Liz Montague (2)

A book about graphic novels and/or comics or a creator of graphic novels and/or comics
Maybe An Artist, A Graphic Memoir
Montague, Liz
I really enjoyed this memoir about a black women comic creator and her experience growing up a white community and sruggling to make her art.
Random House Studio (2022), 176 pages

There isn’t a lot of content to this book, but I enjoyed seeing Liz’s journey into pursuing art. I related to a lot of her struggles like, not knowing how to pick a major, figuring out whether to go to art school or not, rarely seeing black people in comics, and being a first-gen college student.

While I wish she would have explored in-depth how the New Yorker opportunity went (or maybe it was that instant), I liked this memoir.

3.5

Another fine introduction to Jackie Ormes, my third this year.

See also: Holding Her Own: The Exceptional Life of Jackie Ormes and Jackie Ormes: The First African American Woman Cartoonist.

None of these feel like the definitive statement on Ormes, but it's exciting to see so much interest in a person who deserves more attention.

Liz Montague details her journey from elementary school student to adult, being one of the few Black kids in her suburban town and trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life. This is a humorous and thoughtful telling, focused on life's grievances that would make her a successful cartoonist as a young adult. Teen readers will identify with her angst and be uplifted by the hope of everything working out the way it should.