Booknote: Redbone

Christian Staebler, et.al., Redbone: the True Story of a Native American Rock Band. San Diego, CA: IDW, 2020. ISBN: 978-1684057146.

 

Genre: comics and graphic novels

Subgenre: biography, Native American, U.S. history, pop culture

Format: e-book galley

Source: NetGalley

 

This comic series presents the true story of 1970s Native American rock band Redbone. Brothers Pat and Lolly Vegas start out passing as Latino (Mexican Americans) but they eventually decide to embrace their Native American roots and heritage bringing Redbone to life. In 1969, they signed a deal with Epic Records, then left commercial fame behind as AIM (American Indian Movement) and civil rights movement for Native Americans rose. The authors of this comic series did collaborate with the Vegas family. We get a combination of biography and history of Native American rights and their relations with the U.S. If you missed this part of 1960s and 70s U.S. history, or you want to learn something new, then this is a comic to pick up. 

The story is told through the eyes of Pat Vegas telling the story to his daughter. Along the way we get history highlights and an overview of Native American history and some major events from the 1960s as well as some current events. The text is well written, and the story is compelling and interesting. 

The art style is somewhat basic. A small issue is that some images are not lined up well, so following some of the text was not easy. Despite that, the art suits the story well enough, and the story is the main draw for this volume. It's a good story with a blend of drama and history. This is the kind of story that could make a good film in the right hands. 

This is a title that I recommend for all libraries that collect graphic novels, Americana, and/or Native American topics as well as pop culture. I certainly plan to order a copy for our campus library. Overall this is one I really liked and highly recommend. 

4 out of 5 stars.

Book qualifies for this 2020 Reading Challenge: