Combining my two most favorite things, music and graphic arts, Grace: Based on the Jeff Buckley Story is a gorgeously illustrated and compelling tale weaving two narratives seamlessly into one epic tale written by Tiffanie DeBartolo.
I was swept up in the Jef Buckley craze back in the ’90’s like most but was never a huge fan so when something like this comes across my desk and compels/prompts me to rediscover a discography then I’d say the book has done what it set out to do.
But I digress.
Beginning in a bedroom in Memphis in 1994, DeBartolo introduces us to Henry who’s an aspiring musician discovering all the relevant artists of the time thanks to his friend/co-worker Alice. That connection eventually leads to Grace as readers are magically transported back to Hollywood in 1991 and Buckley’s story begins as he gets a call that will forever alter the course of his life and musical journey.
With archival material provided by Mary Guibert, Buckley’s mother, DeBartolo (Author of How To Kill a Rock Star and God-Shaped Hole, “Chief Executive Super Goddess” for Bright Antenna Records) weaves a beautiful tale that chronicles six years of Buckley’s journey into making a name for himself despite the looming shadow of a father he barely knew, his move to New York, his romance with Rebecca Moore, signing with Columbia and the toll relentless touring took on him and his band to his relocation to Memphis and untimely death.
Adding to the story is the beautiful art by Lisa Reist (A colorist and illustrator making her graphic novel debut with Grace) and Pascal Dizin (A comic book artist and illustrator who released City of Spies in 2010) who create this fantastical world out of the sometimes heavy emotional content of the story to uniquely capture Buckley’s point of view. And if you’ve ever been moved by a song or an artist before then you should wholeheartedly agree when I say that Dizin and Reist’s depiction of Henry’s first reaction to Grace is truly accurate.
A must have for music and graphic novel fans, Grace: Based on the Jeff Buckley Story will be released on April 30th through First Second/Macmillan Publishers. You can pre-order your copy right now by clicking here or here. More on Pascal Dizin can be found here, for Lisa Reist you can connect here, and for Tiffanie DeBartolo head here.