Sentences: The Life of M.F. Grimm

In the '90s, the publishing community saw an explosion of the memoir genre, especially among young first-time authors who detailed their battles with just about every demon possible. Today, the memoir has found a new popular home: the graphic novel. Now, you can not only read about the sordid details of anyone's life, but you can also see every gory detail. It's the ultimate narcissism for those without a movie budget to bring their lives to the big screen. (And yes, it's ironic for a format that has the word "novel" in its title that nonfiction is such a large part of its output.) Sorting through the plethora of biographical graphic novels out there can be daunting, which is all the more reason to draw attention to those that do the form proud. The beauty of graphic novels is that they allow a you-are-there immediacy to their stories through panel art, and they can combine it with dramatic, poetic and urgent prose. There on the page, the combination can be jarring and stunning. Such is the case with SENTENCES, which is as bold and in-your-face as its subject, the rough-edged Percy Carey, aka M.F. Grimm. Carey has led a grim life, indeed, and he has the scars to prove it. He grew up on New York City's Upper West Side during the gritty 1970s, long before the city's squalor and seedy underbelly had been cleaned up. As the son of a single mother and a deadbeat father, he grows up in a tough world and learns quickly how to fight. He doesn't stop there, though, crossing the line over into the territory of crime, finding hapless victims in the city's many neighborhoods. From these crime-ridden streets a new cultural movement is emerging, and Carey knows he wants to be part of it. Hip-hop sounds are dominating his listening habits, and he knows what he wants to do with his life: become an emcee. What happens to him in between making that decision and actually achieving it forms the heart of SENTENCES, and it makes for compelling, unflinching reading. Carey, born in 1970, comes of age in a city undergoing an onslaught of change, and as a young man, he's not only determined to find his place in it, but also to succeed, whatever it takes. Carey and his artist, the evocative Ronald Wimberly, manage to imbue the pages with the realistic perspective needed to make sure the story hits home in all the right places. Carey has a storyteller's voice, an old-school talent to combine words cleverly so that hidden meanings and double entendres pervade the entire work. He has the pacing of an emcee on paper just as much as he does on stage (although the work is clear prose). The image on the cover makes it clear where this story is all leading for Carey, a sad but also triumphant finale to the story of his youth and the mistakes he made along the way. If SENTENCES is part of a larger trend of memoirs in graphic novel form, it certainly stands out as one of the most honest. --- Reviewed by John Hogan

REAL RATING = 4.5 STARS First off, let me say that MF Grimm is one of my favorite rappers of all-time. This is saying a lot, considering that rap music is basically everything I love. MF Grimm represents everything that can happen to real gangsters. His life is not only one of the most interesting biographies you can think of, but it should also serve as a model of what NOT to do. So when I heard that there was going to be a graphic novel released on his life, you can understand how happy I was that this was being acknowledged. When I finally picked up a copy, I read the whole book in about an hour and a half. Of course, I knew this was going to be the case, and you should understand this too so you don't end up disappointed with the short read. Graphic novels tend to run very quickly. As fast as the read was though, it was definitely one of the best recent publications I've read. As much as I researched his biography when I was just a fan of his music earlier in the millennium, there was nothing like reading about it straight from the man himself, with images to back it up. Even an avid fan would learn a thing or two about Grimm's life from the 128 pages, like more details of the events that led up to his unfortunate downfall (I would go more into detail but I don't want to include any spoilers to those unfamiliar with the man). There are many details about his friends, family, and everything around him that made his life what it is, which should hold a fan's interest as much as the story itself should hold a casual reader's. Still, I feel that the book might have been truly 5-star worthy if it was a bit longer. There are so many events in Grimm's life that I can see many people getting lost in the fast-paced action. The book does only scratch the surface of Grimm's life, possibly because of space limitation, but what is included is still very enthralling and informative. I believe that the nature of the graphic novel might just achieve Grimm's goal of helping lost kids get back on the right path. This novel will serve very well to wake the public eye to the life of MF Grimm. I just hope that Grimm does a follow up with more detail, or maybe even a full length autobiography. Who knows. All that matters is that this book is amazing, even if you might not exactly be Grimm's target audience, because Grimm's life is, to put it simply, very, very interesting. So do yourself a favor and make the purchase. It's worth the price.

There is a lot to this book and the story left me wanting more -- Maybe a movie and even a novelized version. It's the confessions of a rapper, dealer, convict,and eventual producer/author. That's the gist of it but you've gotta see how it all unfolds. He chronicles the triumph of rising in the Hip Hop world and then the flip side of gang banging, dealing, and incarceration. The ups and downs never end as he goes through getting shot, paralyzed, incarcerated and how he comes back. There some interesting things he observes while he is incarcerated as well. I could definitely get into a more detailed and longer treatment of his story.

Great artwork and very informative about MF Grimm's life. Paints a vivid picture of inner city struggle and one's ability to overcome anything to reach the top. Good for comic lovers or anyone interested in learning about rapper MF Grimm.

From everything I'd read, this is an autobiographical work by a hip-hop artist who came upon some misfortune, and that's putting it lightly. I started this with "from what I'd read..." because I researched the story before I pre-ordered it. I wanted a *real* story -- written by someone who'd been there, whether it was true or not. I'm about as white as they come, but I have a certain respect for this culture. I recognize hip-hop as an art form, although one I personally can't listen to in large quantities. It's poetry, and even though the message is often beyond my understanding or approval, it takes a certain amount of talent to produce this kind of work. I wanted a real story, and I got one. I have to believe that Percy Carey had some assistance on the writing side, but it's an engaging and moving ride. (I mention "assistance" such as writing a comic script in the form we've seen in GN supplements, not such as translation to English from Ebonics.) The events and people are familiar to me -- at least, a few of them are, and the rest feel that way because I bonded that much with the main character (Carey) almost from the beginning. It's that well done. The art is rich and fluid. Occasional altered perspectives remind me of early Mad cartooning, and the use of gray tones and high contrasts give just the right amount of lighting effects and maintain the mood. It feels inconsistent at times -- sometimes it's not easy to recognize someone from one page to the next, but this is one of those cases where the writing covered for that. Ordinarily, I admire the art while the words get in the way. This is not one of those cases. So this isn't your standard offering from Marvel or DC, and it's even a little different than I expected from Vertigo. It's certainly not for everyone -- it's foul-mouthed and violent (but not gory) -- but it's one of the best reads I've had in recent memory.