Customer Reviews

Stagger Lee

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The first time I read Stagger Lee, months ago when it first came out, I was blown away by its ambition, a sprawling blend of [loosely] historical fiction and docu-drama centering on, but not confined to, the "legend" who spawned a multitude of songs, Stagger Lee, aka Stacker Lee, Stagolee, Stack-A-Lee, Stack O'Lee.

As writer Derek McCulloch lays it out, the underlying truth of the story, and the sole point upon which every version of the song agrees, is that Stagger Lee shot Billy Lyons. From there the details vary, sometimes drastically depending on the teller, and McCulloch incorporates that variety into his own version of the tale as colorful, informative interludes to his main storyline, the defense of Stagger Lee, aka Lee Shelton, and the toll it takes on those involved.

Injecting several key fictional characters into the tale, McCulloch crafts a compelling take on the truth behind the legend -- equal parts courtroom drama, love story, and social commentary -- that deftly weaves together the corrupt political dealings of late-19th century St. Louis and the personal interactions of a handful of its negro citizens whose lives are touched by Lee Shelton's crime in various ways. Among those affected are Shelton himself, whom McCulloch wryly posits was likely to have heard at least one of the earliest interpretations of his crime first-hand.

In many ways, Shelton is a spectactor to his own story as Justin Troupe -- legal assistant to the morphine-addicted defense attorney, Nathan Dryden -- takes center stage in a sub-plot that pulls several of the underlying historical threads together into a story that would be noteworthy on its own, separated from the "musical" interludes. It is the ambitious, and mostly successful, weaving of the two, however, that lifts Stagger Lee above the crowd of a bumper crop of great graphic novels that came out this year.

Shepherd Hendrix' artwork is subtle and understated, perfectly complementing the densely layered storyline while bringing his own energy and flair to the proceedings. Effortlessly shifting styles as the tone of the story shifts (many of the "musical" interludes have a humorous slant to them, with Stagger Lee offering comical asides to his various crimes and punishments), his characters and layouts are very clean, working the one-color (brownish-black, faux sepia?) and coarse paper format to optimal effect. Stagger Lee and Billy Lyons are smartly defined by the patterns of their suits, and he's particularly good with facial expressions, an essential skill for a dramatic story with minimal "action".

There's no self-indulgent two-page spreads here; instead Hendrix packs every page with as much detail and story as possible, making this as fulfilling a read as you'll find in comics.

Determining a "best of the year" pick is always tricky because it's never an apples to apples comparison, and there's invariably something that came out early in the year, or at the very end, that slips under the radar. Also, 2006 was a particularly good year for original graphic novels, with American Born Chinese, Deogratias, La Perdida, Iron West and The Left Bank Gang among my absolute favorites, but for its outstanding combination of ambition, execution and re-readability, Stagger Lee gets the nod for my Best Original Graphic Novel of 2006.

I was drawn to this book because I'm a blues fan and a bit of a Stagger Lee geek--I've been researching the music and folklore related to the badman for several years now. Having read Cecil Brown's book "Stagolee Shot Billy", I was familiar with the historical events that this graphic novel deals with, and I had my doubts that these events could be translated well into a work of historical fiction. But writer Greil Marcus, the man who chronicled the Stagger Lee legend in his classic rock 'n' roll book "Mystery Train", praised McCulloch's and Hendrix's book in the June issue of Interview magazine, which is about as good an endorsement as could be made as far as I'm concerned.

So I started reading "Stagger Lee" with high expectations, and the book certainly delivered. Writer and illustrator have teamed up to create a great piece of storytelling, mixing fact, fiction and folklore in a compelling way and presenting it with graphics that do a convincing job of conjuring up a place and time where it all happened. I just wish that more time would have been spent in developing the character of Lee Shelton, the man who shot Billy. I don't think that the book brings out the fact that Shelton was a pimp. It would have been interesting to probe his psyche and his relationships with his fellow pimps and the ladies who worked for him.

I had never read a graphic novel before this book. If you're in the same boat, don't be put off by the mistaken idea that you're reading a comic book. For me, it was like reading a script with the bonus of having it completely storyboarded. When I was a kid, comic books were for children and most movies were made for adults. It's a different world now: most movies are made for children, and comic books have evolved into an intelligent, new form of entertainment for adults. Reading "Stagger Lee" is a wonderful introduction to this new art form.

I just finished reading Stagger Lee and wanted to compliment the writer and the artist on their accomplishment. I have always been a fan of well written historical fiction. I define "well written" as re-telling a familiar story in way that the reader is still wandering what's going to happen next. That makes Stagger Lee very well written.
The story plays out in some ways more like a docu-drama than pure historical fiction as it compares fact and folklore while interweaving compeling fiction. The art serves to compliment the story rather than to compete with it. Bravo.

I'm a huge music fan and love reading about the origins of songs.

When I first heard "Stagger Lee" by Lloyd Price I has no idea I was listening to the 'cleaned up' version of the song, or that it had roots in a true story. It was just an awesomely cool melody with a mind-numbingly catchy rhythm and 'go Stagger Lee' chorus.

This book juxtaposes actual incidents, 'modified' facts and several incarnations of the characters in popular music.

The graphic novel is presented in novel 'brown and white' evoking a sense of sepia-tone film. The artwork ranges from photorealism to extreme caracature depending on whether the narrative is illustrating colorful lyrics or cold facts.

The background story is a mix of fact and fiction, designed to elicit a feeling for the racial tension in turn-of-the-century America as blacks desperately tried to maintain a sense of self-respect while battling daily bigotry from the powerful white establishment.

It's all here, action, drama, politics, revenge, justice and a hooker with a heart of gold.

My single criticism is that McCulloch and Hendrix tried to fit so many characters and events in a mere 214 pages. I was having trouble keeping up with who was who.

This book would make an awesome mini-series.

Go Stagger Lee!

If you like your stories heavy on the folklore and with a scholarly bent ("From Hell," "Deadwood," "Lone Wolf and Cub") then this is the book for you. Relying on exhaustive research, McCulloch weaves the truth and legend of "that bad man" Stagger Lee into a winding and entertaining narrative. From the trial of the real Stag Lee to myth that he became, the story flows in and out of history and fiction.

Hendrix's art matches the story step-for-step with a clean-line style that consistently suits well the action, the comedy and the quite moments equally.

This is a book to both enjoy and learn from at the same time, but be sure to pay attention, there's a lot going on.

...and don't touch the hat!

Derek McCulloch, Stagger Lee (Image, 2006)

I checked this one out because I wanted to get another take on the Stagger Lee story; what I got was not only that, but a history of the tale and how it come to be the way it is. It's quite interestingly done, though the way McCulloch interweaves the more modern history with his reconstructed version of the original tale does tend to knock the pace around far more than I would think it should need to.

The original tale that McCulloch reconstructs centers around "Stagger" Lee Shelton, who shot Billy Lyons during a bar fight, but there's a lot more to it than that; political corruption, crooked lawyers, industry bosses all abound, and all take a great interest in Shelton's case. Through this, McCulloch paints a grim, if fascinating, picture of life in the western part of the United States in the nineteenth century. Intercut with this, at the beginning of each chapter, is a short digression that looks at one or two versions of the song "Stagger Lee" as it's come down over the years, examining differences between them and what we know of the actual history of Lee Shelton. These are often amusing or enlightening, but do cut into the story, and seem as if they should have been set farther off somehow (they're too long for footnotes, but sidebars might have worked). Still, worth a read if you're interested in musical history. ***