Graphic Novel Review: SHADOW DOCTOR

SHADOW DOCTOR by Peter Calloway and Georges Jeanty (AfterShock Comics, November 2021) Trade paperback, 120 pages. ISBN # 1949028720 / 978194902872 

Summary on the Goodreads website . . . . .

Years in the making, this is the true story of writer Peter Calloway’s grandfather, Nathaniel Calloway, a Black man who graduated from medical school in the early 1930s. Unable to get work at any Chicago hospital (because he was Black) and unable to secure a loan from a bank to start his own practice (because he was Black), Nathaniel turned to the only other source of money in Prohibition-era Chicago: the Mafia, run by none other than Al Capone. 

One of the most profoundly fascinating, startling and significant stories AfterShock has ever published, SHADOW DOCTOR features the artwork of Eisner Award-winner Georges Jeanty (The American Way, X-Tremists) with a cover illustrated by comics legend Mark Chiarello!

My Five-Star Review on the Goodreads website . . . . .

    

In SHADOW DOCTOR writer Peter Calloway and artist Georges Jeanty craft a disturbing portrait of racial discrimination in Prohibition Era Chicago, based on the real life experiences of Calloway's grandfather - Nathaniel Calloway. 

     The true story of how Calloway, a gifted young man who obtained a medical degree with high honors, and how he was denied employment at various hospitals and later denied bank loans to set up private practice because of his skin color, is depressing and sad. However, he persevered in spite of discrimination and continued to pursue his goal of becoming a working doctor. In order to accomplish this, he had to compromise and seek the funds from Al Capone's organization (where he helped transport illegal whiskey when he was younger). Circumstances led to his becoming the crime lord's personal physician, removing bullets and bandaging up his employees in the midst of vicious gang wars. 

     While undeserving of his situation, Nathaniel Calloway was not a perfect person and always regretted the things he felt compelled to do to carry on with his purpose. Peter Calloway does not sugar coat the proceedings or put his grandfather on a pedestal. He reveals all facets of the man, warts and all. That only serves to make the story more believable and compassionate.

     Georges Jeanty's art is very fluid, especially the gang fights. He's also very good with facial expressions and body language. Peter Calloway enhances the story with several flashbacks that help define his grandfather's characters. There is also some symbolism in the way that images of snakes (featured in the AMA logo) keep popping up in the background of the story.

     The story concludes at a turning point in Calloway's life, a proper place to end his story. Although, there is certainly more that could be told about the remaining days of Al Capone before his eventual arrest. However, this is at its' root a story about a black man facing obstacles and finding a way forward rather than a character study of Al Capone. While Calloway later distanced himself from the criminal gang and became an informant, as history shows that was not the event that brought Capone to justice.