Hip Hop Family Tree, Vol. 1 by Ed Piskor

His lettering, also reminiscent of graffiti artists, draws the readers' attention to important dialogue and rhymes, emphasizing key words and syllables in an emcee battle to let readers in on the rhythm of the page. The painstaking attention to detail rewards those who appreciate comics as a multi-sensory medium as Piskor dips back in comic book culture as well to create weathered-looking pages, using a limited four-color palette that would have been the only color options available to artists at that time.

This will be a key moment later in the series but it's impressive that Piskor gets to this moment after he started out at Kool Herc's apartment window. The story breaks as Big Bank Hank, who has found himself in dire financial straits after investing his father's money in equipment, studies the emcees on radio and begins appropriating their lyrics as his own. Some depictions are exaggerated for comic effect, like Russell Simmons in his early days, described by Piskor in the backmatter as an 'angel dust using, cocaine blowing knucklehead.' There are also stopovers and teases along the way that will pay off down the line, like dropping in momentarily on the future Fab Five Freddy and his legendary street art crew. His characters and cartooning are steeped in street culture, somehow both incredibly flexible yet possessing sharp angles, much like the music. The dialogue and script drive the narrative, allowing the panel and perspective choices to be drop-in moments in many places, be it profile pictures of a major artist in their element, a party in media res or some combination of both. Piskor's narrative is a ripple effect across New York City, a needle dropping and creating grooves that sweep up others in its wake. He begins the journey by focusing on DJ Kool Herc's South Bronx dance parties as one of the birthplaces of the culture, expanding out quickly to cover Afrika Bambataa's evolution from feared gang leader to adored turntable stylist and leader of Zulu Nation. There are so many ideas and so much content packed into this issue the staples could pop. Piskor's love of hip hop sizzles off of the page.

Hip Hop Family Tree, Vol. 1 by Ed Piskor