This will be published on the 28th of April 2023.

A Thankyou

Thank you to Netgalley and Warnauts & Raives for this reviewers copy of the graphic novel Liberty.

Graphic Novel?

Here at R&R we are excited to review our first graphic novel! We’re no strangers to the medium, have read numerous marvel, DC, dark horses……comics and graphic novels. You might think many things about graphic novels, but we believe there is more than one way a story can be told and graphic novels are works of art. So sit back, read the review and ask yourself, does this sound like something I am interested in?

Blurb

“This sweeping, intercontinental graphic novel covers 40 years in the life of a mother and daughter. Liberty is a young woman navigating her shadowy past and rocky present in the New York City of the early 2000s. But “Liberty” is also a word with a weight of its own, one carried by an entire generation of African-Americans living through a moment of great hope and fear.”

Story

The story begins in Kinshasa. 1974. This is a story about rape, race and life. I was drawn to the story for the artwork. I enjoy art and was impressed by the illustrations, the cover and the colour between the pages. This is a tale of a woman from Kinshasa and I found it quite sad. The pace was fast. Everything happens in a moment. The writing between the first pages did not make me connect with Tshilanda, some was cliché and you only have a few sentences to get a feel for the character – the drawings however make you connect with her. The sadness impressed upon her face, the hanging of her low shoulders as she experiences tragedy, the horror in her eyes, as she knows that she has to live with the experience forever. But is that not what a graphic novel is? A mix between sentences and art? Both colliding together, one without the other would make the whole thing collapse. Men deciding decisions – Vietnam war – Racial segregation – there is a lot to unpack with this graphic novel. If you like your resting to come with heavy issues, this story is for you.

Would I recommend?

Having studied the Civil Rights Movement in America academically, I was already familiar with issues brought up in the book. It is hard to say something so gritty is entertaining, it seems such a crude word to use when describing these topics. So I will not use. I read the novel in a few hours, the art kept me interested. The pace was too fast, I felt like I had no time to connect to the characters, although I did sympathise with them. The narration began to change as quickly as the plot. Mike. Liberty. Tshilanda. I would say this novel is not about the characters, but about the history. If you like your relaxation with heavy themes and concepts, give the novel a try. If you’re looking for something a little lighter, you’ll have to go for something else.

2.8 Just an honest opinion.
Was that her half brother at the end?!

The history of the time periods in this was fantastic. The decisions and things that happened with the characters were upsetting for the most part. I both liked this and disliked it. It does show how cycles continue.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book before its publication date.

I really enjoyed this look at life spanning the early 70s to the early 2000s, as it looks at a young woman in Africa who gets pregnant at a very young age, and follows her to New York, where we watch her young daughter grow up. The mother-daughter pair have very different experiences, but also very similar experiences.

Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics to access to this graphic novel.

This is a graphic novel that weaved in mixed media and storylines that span four decades. The narration changes quickly, not just from mother to daughter, but to additional character sharing their thoughts, backgrounds, and observations of mother and daughter over the years. The storylines show a connection between a parent and child, even though they may not always see it in the moment. The fierce loyalty and love, though not always shown in a way we all know how to understand.

My issues are the abrupt end of storylines and the change of narration with no real resolutions or explanations. At times it feels like it is the rough draft of a storyboard, awaiting completion. There is a story and it comes through, but feels fragmented, not in an artistic way, but as if it is setting up for another chapter or flashback.

I don't typically read graphic novels, but the illustration of the cover caught my eye on this. All the way through, the illustrations are absolutely beautiful, and often heartbreaking. The story was really well presented, especially considering the lengthy period of time and multiple generations covered throughout. The story was informative and bittersweet; so many important issues were covered. Highly recommend!

Liberty is a graphic novel starting in Kinasha the capital city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the eve of Muhammad Ali’s most famous match. We meet Tshilanda the mother of the future Liberty. The story follows Tshilanda’s journey to New York City and details some major events that affected African Americans such as the Black Panther Party, 9/11 and ending with the first win of previous US President Barack Obama.

The art work in this story is stunning and tells some intense stories experienced by some African and African American peoples. The story of a mother and daughter and their lives over the period of 40 years and the impacts of intergenerational trauma.

Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for this ARC.

TW: murder, discrimination, substance addiction

This is a quick graphic novel about a mother and daughter told over a 40-year span. It tells of the mother, Tshilanda’s, journey to America and creating a new life for herself here, and her relationship with her daughter, Liberty. The story shifts points of view between Tshilanda, Liberty, Mike, and Édouard.

The art is a beautiful style reminiscent of some vintage comics. It goes back and forth between beautifully colored spreads and very nicely done grey-scale layouts and sketches at the start of the chapters.

The story is so close to being so much more. It touches on highlights of their life, almost as if it is a recap of a previous season at the start of a new one on a show. What we get from each part is beautiful, nuanced, and real. But it just feels like there could be so much more. Each part just left me wanting to know more about what was going on.

I feel like overall if it had been fleshed out more this could easily have been a 4.5/5 star read for me.

The illustrations are so beautiful. However, I feel like the story itself was lacking and rushed.

Still, I find it a nice, quick read.

I really like when movies and comic books mix historical facts in their narrative, this makes me more ansious and excited to experience that reading, because it connects the characters realities to mine and make it easy to understand them. Liberty is one of this type of histories.

This comic starts in a important social moment in the city of Kinshasa in Congo, were James Brown is about to perform in it and the Muhammad Ali is about to compete with his biggest opponent, with this historical personalities in context we are introduced to Tshilanda, daughter of the security chief of the hotel were the musician is hosted. She meets Mike, drummer of the band, and Alan McLaren, band’s manager that unfortunaely rapes and impregnates her, leaves her by herself.

Luckly, Mike decides to comeback to New York (USA) and bring Tshilanda with him, and take the role of her partner and father of the baby. From here, after Liberty is born, we will percieve the history from her point of view and the strugges they are going to have.

During the rest of the history we will be introduced to Mike’s flashback before becoming the drummer of the James Brown band, where it will show his life after the Vietnam War and his participation in Black Panters Revolution. While true history is happening at the same time this characters live their lives: police brutality, 11th attack, the first black president and so on.

The comic amazed me through it history and aesthetic design reminding me of the journals of someone who lived in those historic moments. It’s like being present grown and fight of the black comunnity, mostly the black women how carried with their body, strength and hope for the change and revolution of the new generations.

⚠ This comic contains ilustrations of sexual assault.
Thank you NetGalley and Europe Comis for this ARC and the experience of reading it!

I did not enjoy this story at all. The art style and story was lacking.. I'm not sure who this story was meant to appeal to, it seemed to almost fetishize black bodies and I absolutely hated that. It made me feel ick.

The first thing I'll say is the artwork in this novel is stunning. The style is that watercolour kind that feels like an old book. It's absolutely timeless. I love how everything has a green undertone to give it that coolness while still having deep, saturated colours. It really makes everything feel warm, like a summer day, even the shadows.

The story itself was interesting. I enjoyed learning the lives of this family through the snapshots we are given. The thing is, snapshots aren't quite enough to become emotionally invested. My interest never got deeper than that. Sad things happened then went by so quickly there was no time to process them. I would have liked to sit with each time a little longer, or see more small moments that help make up a larger, emotional picture. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful story of mother and daughter, immigration, and the struggles of black people in America in the 70s to now.

Oh, and it was a bit difficult to figure out who was talking at times. The pointers were not always clear and the speaker often switched in boxes that had no pointers at all.

I really enjoyed the mixed art styles present in this graphic novel. Overall, I think this was an interesting story, but I felt that what happened to Liberty’s mom was very sudden and unexpected, but brushed over very quickly to switch perspectives.

This sweeping, intercontinental graphic novel covers 40 years in the life of a mother and daughter. Liberty is a young woman navigating her shadowy past and rocky present in the New York City of the early 2000s. But “Liberty” is also a word with a weight of its own, one carried by an entire generation of African-Americans living through a moment of great hope and fear.

4/5

Thank you to the author and the publisher for putting this title as a "read now" on NetGalley.

This title is honestly not an easy one to rate.
The story itself is way too deep to put it under a number of stars.
I'll concentrate then on the structure itself of this graphic novel.

I loved how in just a hundred pages or so we get a span of a lifetime.
This was, thio, an up and down at the same time. Up 'cos we have the possibility to live with the characters a lot of events in their lives, a down 'cos it was all very fast and it was one event put right after the other and there wasn't much space to elaborate or go deeper in details with it.
It felt all very rushed.

The art was so beautiful that it made the story so vivid and real.
We can see so clearly the struggle of the characters, their feelings and emotions.
We simply follow some humans living their everyday life. A not-easy everyday life.
I was so immerded in the read that I didn't realize I reached its end, is some parts I was living with the characters, it was an incredible experience.

Last but not least, we are delighted with more drawings and pictures at the end. This little art gallery to wrap up the book was simply beautiful.

First there is Tshilanda, growing up privileged in Kinshasa in the 70s. At fifteen, almost sixteen, her body has developed in ways that make men take notice—and mostly she doesn't mind, because she's young and sheltered and doesn't quite know who she can trust. But innocence gives way to the rest of the world, and then there's New York, and Liberty.

"Liberty" spans decades, slipping between perspectives and chasing a dream (after a fashion) from Zaire (now the DRC) to New York City. Mostly it's Tshilanda's story, as she navigates a fall from everything she's known to the harsh streets of 1970s New York, but equally important are the stories of Liberty and the men in their lives, especially Mike and Édouard. The book doesn't pass the Bechdel test, but the art is so beautiful and the multigenerational story so compelling that I didn't notice until after the fact.

The art: rich and vibrant, with deep colors, sharp, precise lines, and something akin to watercolor to fill it all in. Most of the places I bookmarked were panels that I want to use in my futile quest to learn to draw. The lines of the body, and the postures, and the facial expressions—and the shading! If ever I magically figure out how to draw a face that looks like a face and not an abomination, I will move on to shading and use this as a reference. The chapter breaks and the end of the book also feature more sketch-like work, and in places it's just as evocative as the more refined art.

One thing worth a mention for readers: you'll have to pay some attention, at times, to work out who is speaking when. It's a little frustrating in places—there's not always a clear POV transition, and the dialogue boxes are often unclear—but the payoff is worth it.

Thanks to the authors and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

i am so impressed by this story. i like the female main character very much, her story is admirable. the illustrations were beautiful.

thank you to netgalley and Europe Comics for a copy of this book

Pros:
-Loved the setting (time and place) - Kinshasa and NYC (70s and contemporary)
-loved the Black Panther connections
-loved the intergenerational mother-daughter story

Cons:
-hard to follow who the narrator was (I think it changed), and lots of flashbacks inserted
-lots of different styles incorporated -- eye catching but a little complicated

An interesting read, but not my favorite!

Muy interesante, y muy real. Con temas delicados de tocar, pero con un abordaje acertivo. Lo disfruté mucho, y lo recomiendo. Se lee super rápido y es muy ameno. Las ilustraciones son muy bonitas y transmiten mucho, algo que me encanta.

Thank you Netgalley for the copy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Europe Comics for this galley. I do not know how to review this one as it to me seemed deeper than a comic or graphic novel. It was well written and the art was very good. It started very fast but it told a deeper story than I expected that it would.