Graphic Novels To Read For Jazz Appreciation Month

A good graphic novel is music to readers’ ears and this month, for Jazz Appreciation Month, Image Comics recommends four standout graphic novels—Proof by New York Times bestselling author Alex Grecian (The Yard, Red Rabbit), and critically-acclaimed artist Riley Rossmo (Harley Quinn, The Moon Is Following Us), Deep Cuts by Kyle Higgins and Joe Clark (Radiant Black) and featuring various fan-favorite artists, Bitter Root by David F. Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Greene, and Leone: Notes on a Life by Carmine Di Giandomenico (The Flash, Daredevil: Battlin’ Jack Murdock) and rising star Francesco Colafela—all of which feature jazz and/or jazz culture and make for the perfect new read.

In Proof, whenever a monster is sighted deep in the woods, or at the back of an alley, someone has to investigate. John “Proof” Prufrock and his partner Ginger Brown work for the mysterious Lodge, on a mission to find and capture the Chupacabra, Springheel Jack, the Dover Demon, Thunderbirds, the Mothman, Cottingley Fairies, and anything else that goes bump in the night. If you believe in monsters, you need Proof! The Proof Compendium trade paperback edition will collect Proof issues #1-28, and Proof: Endangered #1-5 and be available this June. And, it’s being turned into a TV series at Fox.

Deep Cuts—set in New Orleans, 1917—follows a clarinet player meets his hero. Kansas City, 1940: a young girl investigates the mystery of her father’s lost love of music. Los Angeles, 1977: a band embark on a world tour that may be their last.

In the multiple Eisner Award winning series Bitter Root, generations of the Sangerye family have fought to protect the world from the evil plague of the jinoo-hideous creatures born out of hate and racism. But now the family must face an even greater evil that has arisen to destroy humanity and threatens to rip the family apart.

The original graphic novel, Leone: Notes on a Life is the story of an Italian man who migrated to the US to seek fortune, freedom and jazz. From the stage of his last concert in New York City before going back home, through the sound of his trumpet Leone tells readers about his past and future, a tale made of jazz, memories and time leaps. An emotional trip exploring immigration through a historical lens.