Leone: Notes on a Life

by Carmine Di Giandomenico, Francesco Colafella (Artist)

Leone arrived to the States from Southern Italy on a boat, a story common to many. Once in New York, he worked on construction sites of skyscrapers and buildings, filling his days with effort and music. Called to arms by his country he goes back home, leaving the life that he built for himself in the States, lovers and friends, to fight the war - and save many lives.
The life of Leone contains so many the stories of all those who left home but never forgot their origins, and who spread courage and love in the world before going back home.

Leone is a symbol of courage and strength, an unstoppable force guided by just one to go back home.

LEONE is a true story of an Italian man who migrated to the US to seek fortune, freedom and jazz. From the stage of his last concert in New York City before going back home, through the sound of his trumpet Leone tells us about his past and future, a tale made of jazz, memories and time leaps. An emotional trip by superstar artist Carmine Di Giandomenico (The Flash, Battlin' Jack Murdock) and the talented Francesco Colafella.

Immigration seen from the eyes of who's leaving home, a common theme to men and women all over the world.

Genres: Graphic Novels

160 pages, Paperback

Published December 21, 2021

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

This comic is visually stunning. Di Giandomenico draws some beautifully delicate figures that dance across the page. The coloring is quite remarkable as well. The nonlinear storytelling was almost impossible to follow though. Sometimes, three different stories were being told on one page with only different coloring to tell them apart. It was impossible to keep it all straight.

I only got the broadest strokes of the story. Leone is an Italian immigrant to New York City where he worked building skyscrapers. On the side, he'd play his trumpet occasionally. Eventually he went back to Italy when drafted into World War II. This is one of those books where it's best to just take in the gorgeous art and forget about the story.

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story about immigration from Italy to the United States, told in a deliberately confusing way, using a chopped up and mixed timeline.

I'm in two minds about this - yes, the chopped upness is confusing and at times annoying, but the story would also be a lot less interesting to read if it were told chronologically.

I kind of admire the audacity of making this choice to tell the story, and the art is quite pretty, I'm just not sure that the only thing making the writing stand out is that it's artificially hard to follow.

(Picked up a review copy through Edelweiss)

[mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leone was an Italian man that went to America to find work. He was a trumpeter, fought in the war, was a husband, father, and grandfather. This is his story.

Reading this graphic novel was quite an unusual and kind of surreal experience. Illustrations are very artistic, not classic. The author used a lot of different styles. From almost photographic, colored, and detailed. To black & white, sketchy, shadowy, and blurred. Also, the story is pretty smudged. We can see pieces of Leone's childhood, traveling to America, working there, and life at home in Italy. The mood is quite strong, dizzying, and emotional.

This was a quick read, but I expected the story to be more about music and jazz, and I would prefer more of the story. I would say this graphic novel is not for the general reader. But the readers who can appreciate different and artistic graphic novels could enjoy this rollercoaster. I liked it, and sometimes I didn’t, so I settled for 3 stars.

Thanks to Image Comics for the ARC and the opportunity to read this! All opinions are my own.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

The non-linear narrative is a favorite story-telling technique of mine, so I devoured this graphic novel in one sitting. I can relate to this story being an immigrant myself, and knowing that detachment from a motherland is as hard as detachment from a mother.

The discrimination and struggle is real for any immigrant, and what’s funny, it’s that we’re all from the same source, and we continue the vicious cycle of hating foreign concepts and people, but at the end of the rope, in retrospect, we each experience a different journey, but the same destination.

The closing letter by Leone’s granddaughter reminded me of One Hundred Years of Solitude, and how life comes around and the farther away family generations comes to be, the closer family gets for the newer family member.

[Theediscerning · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well the next time you have "notes on a life" can you at least present them in a semi-legible fashion? There's something here about an Italian going to NYC and playing jazz, something about children, something about a woman, something about war, and it's all got the narrative coherence of the introductory poster gallery. What's more, I don't know about jazz – the visuals seem inspired by the band name Splodgenessabounds. Utter waste of time.

[Tatiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful story of one man's life, filled with love, loss, tough decisions and significant events. At the centre of it all - jazz.
Next to encaptivating story, phenomenal artwork.

[Yeneek · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I could I would give it a 4.3
The story itself didn't really grab me until the end
The art is immaculate and I think adds to the comic as a whole to have different styles of art for different periods in Leone's life.
The letter at the end of the book touched me deeply, having recently losing a grandparent it spoke to me and managed to touch my heart.
It conveys things that I wish I would be able to share with my grandparent but unfortunately no one can have all that time in this world.

[Nick Mehalick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeous book that goes well beyond the label of a genre or medium. To call it simply a biography or graphic biography would be reductive as the images and non-linear narrative combine to make this a swirling, breathing piece of art that is both notes on a life and also a history of many of us and those that came before us. Just a beautiful piece of work.

[Calvin Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is a visual feast. So many large panels that should be in a gallery show.

The written story is sparse, but with the art still moving.

[Daniel DiFranco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful to look at, virtually impossible to form much beyond a sketch of a story.