once) than in most.
Also -- be sure to read the author's note in the beginning. Race and identity are key to this stor More...
Also -- be sure to read the author's note in the beginning. Race and identity are key to this stor More...
May 24, 2009
Kelly
rated it:
A book club I was going to join was reading this, so I gave it a try. It was very good. It's set during Prohibition and involves a black man who can pass for white going to lynchings in the South and documenting them, with the aim of exposing the participants in his newspaper. At the beginning, he is ready to give up the role, but when someone close to him is on trial for the murder of a white woman, he decides to go down to Mississippi to try to save him. A friend ends up going with him and sti
More...
Jun 28, 2011
Sherry
rated it:
A useful tool for high school and teaching the civil rights movement. Plot was a little hokey, but it would keep a teen's interest. Twins boys are born to an African American family, one is dark the other is so light skinned he passes for white. The fair skinned brother does well as a reporter for a newspaper in New York City while his dark-skinned brother leads a life of crime by making moonshine in the 40's and cavorting with a white woman in Mississippi. The reporter brother travels to Tu
More...
Mar 31, 2011
Jerry
rated it:
Mat Johnson doesn't provide time for a reader to settle into his story, Incognegro, about a journalist living in Harlem during the 1920s and passing for white to obtain news about lynchings in the South for writing a series of articles under a pseudonym. After "Zane Pinchback," also known as "Incognegro," is introduced, Johnson has his character wanting to retire his column until he is compelled to report on another upcoming lynching. In addition to covering the lynching, ho
More...
Aug 03, 2011
Kate
rated it:
A gutsy mixed-race reporter infiltrates Klan-infested Mississippi to free a black man accused of murdering a white woman.
This book starts with Zane, a daring reporter, using his light complexion to get into a KKK lynching in order to get quotes and information from Klan participants and onlookers. This crazy dangerous boldness really shows the reader the nature of the main character. He is suave, tough, fast-talking, smart, and crazy to put himself in situations where he could easily More...
This book starts with Zane, a daring reporter, using his light complexion to get into a KKK lynching in order to get quotes and information from Klan participants and onlookers. This crazy dangerous boldness really shows the reader the nature of the main character. He is suave, tough, fast-talking, smart, and crazy to put himself in situations where he could easily More...
Jan 26, 2009
Rishara
rated it:
This was a really interesting and smart graphic novel tale of a black man "passing" as white in order to investigate (and prevent a particular) lynchings in the 30's south.
I read this and The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam back to back and it was really interesting to see the different ways that graphic novels are being taken. Both are very good, fairly sophisticated works, but so very different. It is kind of weird to think that they get thrown into the same category as More...
I read this and The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam back to back and it was really interesting to see the different ways that graphic novels are being taken. Both are very good, fairly sophisticated works, but so very different. It is kind of weird to think that they get thrown into the same category as More...
Mar 09, 2009
Shalini
rated it:
Incognegro was the book I read for my African American Experience project. This book is a graphic novel by Mat Johnson. It is about the lynching of African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance time period. Zane Pinchback is the main character who is an African American man with a very light complexion so people believe heis white. He wrights a column in the newspaper called Incognegro that talks about the lynching going on in the south. This was a very moving book that I really enjoyed. It wa
More...
Apr 17, 2009
Terry
rated it:
This was a very interesting story about a light skinned man of African descent who went "undercover" as a white man into the South in the early part of the 20th century to report on the atrocities that were happening to some African Americans. There are a couple of twists that keep you on the edge of your seat, and I especially liked the ending. The illustrations are in black in white, which was fitting, as they sort of reminded me of old time cartoons. Due to the subject matter, th
More...
Jan 02, 2009
My favorite kind of book is one that both moves and challenges me, taking me on a thrill ride of story and character. Mat Johnson’s new graphic novel rides that dangerous edge between heavy issues and heavy-hitting action, with the story of a black man passing for white in the lynching-plagued 1930s South. It pulls it off in the way only a comic can (and a black and white comic at that), and manages to work gender politics, family dynamics, and some darned funny dialogue into a suspenseful myste
More...
Dec 08, 2010
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Mar 12, 2010
Jason
rated it:
The black newspaperman who 'passes' as white goes undercover to expose lynchings in the south that have become so common they're not even reported anymore. Things get interesting, however, when his twin brother (who happens through the luck of the draw to have dark skin) is jailed in the south, and the main character must rescue him. For the most part this very slim book is refreshingly honest in its portrayal of race relations and the complications, but it falters with a too-pat ending. Still w
More...
Jan 29, 2011
Diana
rated it:
This was a really cool noir-ish graphic novel about a black journalist who passes as white to do undercover reporting on lynchings. He wants to hang up his hat and do something less dangerous, but his editor talks him into doing one last big story: "Incognegro's" dark-skinned twin brother, Alonzo, is in jail for the murder of a white woman.
His journey South to find out the truth behind the killing is full of suspense and mystery, and I can't say much more to avoid spoiling More...
His journey South to find out the truth behind the killing is full of suspense and mystery, and I can't say much more to avoid spoiling More...
Dec 29, 2011
Chris
rated it:
As many people have pointed out, Incognegro covers a lot in its 136 pages. I think a little is lost on the connections the reader can make with the characters due to its length, but I did care about what was happening to Zane and his brother. The only real disappointmet for me was that it wasn't longer. I wanted to know more about Zane's previous stories/journalism and what the future held for him. I definitely could use several more volumes of this graphic novel (although I know that'll never h
More...
Oct 30, 2011
Twan
rated it:
Incognegro - a light skinned african-american news reporter makes his money travelling down south to investigating the lynching of black guys by going 'Incognegro' and dressing and acting like a white guy. A bit like in 'White Girls' only nowhere near as racist. He is all set on giving up this dangerous job when he gets wind that his brother is in deep shit after being accused of killing a white woman. Moonshine, hillbillies and the Klan all make appearances. Quite a decent little murder my More...
May 23, 2009
Ryan
rated it:
The lynchings and spread of the Klan in the 1920's isn't covered as much as the aftermath of the civil war and the rise of Jim Crow, but this was all happening during the Harlem Renaissance, of which the main character in this book, Zach Pinchback, longs to be a part. He's a writer, but he can't let anyone know that. Passing for white, he travels the south reporting on the lynchings and making sure the details and the whites who did it are published. His pseudonym is the title of the book.
More...
Sep 03, 2008
Steve
rated it:
With their new book Incognegro, writer Mat Johnson and artist Warren Pleece weave a tale that is at once thrilling in its plot twists and thought-provoking in its exploration of the racial divide in our country at the turn of the 20th century. It is an insightful look at the themes of identity and prejudice wrapped within a gripping story of murder and wrongful accusation, and it is easily one of the best graphic novels of 2008 to date.
Set in the 1920s and jumping between the very d More...
Set in the 1920s and jumping between the very d More...
Jul 04, 2008
Barbara
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jul 27, 2009
Izetta Autumn
rated it:
I'm new to the graphic novel and Mat Johnson provided a great introduction with his book Incognegro . The book's inspiration comes from Johnson's own upbringing and search for role models who looked like him - other fair-skinned, white looking Black men, who were committed to social justice and who were heroes of civil rights. He stumbled, according to his introduction, onto the story of Walter White, former head of the NAACP (and great grandson of President William Henry Harrison) and his work
More...
May 12, 2008
Brad
rated it:
Incognegro is the pen name of a reporter for syndicated black newspapers that documents otherwise overlooked lynchings in the American South in the early 1900s. He's got the name because his pale skin color belies his ethnicity (at least it does to white folk.) He wants to get out of an obviously risky job, but his editor, decked out in glasses and suspenders, gives him one last case down in Mississippi he can't help but investigate.
The story is a crisp caper (if you can call a story abo More...
The story is a crisp caper (if you can call a story abo More...
May 08, 2008
Roxane
rated it:
Early 20th century. Zane Pinchback, light skinned African American, is a reporter for the New York Herald. His secret alias "Incognegro" is famous for denouncing the lynchings taking place in the American South. Thanks to his skin color, Zane can easily "pass" and thus, investigate these lynchings, making sure the names of those responsible are made public.
Johnson does a spectacular work at demonstrating in what ways and to what extent race is a social construct t More...
Johnson does a spectacular work at demonstrating in what ways and to what extent race is a social construct t More...
May 05, 2008
C.
rated it:
A graphic novel about a light-skinned black reporter from Harlem who travels the deep south, passing as a white man, reporting on the lynchings of black men. His pen name? Incognegro.
Incognegro is living during the Harlem Renaissance, and wants to reveal his real name, to get his share of the attention that is currently on his neighborhood. He goes on one last mission to the south, this one to free his twin brother, a moonshiner who has been wrongfully jailed for the murder of a whit More...
Incognegro is living during the Harlem Renaissance, and wants to reveal his real name, to get his share of the attention that is currently on his neighborhood. He goes on one last mission to the south, this one to free his twin brother, a moonshiner who has been wrongfully jailed for the murder of a whit More...
