A01=Adrian Matejka
A01=Youssef Daoudi
Author_Adrian Matejka
Author_Youssef Daoudi
bandw
black history
boxing
boxing graphic novel
Category=DNBS
Category=NH
Category=SRB
Category=XA
Category=XQA
Category=XQF
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_fiction
eq_graphic-novels-manga
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_sports-fitness
graphic biography
heavyweight boxing
heavyweight champion
jack johnson
jim jeffreys
literary graphic novel
mann act
sports bios
sports comics
sports history
texas
Product details
- ISBN 9781324096139
- Weight: 884g
- Dimensions: 180 x 239mm
- Publication Date: 18 Mar 2025
- Publisher: W W Norton & Co Ltd
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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On the morning of 4 July 1910, thousands of boxing fans stormed a newly built stadium in Reno, Nevada, to witness an epic showdown. Jack Johnson, the world’s first Black heavyweight champion—and most infamous athlete in the world because of his race—was paired against Jim Jeffries, a former heavyweight champion then heralded as the “great white hope”. It was the height of the Jim Crow era and spectators were eager for Jeffries to restore the racial hierarchy that Johnson had pummelled with his quick fists.
Transporting readers directly into the ring, artist Youssef Daoudi and poet Adrian Matejka intersperse dramatic boxing action with vivid flashbacks to reveal how Johnson, the self-educated son of formerly enslaved parents, reached the pinnacle of sport—all while facing down a racist justice system. Through a combination of breathtaking illustrations and striking verse, Last on His Feet honours a contentious civil rights figure who has for more than a century been denied his proper due.
Youssef Daoudi, a comic artist, writer and illustrator, is the author of Monk!. Previously, he was an art director for multinational advertising firms. Adrian Matejka is the author of six poetry collections and the graphic novel Last on His Feet. He has been nominated for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, served as the poet laureate of the state of Indiana from 2018–2019, and is editor–in–chief of Poetry magazine. He lives in Chicago.
