On sale in the USA and UK February 18th 2025
L.A based Animation studio and book publisher Fantoons announce their upcoming book Ella Fitzgerald: The Official Graphic Novel, will be released in the USA and UK on February 18th 2025. This is the second graphic novel in the award-winning creative studio’s Women In Jazz series, a collection of novels celebrating the groundbreaking female artists of colour, of which their first book was Billie Holiday | The Graphic Novel.
Through artwork by illustrators Larissa Rivero, Lindsay Lee and Jorge Mansilla and storytelling from Brooklyn-based writer, filmmaker and painter Ngozi Nwadiogbu, this vibrant graphic novel follows the remarkable journey of Ella Fitzgerald, the “First Lady of Song,” as she rises from humble beginnings to become one of the most revered jazz vocalists of all time. The novel explores the challenges Fitzgerald faced as a black woman in a segregated society and the obstacles she overcame with her unmatched talent and determination.
Speaking about what it means to adapt Ella Fitzgerald’s story in this unique medium, Ngozi comments, “Ella Fitzgerald’s contributions to jazz and the American Songbook not only left a mark on the artform at large, but the world’s broader conception of national identity and race. It is an incredible honour to be trusted with such a legacy, especially as a black woman trying to forge her own path in the arts, navigating debris from the very glass ceilings Fitzgerald herself shattered”.
“Writing, researching and hunting for Ella’s own words about her experiences and, in the absence of them, experimenting with ways to unspool her celebrity and the popular media narratives of her rise was as challenging as it was rewarding. I’m so grateful to the team at Fantoons and the Ella Fitzgerald Foundation for providing the space for me to go on this journey, for trusting a first time author, and believing in my vision of how to frame a life so large. Their Women in Jazz series is a unique entryway into the creative outputs of some of our most cherished artists”.
Ella Fitzgerald: The Official Graphic Novel is published by Fantoons, whose book publishing arm has released official works from the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, The Beach Boys, Motorhead, Tenacious D, Rush, Frank Zappa, Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper, Henry Mancini, and more; and whose animation studio has produced music videos, documentaries and advertisements for clients such as Penguin Random House, Disney, Universal, Warner, Publicis, Rush, Nat King Cole, Iron Maiden, Frank Sinatra, Frank Zappa, The Beach Boys, Johnny Ramone, and others for over 10 years.
Commenting on his creation of Fantoons’ Women In Jazz Series, Chief Director of Fantoons Animation Studios David Calcano says, “I light up at the fact that I’m seeing my dream of telling these timeless stories become a reality. These women, these groundbreaking artists, fought for their survival through art and left some of the most inspirational music of all time”.
The book will be available on February 18th 2025.
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