Scan barcode
A review by saidtheraina
The Comic Book Story of Professional Wrestling: A Hardcore, High-Flying, No-Holds-Barred History of the One True Sport by Aubrey Sitterson, Chris Moreno
4.0
Professional wrestling is a fascinating modern phenomenon.
This graphic novel traces the history of professional wrestling (starting in ancient times), and goes into detail about the last 100+ years. It talks about various Associations, specific key players, and touches on moves and slang. It also spends a few chapters on pro wrestling outside of the United States, particularly in Mexico and Japan.
I'm a pretty big fan of the Netflix series GLOW, and I studied theatre in college, so I'm always interested in performative arts and their impact on the wider culture. I also dig nonfiction graphic novels as a rule. I found this one, though, because I was specifically looking for high-appeal, sports-related books for my annual tour of local high schools. This was perfect for that niche. I opened my presentations by talking about this book, focusing on the colonial Rough-and-Tumble ancestor to pro wrestling (discussed on page 3 here).
Since I'm not a general connoisseur of professional wrestling, I can't speak to the accuracy of this telling, but I did find it fascinating. Part of me wanted a little more focus on the specific moves - I would have liked a play-by-play of at least one famous fight, perhaps. But I appreciate the importance of the association infighting to the larger art form, and that's most of the focus here.
The illustrations are clear and bright, and tell the story effectively. In some ways the narrative meanders more than I might like, but I understand it's hard to tell a story that bridges the whole planet and a couple centuries with everything influencing everything else.
It also doesn't tackle the nuance of the cultural impact the art form has had. There are acknowledgments of the rampant sexism and racism in mainstream professional wrestling, but it doesn't go particularly deep with that. Doesn't discuss homophobia at all, which (I have a feeling) is an issue. Now that I've read this for context and a framework, I feel semi-ready to read someone else take those important issues on.
If you're intrigued, this is a pretty great primer on the topic. And it definitely worked for my purposes of grabbing high schoolers.
This graphic novel traces the history of professional wrestling (starting in ancient times), and goes into detail about the last 100+ years. It talks about various Associations, specific key players, and touches on moves and slang. It also spends a few chapters on pro wrestling outside of the United States, particularly in Mexico and Japan.
I'm a pretty big fan of the Netflix series GLOW, and I studied theatre in college, so I'm always interested in performative arts and their impact on the wider culture. I also dig nonfiction graphic novels as a rule. I found this one, though, because I was specifically looking for high-appeal, sports-related books for my annual tour of local high schools. This was perfect for that niche. I opened my presentations by talking about this book, focusing on the colonial Rough-and-Tumble ancestor to pro wrestling (discussed on page 3 here).
Since I'm not a general connoisseur of professional wrestling, I can't speak to the accuracy of this telling, but I did find it fascinating. Part of me wanted a little more focus on the specific moves - I would have liked a play-by-play of at least one famous fight, perhaps. But I appreciate the importance of the association infighting to the larger art form, and that's most of the focus here.
The illustrations are clear and bright, and tell the story effectively. In some ways the narrative meanders more than I might like, but I understand it's hard to tell a story that bridges the whole planet and a couple centuries with everything influencing everything else.
It also doesn't tackle the nuance of the cultural impact the art form has had. There are acknowledgments of the rampant sexism and racism in mainstream professional wrestling, but it doesn't go particularly deep with that. Doesn't discuss homophobia at all, which (I have a feeling) is an issue. Now that I've read this for context and a framework, I feel semi-ready to read someone else take those important issues on.
If you're intrigued, this is a pretty great primer on the topic. And it definitely worked for my purposes of grabbing high schoolers.