Overview
Born in Philadelphua in 1915, and dead too early in New York in 1959, Billie Holiday became a legendary jazz singer, even mythical. With her voice even now managing to touch so many people, we follow a reporter on the trail of the artist on behalf of a New York daily. Beyond the public scandals that marred the life of the star (alcohol, drugs, violence...), he seeks to restore the truth, revisiting the memory of Billie. Through this investigation, Muñoz and Sampayo trace, through the undertones of racism, and in the wake of the blues, the slow drift of a singer who expressed the deepest emotions in jazz. By internationally renowned Argentine artists, featuring Muñoz' strikingly raw heavy blacks, this is not just a biography but a spell-binding art book tribute.Reviews
"From the plaintive "Lover Man" to the antilynching "Strange Fruit," jazz singer Billie Holiday lived the songs she sang-and worse. Her acclaimed talent persisted through violence and exploitation from her menfolk plus drinking, drugging, and discrimination. This biography offers glaring flashes of Holiday's songs and life more than the details, with Muñoz's high-contrast, black-and-white panels immersing audiences in an overwhelming strung-out reality. Mature readers." —Library Journal
"From the plaintive 'Lover Man' to the anti-lynching 'Strange Fruit,' jazz singer Billie Holiday lived the songs she sang—and worse. Her acclaimed talent persisted through violence and exploitation from her menfolk plus drinking, drugging, and discrimination. This biography offers glaring flashes of Holiday's songs and life more than the details, with Muñoz's high-contrast, black-and-white panels immersing audiences in an overwhelming strung-out reality. Mature readers." —Library JournalAuthor Biography
Jose Muñoz had a serious passion for comics from an early age. His first comics job was assisting Francisco Solano Lopez, illustrating stories by Argentine comics legend Hector Osterheld. His first leap into creating comics independently was the detective series Precinct 56. Muñoz moved to Europe in 1972, meeting fellow Argentine writer Carlos Sampayo. The duo collaborated often with various series, including Alack Sinner (IDW) and in Art Spiegelman's Raw. Gaining international recognition, the duo has won Angouleme and Yellow Kid awards and been nominated for an Eisner.