From Verses to Visuals on Jack Johnson -- ep. by Howard Rambsy II

A short take on the graphic novel Last on His Feet: Jack Johnson and the Battle of the Century  written by Adrian Matejka and drawn by Youssef Daoudi.

Episode written by Howard Rambsy II
Read by Kassandra Timm

Transcript

In the early 2010s, poet Adrian Matejka began publishing poems about the first black heavyweight boxing champion, Jack Johnson. In 2013, Matejka published an entire volume of poetry, entitled the Big Smoke, focusing on the legendary boxer. 

That volume of poems could have been the end of the story, but as it turns out, Matejka wasn’t done with Jack Johnson just yet. 

You’re listening to Remarkable Receptions—a podcast about popular and critical responses to African American novels.

Ten years after the publication of his poetry volume The Big Smoke, Adrian Matejka, along with artist Youssef Daoudi, produced a graphic novel entitled Last on His Feet: Jack Johnson and the Battle of the Century. 

The graphic novel is based on Matejka’s poem entitled “The Battle of the Century.” The poem focuses on a boxing match between Jack Johnson and Jim Jeffries, a former boxing champion who was presented as “the great white hope,” with the expectation that he would dethrone Johnson. 

This book Last on His Feet: Jack Johnson and the Battle of the Century documents and illustrates that famous boxing match, but it also provides background on Johnson and his trials and triumphs leading to the fight. Matejka and Daoudi collaborate to produce a powerful work of visual storytelling.  

It’s fascinating to think about the processes that led to this composition. Matejka composed a poem, which he first published in a literary magazine. He then republished that poem in a volume of poetry. And later, he extended the poem into a full-narrative, accompanied by illustrations. This transformation from poem to volume of poetry to graphic novel is remarkable. 

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This episode was written by Howard Rambsy. The episode was edited by Elizabeth Cali. 

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This podcast, Remarkable Receptions, is part of the Black Literature Network, a joint project from African American literary studies at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and the History of Black Writing at the University of Kansas. The project was made possible by the generous support of the Mellon Foundation.  For more information, visit blacklitnetwork.org.