School Library Journal
Review of Howl: A Graphic Novel
The Double Muse: Poetry & Graphic Novels
by Francisca Goldsmith
October 2010
Certainly not for the faint of heart, but . . . evocative and elegant . . . is The New Yorker’s frequent cover illustrator, and former street artist, Eric Drooker’s visual accompaniment to Beat poet Allen Ginsberg’s famous "Howl." Drooker and Ginsberg were not only acquainted as coworkers on an anthology of Beat verse (Illuminated Poems, 1996), but it was Ginsberg who looked up the younger Drooker when the poet began to notice the visual artist’s work. The text of "Howl" has received many challenges, some outright censorship, and the praise of both literary and social scholars and informed readers over the past 54 years. It is neither crude nor rude, but Ginsberg spared no gentle reader’s ears by evoking the ugly truths of streetlife, alienated and disenfranchised Americans, members of minority groups ranging from sexual orientation to race to economic security, and other warts of our society as it was for much of the 20th century.
Here, Drooker, who designed the animation for the film version of "Howl," places Ginsberg’s text and his own moody and softly muted images together to create something more than just the sum of these rich parts. "Howl" has received condemnation as well as literary and socio-political accolades since it was first published in 1956, and while Drooker does not exploit any of the textual savagery visually, he fittingly remains true to it. By allowing the poem to expand over so many pages and scenes, readers are appropriately slowed to think about what the poet is saying; Drooker’s art echoes the mid-century scene while pointing to relevant details in our own time.
Drooker sets the scene for his visual presentations of these words by reminding current readers of how conditions today are both similar and dissimilar. Teachers brave enough to teach this poem—and how can the Beats be omitted from a high school curriculum that includes American literature?—will find that by slowing the reader, students who use this version will actually read the poem more deeply.