GRAPHIC NOVEL REVIEW: Redbone - The True Story of a Native American Rock Band
Redbone: The True Story of a Native American Rock Band was released in October 2020.
By Ariel Baska — Not only is this the story of a highly influential rock group, Redbone, who made a powerful impact on the international music scene, but it is equally the story of the band members and their shared cultural identity as Native Americans, and what that identity means. Co-written by Christian Staebler, a French super-fan of the group, the Redbone - The True Story of a Native American Rock Band graphic novel documents a series of interviews with embedded flashbacks, using it all to depict the history of the band in brilliant detail, and it speaks to a history of the United States that we never learned in school.
The narrative may be quite documentary in nature, with more than a few talking heads discussing the minutia of who was where and when, and it has many name drops that will mean little to most. Even so, the script by Christian Staebler and Sonia Paoloni excels at discussing the connections to the larger events in Native American history, as well as at looking at them through the microcosm of biography.
The lifeblood of this book though, is the artwork. Artist Thibault Balahy presents faces and personas in unusual and abstract layers, while also brushing stunning watercolors over the line drawings. On one particularly memorable page, Balahy accentuates the irrepressible joy of Jimi Hendrix’s hair that simply will not be confined within the line work. Balahy accomplishes this with two tones at his disposal. The orange-red and blue-green watercolors nevertheless feel freeing and stream-of-consciousness, an appropriate association for the 1960s. The drops from the brush run away with the intensity of emotions that appear to bleed through each page.
Overall: A gorgeously illustrated slice of rock history wrapped in the secret history of this nation, Redbone - The True Story of a Native American Rock Band is an excellent graphic novel. 9/10
GRAPHIC NOVEL REVIEW: Redbone - The True Story of a Native American Rock Band
Redbone - The True Story of a Native American Rock Band
Writers: Christian Staebler and Sonia Paoloni
Artist: Thibault Balahy
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Experience the riveting, powerful story of the Native American civil rights movement and the resulting struggle for identity told through the high-flying career of west coast rock n' roll pioneers, Redbone. You've heard the hit song “Come and Get Your Love” in the movie Guardians of the Galaxy, but the story of the band behind it is one of cultural, political, and social importance. Brothers Pat and Lolly Vegas were talented Native American rock musicians that took the 1960s Sunset Strip by storm. They influenced The Doors and jammed with Jimmy Hendrix before he was “Jimi,” and the idea of a band made up of completely Native Americans soon followed. Determined to control their creative vision and maintain their cultural identity, they eventually signed a deal with Epic Records in 1969. But as the American Indian Movement gained momentum the band took a stand, choosing pride in their ancestry over continued commercial reward. Created with the cooperation of the Vegas family, painstaking steps were taken to ensure the historical accuracy of this important and often overlooked story of America's past. Part biography and part research journalism, Redbone provides a voice to a people long neglected in American history.
Release Date: October 2020
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Ariel Baska pretends to know many things. And yeah, she has a pop culture podcast, Ride the Omnibus. Which may or may not be exactly as pretentious as you think.
