Big Jim and the White Boy

Starred review from October 21, 2024
Writer Walker and artist Anderson, winners of the Eisner Award for The Black Panther Party, reunite to upend Mark Twain’s caricature-like portrayal of Jim, the enslaved character in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The narrative unfolds across different points in time: 101-year-old Jim talks to his grandchildren, while his granddaughter passes on the story to her own granddaughter, who grows up to become a history professor and tells Jim’s story to the world. In 1855, Jim, who has looked after Huck Finn his entire life, confronts the boy’s father, Joe Finn, about his sister Eudora Watson selling Jim’s wife and children and an altercation breaks out. Huck, trying to save Jim, seemingly kills his father, and the two flee together on a raft down the Mississippi River. They endure run-ins with scavengers and fights with bounty hunters, aid fellow runaways, join in Civil War battles, and take part in cat-and-mouse chases with a diabolical Joe. Interspersed with the adventures are academic discussions of the Civil War, slavery, and race relations. The n-word appears in redacted form throughout, its middle letters crossed out. Walker’s quirky characters are rendered in a bold and dynamic art style that emphasizes the harrowing and tender aspects in equal measure. It’s a vital reconsideration of an American classic.