Fire!!: The Zora Neale Hurston Story

Fire is a graphic biography of Zora Neale Hurston, an African American writer in the early twentieth century best known for her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston challenged the norms of what was expected of an African American woman. She was the fifth of eight children from a Baptist family in Alabama. Her writing ability blossomed while she was a student at Howard University in Washington DC and then at Barnard College where she was the only black student. When she arrived in New York City during the Harlem Renaissance she found herself surrounded by peers such as poet Langston Hughes. Hurston later became a noted folklorist and critically acclaimed novelist. Despite her achievements, in order to make money she frequently had show more to resort to becoming a maid. Hurston was largely forgotten by the end of her life in 1960.

Let me say right off the bat that many people will not like, or even approve of this comic because the author has used dialogue that was the black slang common in the American South at the time of Hurston's life. Peter Bagge may have decided to use this type of language because Hurston was a folklorist whose books used this type of slang in her writing. I don't know specifically why he chose this route. Hurston made several anthropological trips throughout the South gathering information for her book and used this language in her book on folklore. I found it difficult to accept the dialogue and some of the illustrations, given the political correctness of our day.

That said, the book gave an in depth perspective of Hurston's life. She had plenty of ups and downs, many of which were due to Jim Crow laws. However, she had an indelible spirit. Nothing kept her down for long. She had a stick-to-it-iveness that helped her persevere over several years to get an education. I think many people would have given up but Zora relentlessly pursued her goals regardless of societal rules.

Peter Bagge included forty pages of notes concerning his sources at the end of the book detailing every fact he presented in the comic. It is interesting reading and helps the reader to obtain context of the era in which Hurston lived. show less

This biography hits some highlights in Hurston's life and is told in a fun way, but it is too choppy to be really satisfying. The extensive notes section in the back emphasizes how much had to be left on the cutting room floor.

Bagge's transition from early 90s counter-culture comics to well-researched biographies of early 20th century feminist icons is a both jarring and brilliant. However, both this and the Sanger book are mainly built around short anecdotes with large jumps in time, which makes it confusing to follow.

Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) está hoy considerada uno de los nombres clave del llamado renacimiento de Harlem, el tumulto artístico que durante los años 20, cuando todavía no se usaba el término “afromericano”, germinó en ese barrio neoyorquino. El jazz, así como la pintura y la literatura de raíz afroamericana, estaban destinados a extenderse por todo el país. Las novelas, relatos y poesías de esta escritora folclorista, sin embargo, no iban a ser reconocidas en su valor hasta después de su muerte, que le sorprendería en la miseria.

Zora Neale Hurston había nacido en un poblado negro de Florida. Creció alternando trabajos de camarera o empleada del hogar con estudios de Antropología. Lo hizo en una época en que los show more prejuicios raciales eran más que prejuicios y bajo un clima sociopolítico surcado por borrascas frecuentes. Sólo su convicción personal, el orgullo de la libertad y una actitud arrojada le iban a permitir componer una obra literaria que hoy es patrimonio de la humanidad.

Después de La mujer rebelde, su celebrada glosa biográfica de Margaret Sanger, el autor de Odio pone su talento al servicio de otra figura de fuego, auténtico ejemplo de integridad personal. show less