Johnny Cash: I See A Darkness

Johnny Cash: I See A Darkness by Reinhard Kleist, 221 pages

The pseudo-dust jacket of the book describes it as a "graphic biography", which is as good a short descriptor of the book as one could come up with. The black-and-white graphic novel tells the story of Johnny Cash, but it is not simply a biography of the Man In Black. It chronicles Johnny Cash's rise to fame, his marital and legal troubles, his marriage to June Cash, his legendary Folsom Prison concert, and his growing age leading up to his death. In terms of analyzing Johnny Cash and the choices he made in his life, the graphic novel is very ineffective. It tells the story, nothing more, but it does that very effectively. Visually, the black-and-white art style is very appropriate, and the rough edges of the drawings provide a sense of watching an old movie. The art will not be winning any prizes, but it is still very good and the pages are peppered with very dramatic shots when appropriate. The story moves at a good pace, and one never gets bogged down in details that are sadly overly prevalent in other biographies. Much of the story focuses on the Folsom Prison concert and an inmate named Glen Sherley, who later worked for Johnny Cash. Overall, the graphic novel is excellent and is definitely worth reading, though the unusual style may be off-putting for some.

A word of warning, though. The book often switches back and forth between the life of Johnny Cash and his most famous songs. For example, right in the middle of Cash trying to buy drugs, the story switches for a few pages to a young man being gunned down in an Old West town. For someone without knowledge of Cash's songs (namely "Don't Take Your Guns To Town"), this shift will seem completely random and confusing. This book is not for people with a passing interest in Johnny Cash or for people who just like graphic novels. It takes a certain level of familiarity with the Man In Black and his songs to read the book the way it was meant to be read, so for this shortcoming I only give it 3 out of 4 stars. It is very good as long as you have the knowledge of the singer necessary to have everything flow together perfectly. Perfect for any die-hard fans of Johnny Cash.