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Billie Holiday: The Graphic Novel: Women in Jazz
Dive into the celebrated life of “Lady Day” with this fully-illustrated graphic novel that tells the story of Billie Holiday’s rapid—and, at times, grueling—rise to become one of the best musicians who ever lived.
From her days as a young entertainer performing for small jazz clubs in Harlem, to headlining sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall, every trouble and triumph of Billie Holiday's bold, influential career is featured in this graphic novel from Fantoons.
Throughout the book’s 144 pages of dazzling color illustrations, readers will revisit Billie’s peak years as she helped lead the transition from the Harlem Renaissance to the iconic Swing Era alongside some of the top names in jazz—including Artie Shaw, Lester Young, and Count Basie.
Meanwhile, readers will learn the true history behind the making and recording of some of Billie’s most-classic hits, like “God Bless the Child,” and “Strange Fruit,” the latter of which is considered to be the first protest song of the civil rights era.
Widely recognized as one of the greatest jazz singers of all time, Billie’s emotive voice, distinct phrasing, and flawless technique cemented her place as an American icon. Now, new and longtime fans alike have the opportunity to learn more about Lady Day’s short but spectacular life.
At a time when the country is struggling with issues involving identity and race, this graphic novel provides a timely look into the fascinating life of a fighter, survivor, and world-renowned artist.
From her days as a young entertainer performing for small jazz clubs in Harlem, to headlining sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall, every trouble and triumph of Billie Holiday's bold, influential career is featured in this graphic novel from Fantoons.
Throughout the book’s 144 pages of dazzling color illustrations, readers will revisit Billie’s peak years as she helped lead the transition from the Harlem Renaissance to the iconic Swing Era alongside some of the top names in jazz—including Artie Shaw, Lester Young, and Count Basie.
Meanwhile, readers will learn the true history behind the making and recording of some of Billie’s most-classic hits, like “God Bless the Child,” and “Strange Fruit,” the latter of which is considered to be the first protest song of the civil rights era.
Widely recognized as one of the greatest jazz singers of all time, Billie’s emotive voice, distinct phrasing, and flawless technique cemented her place as an American icon. Now, new and longtime fans alike have the opportunity to learn more about Lady Day’s short but spectacular life.
At a time when the country is struggling with issues involving identity and race, this graphic novel provides a timely look into the fascinating life of a fighter, survivor, and world-renowned artist.
148 pages, Hardcover
Published April 20, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
September 10, 2022
Known for her voice and improvisation, Billie Holiday performed with Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson, Count Basie, and Artie Shaw (the first black woman singer to perform with a white orchestra) and eventually became a solo artist. She said that she sang no two songs alike, because she sang how she felt and where the music took her. She had sold out shows at Carnegie Hall.
Born Eleanor Fagan in 1915 of unwed parents, Billie Holiday had a difficult childhood that included abandonment, separation, truancy, reform school, child labor, and rape. She never learned to read as a child. She was a fighter.
However, she was temperamental, unreliable, and angry. She was tough, profane, and had attitude. Since men treated her like a whore, she believed men were “full of shit.” While performing in the South, she faced racism and humiliation. She struggled with “booze, dope, and men.” Billie was imprisoned for drug possession and lost her New York City Cabaret Card, which her prevented working where alcohol was sold limiting her performances to concert venues and theaters. She was arrested again for narcotics. She died at age 44 in 1959 in the hospital of cirrhosis of the liver impoverished and in police custody for a new drug charge. Posthumously she was inducted in halls of fame for the Grammy, jazz, and rock and roll.
In the 1930s, she met Lester Young, who was a jazz tenor saxophonist with the Count Basie band. She called him “Pres” or “Prez”, while Lester named her “Lady Day”. “He didn’t see a whore, a bitch, or a colored. He saw a lady.” They last appeared together in a CBS television special, The Sound of Jazz, in December 1957. Three months before her death, this long-time off and on friend died at 49 years old.
Some of her iconic songs:
“Strange Fruit”, which was from a 1937 poem by Abel Meeropol, who was a Jewish school teacher from the Bronx, protesting the lynching of Black Americans.
“Fine and Mellow”, which was on the other side of the record, was a jukebox favorite in 1939.
“God Bless the Child”, recorded in 1941 of her angry retort to her mother after they argued.
“Lover Man” released in 1945 was one of her popular hits.
This graphic novel wonderfully and elegantly illustrated in blacks, browns, whites, and purples is based on Billie Holiday’s life, “but, in certain cases, events or names may have been combined or changed for narrative clarity.” I agree as I did my own research.
Born Eleanor Fagan in 1915 of unwed parents, Billie Holiday had a difficult childhood that included abandonment, separation, truancy, reform school, child labor, and rape. She never learned to read as a child. She was a fighter.
However, she was temperamental, unreliable, and angry. She was tough, profane, and had attitude. Since men treated her like a whore, she believed men were “full of shit.” While performing in the South, she faced racism and humiliation. She struggled with “booze, dope, and men.” Billie was imprisoned for drug possession and lost her New York City Cabaret Card, which her prevented working where alcohol was sold limiting her performances to concert venues and theaters. She was arrested again for narcotics. She died at age 44 in 1959 in the hospital of cirrhosis of the liver impoverished and in police custody for a new drug charge. Posthumously she was inducted in halls of fame for the Grammy, jazz, and rock and roll.
In the 1930s, she met Lester Young, who was a jazz tenor saxophonist with the Count Basie band. She called him “Pres” or “Prez”, while Lester named her “Lady Day”. “He didn’t see a whore, a bitch, or a colored. He saw a lady.” They last appeared together in a CBS television special, The Sound of Jazz, in December 1957. Three months before her death, this long-time off and on friend died at 49 years old.
Some of her iconic songs:
“Strange Fruit”, which was from a 1937 poem by Abel Meeropol, who was a Jewish school teacher from the Bronx, protesting the lynching of Black Americans.
“Fine and Mellow”, which was on the other side of the record, was a jukebox favorite in 1939.
“God Bless the Child”, recorded in 1941 of her angry retort to her mother after they argued.
“Lover Man” released in 1945 was one of her popular hits.
This graphic novel wonderfully and elegantly illustrated in blacks, browns, whites, and purples is based on Billie Holiday’s life, “but, in certain cases, events or names may have been combined or changed for narrative clarity.” I agree as I did my own research.
April 25, 2021
Terrific graphic memoir about the iconic Billie Holiday. The artwork is terrific and the story is both uplifting as we witness the rise of such an influential black songstress, and heartbreaking as we read about the tragedies that Billie experiences in her too brief life. What I mainly look for in graphic memoirs is if the story is interesting enough for me to conduct a deeper dive into the subject. I will definitely be on the lookout for more books about Lady Day.
July 20, 2022
Excellent biographical graphic novel!
The artwork was superb, along with the dark purple and black color palate. It made it feel like you could see the Blues Billie was not only singing but feeling.
I enjoyed the mix of Billie's childhood and adulthood. The story never dragged on, but gave insight into what made her who she was and why she did the things she did.
This graphic novel is brief enough to give a good understanding of Billie's life that will make you want to dive deeper and explore more of Lady Day.
I would read again. I highly recommend!
The artwork was superb, along with the dark purple and black color palate. It made it feel like you could see the Blues Billie was not only singing but feeling.
I enjoyed the mix of Billie's childhood and adulthood. The story never dragged on, but gave insight into what made her who she was and why she did the things she did.
This graphic novel is brief enough to give a good understanding of Billie's life that will make you want to dive deeper and explore more of Lady Day.
I would read again. I highly recommend!
December 27, 2023
This is a stunning book. Billie Holiday is everything, and her story is a contradiction - such beauty out of such tragedy.
June 30, 2021
I learned a lot about this talented Woman. This graphic novel puts it all out there by showing a very raw, real look into the beginning of her singing career with peeks into her past, including her youth. The illustrations are simply but elegantly done.
If you can't handle cussing, raw imagery, or illustrations depicting violence, skip the book.
If you can't handle cussing, raw imagery, or illustrations depicting violence, skip the book.
March 22, 2022
I've read many books but nothing in my tenure has been quite like this tribute through words and pictures to Billie Holiday. Like Lady Day herself, who captured the very essence of melancholy with her voice, this graphic novel does the same. It is filled with profound suggestions of disappointed expectations as her daily reality. It goes without saying that Billie Holiday is one of the most important jazz singers, Black or White, to have ever lived. Here is an honest depiction of her fall and rise and slow decline due to misogyny, social injustice, and drug addiction without minimizing her talent and historic relevance. The drawings make the story refreshingly personal and achingly human.
This book is a whole mood and I dare anyone to read without a bittersweet sigh at the end.
Well done, Ms. Ebony Gilbert. You've done a great thing here and done right by Billie Holiday. Take a bow.
This book is a whole mood and I dare anyone to read without a bittersweet sigh at the end.
Well done, Ms. Ebony Gilbert. You've done a great thing here and done right by Billie Holiday. Take a bow.
January 23, 2022
I'm not familiar enough with Holiday's life to know how accurate this portrayal is, but the work itself is gorgeous, with amazing artwork from a host of creators. Holiday's life was a struggle against the odds of sexism and racism, made worse by substance abuse, and Gilbert doesn't shy away from the fact that some of Holiday's problems are self-made.
The panel construction in particular works well for a biography of a jazz singer, too. Jazz is about throwing away strict rules, and the artists often will play with the traditional panel selections. I do wish they'd have done a bit more to make the likenesses different, however. The faces were not quite as strong as they could have been and it takes a bit of the emotional punch out of the really cracking dialogue.
Overall, though, a great work that I hope gets into school systems, as Keith Knight mentions in his introduction.
The panel construction in particular works well for a biography of a jazz singer, too. Jazz is about throwing away strict rules, and the artists often will play with the traditional panel selections. I do wish they'd have done a bit more to make the likenesses different, however. The faces were not quite as strong as they could have been and it takes a bit of the emotional punch out of the really cracking dialogue.
Overall, though, a great work that I hope gets into school systems, as Keith Knight mentions in his introduction.
January 30, 2023
First and foremost, the illustrations are gorgeous.
As with her own accounts of her life, it's hard to know how much is fact and how much is fictionalized, but this book does well at covering the hardships in her life and the importance of music in it as well. Not sure how I feel about her death being glossed over when so much else was so explicitly covered.
As with her own accounts of her life, it's hard to know how much is fact and how much is fictionalized, but this book does well at covering the hardships in her life and the importance of music in it as well. Not sure how I feel about her death being glossed over when so much else was so explicitly covered.
May 8, 2024
Graphic novel that does the late, great Billie Holiday justice, from her rise to fame, some of her great career achievements, and the demons that continued to haunt her until her passing. Look forward to seeing other work by the author and illustrator, because there was a level of thoughtful with this project.
July 24, 2021
Pretty great graphic novel biography of Billie Holiday. I learned a lot about her, but it left me wanting to know even more! Love the art and style, and loved playing her phenomenal music while reading it.
October 16, 2023
Captivating, powerful, and full of pain...
I have always enjoyed the songs of Billie Holiday, and I found this graphic novel by coincidence at the library of my university... And what a coincidence..
I have always enjoyed the songs of Billie Holiday, and I found this graphic novel by coincidence at the library of my university... And what a coincidence..
February 13, 2025
Oh, I liked this graphic novel! I didn't know much about Billie Holiday, only basic stories about her songs. she was a great singer and worked hard despite what happened to her from the beginning. she was recognized as one of the most wonderful jazz singers in the '40s."
September 12, 2021
I started to listen to some of the songs but I finished it before the 3rd song.
I was only aware of some random anecdotes about her so I learned a lot.
I want to read more about Lester Young....
I was only aware of some random anecdotes about her so I learned a lot.
I want to read more about Lester Young....
February 21, 2022
EXCELLENT!!! BUY THIS BOOK!!!
January 2, 2023
An absolutely beautiful book. I had chills down my spine.
February 11, 2023
Awesome historical fiction graphic novel that just summarizes Billie Holidays life with important facts that some may not know off. Great to read for Black History month.
July 9, 2024
Beautiful art that capture Billie in moments to create a loose narrative of her life and a strong sense of her as a woman.
December 5, 2023
This lively, beautifully packaged comic-book retelling of the life of a legendary American singer does a good job telling the story of her difficult and wonderful life but is a bit too facile at times. It falls just short of being four stars, but it’s still a very nice intro to Holiday’s life. I, for one, knew about the enormous achievement that was her “Strange Fruit,” but I had no clue that her struggles included jail time on top of everything else that a Black woman of her stature could be expected to endure in Jim Crow America (which is perhaps a little naive of me; prison is an important weapon in American racism’s arsenal).
That such a complicated life can be condensed into an involving sequence of scenes—ones that don’t get bogged down in exposition—is a testament to the quality of Ebony Gilbert and David Calcano’s script. This could easily be translated into a tight screenplay of a biopic. The substance of the individual scenes can be a bit on the nose, as Billie boldly asserts herself in many encounters that feel like set pieces rather than actual historical events. Even if the dialogue in them can be too straightforward, the scenes are skillfully drawn by the art team of Lindsay Lee, Juan Rivera, Ittai Manero, and Jorge Mansilla, who perfectly portray the emotions of the many historical figures, with only one serious hiccup where Billie is fired from Count Basie’s band, where it looks like it was traced from a shonen manga. The colors by Manero and Samuel Blanco are subtle but effective, with a regal purple predominating in the present day to contrast with a beige that’s at once dull and overwhelmingly bright in the flashbacks.
This is my first time encountering a book published by Fantoons. They seem to specialize in comic-book biographies of music stars, and this book shows they do a good job at it, with one exception: they need to put the creators’ names on the cover. Comics are well past the era of not properly crediting their creators, and Fantoons needs their covers to catch up with the contents.
That such a complicated life can be condensed into an involving sequence of scenes—ones that don’t get bogged down in exposition—is a testament to the quality of Ebony Gilbert and David Calcano’s script. This could easily be translated into a tight screenplay of a biopic. The substance of the individual scenes can be a bit on the nose, as Billie boldly asserts herself in many encounters that feel like set pieces rather than actual historical events. Even if the dialogue in them can be too straightforward, the scenes are skillfully drawn by the art team of Lindsay Lee, Juan Rivera, Ittai Manero, and Jorge Mansilla, who perfectly portray the emotions of the many historical figures, with only one serious hiccup where Billie is fired from Count Basie’s band, where it looks like it was traced from a shonen manga. The colors by Manero and Samuel Blanco are subtle but effective, with a regal purple predominating in the present day to contrast with a beige that’s at once dull and overwhelmingly bright in the flashbacks.
This is my first time encountering a book published by Fantoons. They seem to specialize in comic-book biographies of music stars, and this book shows they do a good job at it, with one exception: they need to put the creators’ names on the cover. Comics are well past the era of not properly crediting their creators, and Fantoons needs their covers to catch up with the contents.
December 29, 2022
Really excellent story of Billie's life, told through beautiful illustrations. Very moving and inspiring - highly recommend listening to the songs mentioned throughout while reading.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews