Thanks so much for allowing me to review this great book. Way too late with feedback - damn life getting in the way - but would highly recommend to others.

Half Dead Johnson has made a deal with the devil to provide him souls in exchange for power. One of his old buddies is in trouble and comes to Johnson for help. He's being hunted by a golem for killing someone's son.

Reminiscent of the Dresden Files with a less altruistic character. I liked the prose written to the side of the panels to display his inner monologue. The art needs to be a little more defined. Also, because the book is black and white, you need a better way visually of showing the blue hand. I had no idea when he was using magic.

The story and artwork did not appeal to me at all. Looked like a book someone created and sold out of their garage.

Why DNF? I did not like the story just based on investment sake. I did not feel propelled to finish it.

'Blue Hand Mojo: Hard Times Road' by John Jennings is an urban fantasy that has an interesting story and unusual art going for it. I enjoyed the ride, but it's definitely of the R-rated variety.

Frank Johnson is known as "Half Dead" in his neighborhood for the deal he made with the devil to save his life. In return, he got a blue hand and some weird powers. Because of this, he has a debt to work off. He does this by helping people out. The latest of these people is a Chicago gangster named Mac the Shark, an associate of Al Capone.

The book has an interesting vibe. I liked that it was set in 1930s Chicago. I also like that Frank is also a pretty dark and tortured guy. The book is in black and white, and I didn't like it at first, but the violence is so over the top that I was glad that there was no color (specifically the color red). There were times when the story and art felt a little muddy to me, and I lost interest in the first third, but I came back and finished it and enjoyed it more.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Rosarium Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Having seen the initial issue of this some time ago, it was good to revisit the world of these pages, even if the end result is incredibly patchy. Yes, have a black and white painted comic, but when a key detail is something turning bright blue – at least try and make it obvious. Several pages and panels have a peculiar order with which to read the speech balloons and captions, and there are typos galore. But importantly, there is also something pretty damn interesting about a black Constantine equivalent in the Jazz Age, struggling against hexes, demons, racism – and the loss of half his soul and his future with deals with the supernatural. The story isn't as convoluted as it needs to be, but I think more of the mythology coming from other arcs will only ultimately add to the appeal of this story.

A half-dead magic man walks the slums of Chicago in 1931, helping out an old friend while trying to regain what he’d lost, or more likely sold, to the devil.
This is the first time I’ve heard the term Hoodoo noir. As far as the artwork, it translates into harsh black and white drawings, though some of the work is intricate. When it comes to dialogue, which appears on the side of the drawings, while he mostly speaks usual, he’ll also bring out stuff like “I likes my liquor” and “I’m starvin’ for some beans, so spill ‘em.” So in other words, not that different from regular noir.
The magic stuff was all sorts of confusing. The only clear moment is him using cigarette smoke to make it happen. His girlfriend’s sorcery is a lot more intriguing.
This would have been much more awesome if it had been named Mississippi Golem or some such.

Racism. Voodoo. Hexes. Bargains with the devil. Not your typical Noir comic.

I thought this was both deeply creative storytelling and also very gripping. It is a story with a significant back story. Who is Frank 'Half-Dead' Johnson and what is this mysterious and dark power that he wields? What is the deal he made with unfathomable darkness and why is it that men call upon him to solve dark mystery and sometimes ask him to commit dark crimes.

As the story unfolds we begin to understand that Frank is not a man to be trifled with because he wields darkness as a power but he is a man who is tortured by a darkness of his own.

In this story Frank tries to solve a mystery for one of his previous criminal colleagues whose men have been mysteriously slaughtered. As he delves into why he comes across powers of revenge that cause even him to fear.

The story has a way of illustrating violence and fear with its graphics and hard lined drawings. These convey the mystery and horror of the story but are also so expressive, beautifully portraying the emotions of the different characters in a way that adds to the mystery of the story. At first I did wish that the story had been in colour but after reading it I think that the use of black and white, and all the shades within that actually add to the tension, horror and mystery.

I am not familiar with the author of this book but he is brilliant in the way he uses art to convey a story that is steeped in mysticism, magic and darkness. Definitely worth reading.

Copy provided via NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

The art was beautiful and the story was interesting.
´My problem with the book was that I didn't connect with the characters and the story didn't grip me enough.
Nonetheless, if you like noir I recommend you this graphic novel.

Interesting mix of Jazz, noir and voodoo mixed into an intriguing story but sadly for me, there wasn't enough set-up. The language and characters are perfectly adapted to the world and the magic element was enough to be believable.

This is a very powerful story of Frank "Half Dead" Johnson tracking down a ruthless, supernatural killer. Set in the 1930s, it is full of noirish tones and racial tensions of the time.

Wow! Blue Hand Mojo is an amazing graphic novel. The artwork is gorgeous - dark and edgy, perfect for a surreal tale of hoodoo and gangsters. John Jennings is a talented author and artist. Frank “Half Dead” Johnson is a marked man, owned in part by the Devil and in part by Noir, the dark goddess of imagination. From her, Frank gets his magic, and from the Devil his task - to acquire souls for Ole Scratch’s final musical number. In 1931, having dark skin doesn’t make for an easy life, and with Frank’s additional challenges - well life is a bumpy road.

Considering just how good Blue Hand Mojo is, I can easily imagine John Jennings making his own deal with Noir. Whether you like fantasy/noir blends, graphic novels or are simply looking for something wonderfully unique, I highly recommend Blue Hand Mojo.

5/5

I received a copy of Blue Hand Mojo from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

—Crittermom

When Frank's whole world was destroyed, he made a deal with The Devil that cost him half his soul and left him with magical powers. He has two hundred years to pay off his debt. There's a purpose for Frank's mojo, but he sometimes uses it to help others. Mac the Shark, an old associate of Frank’s and one of Al Capone’s men, pops in with a job for Frank. Some kind of dark magic seems to be killing off Mac’s crew and Frank is the only man he knows who can stop it.

I’ve been stalking John Jenning’s art blog since I read Kindred: the Graphic Novel Adaptation. He featured some progress shots of Blue Hand Mojo, so I jumped at the chance to read the full version when it popped up on Netgalley. The gorgeous cover with shocking electric blue on top of brown would've probably drawn me in anyway! The illustrations and dialogue are so evocative of time and place that I can practically hear jazz music in the background. The page compositions are varied and interesting. The contrast of the sharp linework over smoky ink washes makes the art extremely atmospheric. I loved when the swirls of magic and cigarette smoke broke outside of the boxes. My favorite illustrations were of The Noir. The style is different from the artwork in Kindred, but both books share a frenetic energy and a power behind the movements. I don't know if the published copy will be black and white like the advance copy, but the artwork was sufficiently contrasty--even for as dark as it was.

I don't want to expose the entire plot, so here's a list of aspects that stood out for me:
• I loved Frank's speaking style: “Well, I’m starving for some beans so spill ‘em.”
• Policy wheels are featured in this story, so this article from the Chicago Tribune helped give me some context: When policy kings ruled: Numbers game made fortunes for underworld bosses, helped shape Chicago's fabled Democratic machine.
• The girlfriend who takes "passing potion."
• A family that almost dies because they are more scared of a black man than a monster.

Black. White. The shit's all a sham. Nothing more than an illusion. ... Uncle Sam is the best conjure man of them all.


I can't really do better than the publisher's description: “Hard-hitting Hoodoo Noir highball with just a splash of Southern Gothic." If you have reading sensitivities, be aware that there is gore, nudity, and cursing. For those looking for a moody and immersive graphic novel, this book might be for you! I'm looking forward to the next episode of Frank's adventures.

I don't have a lot of experience with graphic novels, but I have a ton of experience with 1920s and 1930s fiction. The dialogue felt too modern - especially the narration - and the writer seems to use gritty "tough" language, mostly F-words, as a replacement for authenticity. However, that being said, there is tremendous creativity behind this story, I would love to see this fleshed out into a well-researched full-length novel (with less profanity). The premise is really neat and different - especially for typical 1920s/1930s fiction, I'm guessing for the world of graphic novels too. It did not win me over to the graphic novel format, I just like a little more story and progression in my fiction, but it was a very interesting read. Half-Dead is a really cool character with a really great story behind him.
Warning, it does contain a sex scene with exaggerated nudity. Could have done without that...

Frank Is Back. Hard Times Gettin' Harder.

About a year and a half ago Amazon had a Kindle comic of this title that ran about 34 pages. It was great. Now, we have a 104 page graphic novel paperback that consists, according to the blurbs, of three "adventures" of Frank "Half Dead" Johnson. It looks like the first adventure is what we got in the earlier Kindle release. The balance of this book is two new adventures that expand on and wrap up the first adventure. That's all fine by me because the first episode was great and I'm happy to see more from Frank, even if only in paperback format.

Lots of writers, (of novels, short stories, film treatments or graphic novels), try to do noir. But snappy patter isn't enough. Nor are twisty plots and double-crossing dames. There is a style, a mood, and a dark hopelessness running through the best noir. On that score this book delivers. Once you
add Frank's gris-gris bag, voodoo/hoodoo/mojo hand, half-a-soul and sorcerer's powers, black magic, nightmares, drink, the devil himself, the love of a good woman, and some vengeful demon on the prowl - well, you have by gosh got something special.

Frank has an interior monologue that serves as a sort of voice-over narration. This creates a powerful you-are-there sense, but also lets you piece together Frank's awesome backstory. It's choppy and terse and a bit cryptic, just like Frank.

This is complemented by the drawings. It's black and white, but you might just as well say black. Lots of ink, lots of black, lots of "noir". Many of the closeups are exaggerated and angular, which gives the visuals a choppy, jazzy feel. The emphasis is on the characters, not backgrounds and fill, and scenes feel real and visceral even when they are pretty impressionistic. (That said, you always know what's going on; nothing here is artsy-incomprehensible.)

This is different, jazzy, relocated southern gothic, period specific, tormented and drenched with attitude. A very happy.

Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.