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Sentences: The Life of M.F. Grimm

Sometimes it's hard to believe how well I know Brant Fowler, and for that matter how long I've known him. As a result, he knows me as well as just about anyone in comics, so he accurately pointed out that the only thing that would be a guarantee if I did a weekly column would be that I would fail in putting one out each week. Ouch. The thing is about that statement was that it stung for about 2 seconds before I laughed and had to agree with him. Knowing my limitations will help me make this a better and more insightful column and as a result I hope you'll find it enjoyable and at times informational.

So with this in mind we went bi-weekly and I planned out two books to review in February for Black History Month. It seemed easy enough on the surface until I realized I had three books I wanted to review but only two columns in which to write about them. The only logical solution I could come up with that satisfied me would require extra work for Brant when I decided to write three columns this month. Not only was I hopefully entertaining readers of the column and introducing a book that you hadn't previously considered, I was going to push myself as a writer (you'll understand below), and I found a way to make Brant do little extra work, which you know I enjoy from all the brotherly love over on Zone 4! Best of all, with in the first month of my bi-weekly column I've managed to destroy both of our projections and go weekly, even if for just 3 weeks!

This week I am going to be reviewing Sentences: The Life of M. F. Grimm written by Percy Carey with art by Ronald Wimberly and published as a hardcover by DC Comics/Vertigo in September 2007. The best description of the book is lifted straight from the back cover, "My name is Percy Carey, and this is my story."

Sentences is an autobiographical story that chronicles the tragic perseverance of underground Hip-Hop legend Percy Carey, aka. MF Grimm. [In the interest of full disclosure I want to point out that I normally have a very strong bias towards Hip-Hop music, its culture, and well as those similarly named such as Rap, or Gangsta Rap, or Techno. I have made every effort to respect the work for the story it has to tell and to be fully aware of my bias as I read the book and as I wrote the review.] Like many stories in Hip-Hop, Carey's story is one of violence, gangs, music, fast money, death, and prison that I is meant to serve as a cautionary tale for the youth of today and tomorrow.

I will forever remember this book because of Wimberly's art. It is strong and perfectly matched to the story. It embraces the raw cutting edge of the Hip-Hop world at the time of its inception when the beats and messages could still be felt merged and mixed by the masterful hands of urban Picasso's that filled the sides of buildings with graphitti letters and imagery to complete a story. Yet it also invoked comparisons to Aaron Macgruder's comic and animation series The Boondocks in the style and movement of the characters in the story. Yet as strong as the imagery of the interior was, I have to mention the power of the cover. It is a simple drawing of Carey in a wheelchair, dressed like a guy from a tough part of a city. The clothes aren't distinguishable enough to tell much about them, but the skull cap, book's title, and the blood red splashes of the background (which provide the cover's only color) combined with the mixed look of remorse and defiance of Carey in the wheelchair spoke to me of a gangbanger. A gangbanger that screwed up and his life had been terribly altered by some self-inflicted tragedy and now he's fighting against his past for a better life and here is his story; please care about him.

Yeah, I know that came across as extremely cynical. But that is what the image portrayed to me when the advertising began prior to its release and afterwards when I saw it on the shelves. Representing a completely opposite taste in music and culture than what I liked, I had no desire to ever read it. Yet the image on the cover always stayed with me. In the time since it was first published, I could point this book out anywhere simply by that cover. It took almost 3 years and this column for me to pick it up, but when I did look past the cynicism, skepticism, intolerance, prejudice, and mocking pity, I committed myself to understand the figure that was in the wheelchair with the power to stare me down for over two years.

For my tastes, Carey's story is strong but falls slightly short of the art. Yet I feel the strength of the story is the raw, almost unapologetic honesty in which Carey tells the story of his life. Whether it's through his narrative or the dialogue and interactions between the characters, I felt that the veil of time was removed completely for us to see his life exactly how he remembered it, with only a few changes to protect others who may not want to be revealed in his story. Warts and all, good moves and bad moves, Carey told his story and let the results fall where they may and I have to respect the courage it takes someone to do that and leave it out there for friends, family, and the rest of the world to see.

What probably most appealed to me the most about the story and it's direction is that while it contains the similar vein of tragic warning about getting mixed up with gangs, drugs, and the lure of big money, Carey's story begins early enough that he wasn't drawn into Hip-Hop because of the glorious imagery and lifestyle that was being portrayed on television and in the movies, but he was there seeing it as a force that joined generations of people from an area and helped create a strong supportive community. I think any reader could see how this type of atmosphere would appeal to a young boy and foster his desire to be a part of that world as it began to garner more attention and acceptance throughout the nation.

What I didn't like about Sentences also had to do with the story, and what I would consider to be an inherent weakness in the genre of autobiographies, and that is the lack of any litmus to test the authenticity of the story we are being told. It's not that I believe that Carey lied or trued to purposely mislead us, but I do believe that certain facts are with held to make his story seem more tragic, or at the very least events are glossed over or ignored. An example would be his exclusion that he was able to be a child actor on Sesame Street because he was fortunate enough to live next door to Morgan Freeman growing up, and he got him on to the show.

Then there are the nagging questions I have about how he continued to make bad choices after being paralyzed. He never attempts to explain why he didn't try to move back in with his parents and leave behind the lifestyle that had taken so much away from him, at least I didn't find it adequately explained. The other flaw I found was in many of the characters, beginning from his mother and then down the line to his friends and stepbrother. While he portrayed them as strong, tough, and loyal I saw them all as contributing factors that helped clear his life path to destruction. His mother apparently had anger management issues and most of the people around him showcased a blatant disrespect for law and authority.

Then there is Carey himself. I had a hard time finding too much sympathy for him, even after all he had been through. By all accounts he was a thug and a bad person growing up, but he only became worse when people tried to murder him and he was confined to a wheelchair. That was when we saw him reach the bottom and make attempts to kill and hurt people. Even though it now appears that he has taken control of his demons and is finally putting his life together he remains an unsympathetic character to me. At the end of the book Carey says wants to "show the youth out there that there's other options out there that don't involve guns and crime." It's a very noble gesture, but I'm not sure he gets close providing options for getting out of crime.

I found Sentences to be very interesting and for me I loved the look he gave me at the early years of Hip-Hop and how its evolution appealed to a young urban kid with limited choices ahead of him. If a character study like that can fascinate a proponent of Hip-Hop such as myself, I can only imagine that fans of this genre of music will be even more entertained and excited by this book.

Chuck Kennedy/Podcaster, Columnist, Reviewer
Chuck Kennedy is active in the Comic Related forums and is one of the co-hosts for the Zone 4 familay of podcast. Chuck enjoys writing and is a long running comic fan. He's also a stay-at-home father of triplets that were born in June of 2006. Before they were born, he was a high school history teacher who I loved teaching and being with his students. Check out more of Chuck's thoughts and commentary at the Comic Book Observatory.