Book Review: Kiss the Sky
Kiss the Sky: Jimi Hendrix 1942-1970 by J.M. Dupont
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Considering that I call Seattle my hometown, it should come as no surprise that I couldn’t resist a graphic novel featuring one of my city’s most famous musicians. As I settled in and opened it to page one, the very first panel let me know in no uncertain terms that this was going to be an experience – a true Jimi ‘are you experienced’ experience.
Mezzo’s artwork is determined to pull you headfirst into each panel. Drawn in what often appears to be white ink on black paper, each frame is heavy with jet-black shadows, half-lit like a streetlight throwing just enough illumination to reveal the settings and the characters raw emotions.
I appreciated the little details tucked into nearly every panel. I lingered over them, reading nightclub marquee headlines, admiring building facades, and marveling over the tiny everyday objects of life that firmly anchored the story in the past. This was not a fast read, yet somehow in spite of that it was over all too soon.
Author Jean-Michel Dupont has clearly done his homework. There so much I never knew about Jimi’s upbringing and early days as a musician. I didn’t realize how rough of a time he really had as a child. And I never knew just how many of his guitars were broken or stolen! I can’t help but wonder if all those lost guitars early on were emotionally connected to his smashing of guitars on stage in his later years.
The story stops just short of Jimi’s explosion onto the music scene in 1970. I’m very much on board to read Part Two when it comes out. After all, that’s the part of Jimi’s life that many of us of a Certain Age remember so well.
It should come as no surprise that many iconic songs are referenced throughout. And starting at the point when Jimi joins his first band, notable musician namedropping is everywhere. A ‘Soundtrack’ section at the back of the book lists the song references by page and panel number, song title, performer, and songwriter. Also, all book, film, and web sources used in the creation of this graphic novel are cited, and can serve as a jumping-off point for further exploration.
Kiss the Sky releases on October 22nd, 2024. You can buy it from Black Panel Press. It’s a well-constructed hardcover book with a striking cover that you wouldn’t mind putting on display. Here’s a link – and be sure to click the cover art to view a sampling of the interior pages.
Lori Alden Holuta
Lori Alden Holuta lives between the cornfields of Mid-Michigan, where she grows vegetables and herbs when she’s not writing, editing, or playing games with a cat named Chives.
