Walter Francis White, on whom the main character in the graphic novel Incognegro is mainly based, went undercover as a white man in the early twentieth century to report on lynchings and race riots for the NAACP. He went on to become the group’s executive secretary and one of the foremost spokesmen for African-Americans (despite having blue eyes and blond hair) in the United States. He more or less single-handedly prevented the selection of a Supreme Court judge because of said judge’s opposition to black suffrage.
He sounds like a rather interesting guy. So does Stetson Kennedy, a white man who infiltrated the KKK, and helped bring it down (or at least severely crippled it) by broadcasting all of their secret handshakes, code words and other details on the popular Superman radio show.
Either of these people would have been the subject of a fascinating graphic novel. What we end up with in Incognegro, however, is a trite, rote tale that’s about as far away from fascinating or interesting as you can get.
Ironically, or, depending upon your point of view, fittingly for a book that’s all about racism, Incognegro is filled with stereotypes. Not racial stereotypes mind you, but storytelling ones. There’s the remarkably dull lead, Zane Pinchback, who either is intensely savvy or astoundingly dense about the ways of the South, depending upon the machinations of the plot. Never once, though does he seem to real journalist or human being for that matter. He’s just a cipher for the reader to identify with.
Then there’s the loudmouth best friend, who might as well be wearing a big, flashing neon sign over his head that says “I will be dead before the book is done” (Oh dear, was that a spoiler? Sorry.) Meanwhile, every single white Southerner is either cartoonishly evil or crazy or dumb. Or some mix of all three.
The other alarming thing about Incognegro is that for a book about race relations, it’s surprisingly devoid of color. I don’t mean full color mind you, but that there’s no skin tones at all in the book, which just seems sort of odd. It doesn’t help that Pleece’s characters are all bland, stiff and ill-defined, and often set against bare backgrounds that do little to help establish setting (or time period for that matter. I was never quite clear when this story was supposed to be taking place).
Even the book’s central plot comes straight out of central casting. Zane, you see, has decided he wants to give up being the famous but mysterious Incognegro reporter and furthering the fight against racism, not so much because of the inherent danger as much as he wants to be a famous author (I wonder what Walter White would have made of that attitude).
Anyway, Zane decides TO COVER ONE MORE STORY because … drumroll please … his dark-skinned brother is in jail and will likely be hanged for a murder he didn’t commit.
Honestly, why Johnson felt the need to tack an utterly unnecessary murder mystery story on a tale that’s perfectly compelling on its own — that of a young man who risks his life trying to bring to light the vile injustices being wrought in his country by disguising his identity and heritage — is beyond me.
Actually it’s not. Incognegro smacks of a move pitch. I say that because just about every single thing in the book resembles the sort of shallow, unrewarding material that studios traffic in these days. This isn’t a book about race relations or history, not in any substantive, thoughtful way at any rate. It’s all gimmick, right down to the big reveal of the murderer and final “ha-ha” swipe at the villain at the end. I’m sure Hollywood will snatch this thing up any day now.
Incognegro
Written by Mat Johnson
Art by Warren Pleece
Vertigo, $19.99
March 21st, 2008 at 11:39 am
Oh snap. Nice review. You go, girlfriend!
March 21st, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Ok You Didnt Like The Books Its Cliche Ridden And Derivative, Fine That I Understand And Respect. The Insipid Mock Urban Slang Response? Not So Much.
March 21st, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Ermmm. Then how come most of the African American members of my husband’s congregation think it’s great? I had the book on display for our Black History program (this congregation was founded as a Black church 35 years ago, and is now mixed-race). I even gave a copy to one of our members who started reading it at the program and said she had to finish it.
March 22nd, 2008 at 12:12 am
In all fairness, Kat, he gave a literary review, not a racial one. I don’t know Chris’ skin color, but nothing would add or take away credibility of his opinion.
March 22nd, 2008 at 11:44 am
For what it’s worth, I disagree that this book is “all about racism” despite its title and that issue being front-and-center. There was a good deal of commentary about social class and hierarchy, including the divide between the town-whites and the white “hillbillies,” and primary female characters addressed gender issues of the time (less obnoxious today, thankfully). I shared the difficulty re: identifying just when the story took place, but I’m not sure it mattered whether it was set in the ’30s or ’40s.
I’ll agree that neither the plot nor social commentary were novel, but I disagree with the harshness of the review here. Oh, and I *liked* the ending.
March 22nd, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Fernald- the Capitalizing Every Single Word? I have trouble understanding that myself.
March 23rd, 2008 at 12:30 am
The supposition that the book must be good because black people liked it is extremely racist.
March 23rd, 2008 at 12:52 am
I would have picked this up if it came out as single issues (because then I’d have the option to drop it) but since it came out as a complete trade…it cost too much, and i skipped it.
looked interestin’, though.
March 23rd, 2008 at 12:56 pm
I might have picked this up if Mat Johnson’s work on the Papa Midnite miniseries wasn’t one of the worst things Vertigo ever published.