‘Nina Simone in Comics’
By Sophie Adriansen
NBM Publishing, 160 Pages

‘The Movie Girls: Lillian and Dorothy’
By Jan Wahl
Illustrations by Rick Geary
BearManor Media, 60 Pages

The charm and concision of the best graphic biographies provide dramatic scenes and pithy captions that can evoke a life better than whole paragraphs and pages of narrative biographies. Even so, lacking a lengthy narrative, even the best biographies in pictures struggle to encompass a life in detail. One solution: capsulize, for example, Nina Simone’s biography in bullets:

“This is the story of an emancipation, that of a young
Black and poor woman living in an America marked by
segregation.
This is the story of a fierce battle, that of a musician
involved in the civil rights movement.
This is the story of a long career, that of a pianist and
singer as talented as determined.
This is the story of Nina Simone, a unique artist, role
model, and inspiration for generations to come.
Genius pianist, fabulous singer and committed artist,
Nina Simone remains an inspiration for generations.”

Follow up with the work of 20 artists depicting scenes such as a 3-year-old girl standing in front of an upright piano that is taller than she is, then show her climbing up on the piano stool and starting to play as her astonished African American parents, barely surviving poverty in Tryon, North Carolina (shown in a vintage photograph), call their self-taught genius of a daughter a “heavenly miracle.” 

Subsequent chapters alternate between a page or so of narrative and pictures, with chapter titles such as “In the Beginning: A Pedal Organ and the Great Depression,” “Two Pivotal Figures in Her Life,” and “Do You Feel Black?” The last provides an affecting scene in which her own parents are requested to give up their front-row seats for a late-arriving white couple. Simone stands next to the piano, her right hand makes a fist, and she announces: “If you want to hear me play, then my parents must sit in front.”

The plasticity of graphic biography yields yet another approach for young readers: Create scenes as they might appear in the silent films of Lillian and Dorothy Gish, with captions that look like the title cards that guided moviegoers through the action, providing background and dialogue. 

The advent of movies more than a century ago is illustrated in a theater facade with a marquee announcing “2 New Features Admission 10¢,” below which is a ticket booth, flanked on both sides by sandwich boards, showing on the left Mary Pickford in “Pollyanna” and on the right Lillian and Dorothy Gish in “Hearts of the World.” Below that illustration is the title “The Birth of the Movies,” followed by a caption: “This story begins with two sisters, their names Dorothy and Lillian. Dorothy was the younger. Lillian was the older. They were born in Ohio.”

Short, illustrated chapters feature titles such as “They Go on Stage” and “They Visit the Nickelodeon,” with brief paragraphs setting the scene: “The year was 1912. The girls had become teenagers. … They saw a 13-minute movie whose title was Lena and the Geese. Lena wore masses of golden curls—she was their best friend, Gladys Smith. Dorothy and Lillian nearly leaped out of their seats.” One of the girls points at the screen in front of them while a piano player accompanies the film.

In Chapter 9, they meet director D.W. Griffith. He looks them over and asks, “‘Can they move?’ Mother Gish sniffed. She’d never heard anything so insulting. ‘Of course they can.’” He gives each a hair bow and shouts, “RED! BLUE! Run now fast as you can! A terrible man is chasing you! There’s no place to hide. He breaks into the house. There’s no one to help you! RUN!”

In the next illustration, neatly titled “Mr. Griffith Directs,” he shoots a gun in the air as the girls “rushed past Mr. Bitzer the cameraman who was cranking away. They had no choice but to act. ‘You are hired,’ announced Mr. Griffith. ‘$5 a day.’”

The two sisters grow up taught by their instructor, Griffith: “You are not in theater—playing to the balcony! Remember, don’t roll your eyes! Don’t make big gestures! Be natural! The camera sees all!”

The same might be said for the best graphic biographies.

Mr. Rollyson writes about biographies for children in “Biography: A User’s Guide.”