Starred review from June 22, 2015
Rancourt finds grace in unlikely places in this charming volume, originally self-published in the 1980s. Melody is an exotic dancer with a deadbeat husband, a promiscuous nature, and far too many bills to pay. But despite these less than ideal circumstances, she keeps smiling—a quality that sees her through everything from a police raid to drug troubles. Melody’s life—based on Rancourt’s own—is rocky, but never to the point of complete collapse; likewise, Melody herself is buoyant, but never a Pollyanna. The book finds wonderful balance in blending these elements, making the mundane details of Melody’s life a delight to engage with. Rancourt’s art is undeniably simple, but in wearing its punky, self-published origins on its sleeve, it becomes a fascinating artifact of history as well as a heartfelt reflection. This is an unvarnished look at exotic dancing, a tribute to fortitude and optimism, and a sincere reflection on a colorful life.
Starred review from January 9, 2023
Brandon-Croft, the first Black woman with a nationally syndicated American comic strip, delivers a spirited career compilation cut through with razor-sharp wit. Debuting in the Detroit Free Press in 1989, Brandon-Croft’s strip featured a cast of opinionated, wisecracking Black women (drawn with varied expressions, hair styles, skin tones, and tones of voice) relaying everyday life and unfiltered social commentary. This trademark sisterhood of talking heads chatted at the nation through 2005, including syndication in Essence and the Baltimore Sun. For example, feminist Lekesia skewers racial bias and sex scandals in the military, quipping: “I think this country needs to change its recruitment slogan to Uncle Sam wants you... to behave!” No topic escapes critique, from education to dating woes to workplace inequality and voting. The unabashed sarcasm and upbeat playfulness are infectious, while the cast are carefully distinguished with a flip of a hand or a pointed gaze. Snappy dialogue competes for space next to twisted, braided, and coiled hair atop the heads that dominate the panels. The humor befits its era, with references newsy to the 1990s, such as reflections on Rodney King and Clarence Thomas, but the underlying themes hold uncanny relevancy to contemporary America. This trenchant volume easily sits alongside works from contemporary heavyweight Black cartoonists such as Aaron McGruder and Ray Billingsley.
February 1, 2023
In the 1980s, then Detroit Free Press editor Marty Claus recognized the disconnect between the newspaper and its audience, considered the "overwhelmingly white" staff reflecting "an overwhelmingly white world," and actually did better by making Brandon-Croft the first U.S. syndicated Black woman cartoonist. Brandon-Croft's famous father, Brumsic Brandon, was the third Black nationally syndicated cartoonist; Brandon-Croft became the eighth. Her groundbreaking strips from 1991 to 2005 showcase the quotidian lives of "nine opinionated Black women" (plus one baby) with biting insight, sly humor, occasional regrets, and plenty of joy and laughter. Her fabulous cast uniquely comprises talking heads and animated hands: "I wasn't going to put bodies on my characters. [Except baby Re-Re.] I'm tired of women being summed up by their body parts. . . . Look us in the eye and hear what we're saying, please!" Meet cynical Cheryl, stylish Nicole, volatile Jackie, single-mother Lydia (and Re-Re), empathic Judy, faith-full Alisha, politically conscious Lakesia, sometime-mistaken-for-white Monica, and stand-by-your-man Sonya. The final strips, however, don't end their--or Brandon-Croft's--stories. Thirty additional back matter pages--and multiple voices--make sure the erudite, sharp work continues.
COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
September 15, 2015
Rancourt started dancing in Montreal strip clubs in 1980 and a few years later began selling photocopied autobiographical comic books in the bars where she worked. A professionally published and newsstand-distributed edition followed, establishing her as a pioneering Canadian graphic memoirist. This is the first English-language publication of Rancourt's comics (although a slicker adaptation by a professional illustrator became a cult hit stateside in the late 1980s). She relates her strip-club experiences; her troubled relationship with her layabout, drug-dealing boyfriend, Nick, who suggested she take up stripping in the first place; and her conflicts with her family over her career, all with a forthright, nonjudgmental detachment. Rancourt's unsophisticated drawing style is even more straightforward: not only are her illustrations childlike but her crude characters themselves resemble children, imparting an innocence to the proceedings that precludes any eroticism, no matter how hard-core the events may be. As Building Stories artist Chris Ware maintains in his introduction, Rancourt's work shows that good cartooning is not about good drawing but about something else entirely. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)