The story of queenie, a self made woman during the Harlem renaissance who runs a numbers game in Harlem. She refuses to back down to anyone including Dutch Schultz or the police who are both looking to end her rule of the area. Not bad, but it's hard to follow in places.

Unsure how this ended up on my shelf, but I gave it a try and really enjoyed the graphics and the story that focused on Queenie, an amazing Black historical figure who is known for successfully standing her ground when facing off against the mob in Harlem during the 1920s. Only giving it 4 stars, because it took me a bit to stay focused and get into reading the comic itself.

While this is a Europe Comic and we can't purchase copies of these, I hope it'll come up on Comics Plus which our library has an account with. This story is fascinating and beautiful, and I want to read more of it. The artwork is breathtaking, I loved the smooth colors and the feeling that the lines make as it seems to be exactly done in 1920s New York. Queenie/Stephanie/Frenchie whichever name you refer to her as, is such a strong and beautiful character. Her attitude is perfect for a Black woman in Harlem, NY who runs a club and a gambling ring. Wonderful! Looking forward to book two.

Mikaël has really carved out himself a niche in telling stories about 1920s/30s America. So it goes with Harlem, which might seem a pretty typical gangster story, except that this gang is comprised of Black gangsters, with a Black woman as their leader.

The story is okay, as it tends to be with Mikaël, but the art is quite striking.

4/𝟱

🌱THE EXCELLENT
~ Excellent art & detailing of characters
~ Great costuming, scene & tone setting
~ Lovely integration of some challenges of the time & what people did for amusement & hope
~ Strong & delicate female lead

Stephanie St.Claire, has lived a harrowing life, she lost her mum while young & free, was put into service, escaped & managed to buy her way aboard a ship to the wilds of Harlem. Harlem, a place teeming with opportunity, gangs, turfs & the rising battle between alcohol, gambling and dope.

As one of the Queens of Harlem running the gambling scene, she must keep a finger on the pulse of the city & keep her people in line - even against an ‘upstart’ white Dutchman intent on taking what she has built with her wits sweat and blood by starting an all out turf war.

✨𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱.

🌱THE MEH
~ Somewhat impersonal? 🤔🤷 I wasn’t really able to sink into the story
~ Couldn’t really find a character to like (guess this relates to the point above)


♡🌱 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗲 ;)

1st Line: " 'With you, everythng is like the Model T.' my grandma would say."

Review: This gritty, engrossing graphic novel, set in Harlem in 1931, centers around Queenie, a French Antilles immigrant who's been running a lottery for over a decade that's made her into somewhat of a local legend ... and boss. A strong, intelligent woman determined to hang onto her own neighborhood, Queenie's story is one of everyday survival; never more than when, with Prohibition on its way out, up-and-coming gangster Dutch Schultz seeks to diversify both his business and hold over New York City, his harsh gaze falling to Harlem and the one thing standing in his way of acquisition: Queenie. This is only volume one, but after a bit of a slow start Queenie and the residents of Harlem - not to mention the neigborhood itself - blaze to life on the page, whether in the machinations of friends turned to enemies, steamy/forbidden sex, or the violence that explodes on the streets by way of showing who's in control. Dark in tone and with more depth than expected for a short graphic novel, the unfolding of Harlem in the wake of its birth is enthralling - and makes for a bloody good read. 4/5 stars

NOTE: I receied a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

Gorgeous and immersive, I loved it.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for this advance copy to read.

You know I always say I love a good period noir-styled book from Europe Comics, and today is no exception. Rather than the “tried and true” setting of either Manhattan or Chicago for tales of the pre-war urban underworld, Mikaël has opted for a refreshing story set in Harlem. With the Great Depression running strong and racial tensions at their peak, the city is a hotbed for crime. When most try to trample black voices in the city, one woman steps up to make sure they are heard – Stephanie St. Claire or “Queenie”. For those that do not know, Queenie was actually a VERY real person that lived up until 1969 and is known by many as the woman that stared down the mafia and largely won.

This is the first of two volumes of Harlem, and it sets the tone for the meteoric rise of Queenie as one of the most famous black business women of the time. Due to racist policies, it was hard for many black people to make a living, much less to invest said money like their white counterparts. If they somehow did, white fury usually had something to say about it like in Tulsa in 1921. This brought people like Queenie into the underground, where popular institutions like policy banking were the norm. Policy Banking was a mixture of investing, gambling, and playing the lottery that was technically not legal, but ignored like many prohibition-era “crimes” due to corruption. Bronx-based mob boss Dutch Schultz tried to move in on her territory and she fought back with the fury that he could never imagine.

This was an interesting comic about a chapter in history I was largely unaware of until I read this book and did further research. As with many aspects of Black History, a lot of this is never really taught in school, but with me living in the middle of the United States and the fact that school doesn’t concentrate on talking about crime bosses going to war with each other, I’ll give it a slide. This was a great comic, and I will be eagerly anticipating the second volume.

This whole graphic novel is a movie. A good movie!

Enter into the streets of Harlem and we meet the french black woman who runs it, as she is popularly called, Queenie.

She's Headstrong, beautiful, tough, stubborn, and certainly doesn't care about what the folks say about her.

Her turf is now threatened by some man named Dutch. She's not about to give up all that hard years of working for the present she now has. But Dutch is willing to push her father.

I love this story so much. The colour panels and art style is amazing. The detailing to each characters personality with certain gestures and the Dialogues well written.

The story unfolds superficially, but soon enough there'd a glimpse at the darker past of Queenie as she grows up in what looked like Creole before running away to Harlem. Now she must fight for her turf and maintain her lottery business while making a choice to side with the Russians or Italians if she is to win against Dutch in the upcoming war.

Set in Harlem NY in the '30s. A strong and powerful black woman, known as Queenie runs these streets. She came to America from France, and even though her skin was the same color as her black neighbors, she was still treated as an outsider because she sounded different.

She built an empire and had no plans to easily give it up, no matter what.

The art is so reminiscent of those times, the pen work just beautiful. I'm looking forward to seeing how the story plays out.
Another gem from Europe Comics.

Thanks to @netgalley, Europe Comics, and Mikael for the opportunity to read this eArc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Harlem is a story of Stephanie St. Clair or Queenie, an immigrant from French Antilles. She is one of the most powerful women in Harlem, and she runs a lottery business during the Prohibition years.

The art is very good. The brown color is dominant, with occasional use of other colors. This is volume 1 (of 2).

Thanks to Europe Comics for the ARC and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review, and all opinions are my own.

Harlem has so much great things about it. The characters, especially Queenie, are compelling. The artwork is gorgeous. I will be recommending this book for my library to purchase.

Read in English.

Despite what novelty the fact the lead character is a Queenpin, as opposed to a Kingpin, brings to things, this is a very standard Jazz Age crime saga. Our heroine runs a very profitable pyramid of staff working on a lottery, whose aim (and whether the players know this or not is not proven either way) is to match the post-decimal digits in the stock exchange closing figures. Black Harlem is a hotbed of corruption, coloured unemployment and muscle in the pay of "Dutch" Schultz, who wants in on her turf badly. The whole (heh heh, this is only the first half) is a lot better than the creator's own "Giant" where the story's delivery is concerned, but the look doesn't feel better, and the plod to a halt while we wait for the conclusion to arrive is proof you really have to be a fan of this kind of story to get much out of it. I'll not be one of those holding their breath for part two – and the rush shown to get this translated and into the English markets is neither an indication of its quality nor a help for those wanting the rest any time soon.

*Thanks to Europe Comics for giving me the ARC of this book through Netgalley*

Harlem Part 1 is an historical fiction comic about Stephanie St. Clair, A.K.A Queenie/Madame Queen, a prominent racketeer in New York, specifically Harlem. In the final days of the prohibition era, mobsters were looking for diversifying their business. Since Madame Queen successful lottery game in Harlem was known, vicious mobster Dutch Schultz tried to intimidate her and steal her territory, however St. Clair stood her ground against him and other mobsters, and never budged her gambling business.

It's great to see a comic book based on one of the many interesting women that were involved in male-dominated illegal business born during the Prohibition and Depression era. It's a much needed perspective from that side of american history.

The artstyle is pretty cool, the color palette choosen for this story fits the era pretty well. Can't wait to read the second part

A beautifully illustrated and well-paced first volume, Harlem immersed me in the 1930s Harlem scene, with all its speakeasies, gangsters and culture, but with a refreshing look at the black community at a time that so often focuses on white America. Queenie is truly a strong, complex protagonist whose journey we become invested in through her strength of character and the interspersed flashback pages that, without dialogue, let the artwork do the talking. It was fantastic to read a graphic novel that didn’t hold the hand of the reader, just jumped us straight into the characters’ world, and didn’t patronise us by over-explaining how everything works. Gritty and real, stylish and sultry - I loved the characters, the artwork is beautiful, and I’ll be on the lookout to pick both volumes of Harlem up when I can!

This book had such gorgeous gorgeous art that I could not stop looking at! I wish I had the talent -- the colors and the style were so evocative of the atmosphere of early Harlem and I found myself so drawn into the story. Queenie -- Stephanie St. Clair -- is a delight, and her spirit and fire resonates through every page. Such a stunning mesh of art and story and strength of character. Adored this and can't wait for the sequel.

First of all, this adult graphic novel is a magnificent artwork. Coloring, drawings, details of buildings, characters, era, etc. everything is exquisite. In some parts, I couldn't concentrate on the story because I was so immersed in the artwork.

So what is this graphic novel about?

The story takes place in Harlem, in 1931. People are trying to live while the Great Depression continues and prohibition is still in effect. We follow the story of a woman called Stephanie St. Clair, a.k.a. Queenie. She is an immigrant from the French Antilles and the owner of a lottery scam. As you can imagine, with this kind of work it's impossible to avoid trouble. So as you can imagine, the story is quite gripping. It tackles subjects such as racism, being black in that era, injustice, corrupted politicians, and a discriminatory police force. You won't be able to put down the novel.

According to the information given at the end of the novel, even though the story is a work of historical fiction, it is inspired by real-life characters. Thankfully, the author/illustrator gives the readers sources of inspiration. I appreciate these details about the books.

Although I love the book, I have a little personal complaint which is connected to my bad eyesight. It was really hard for me to read dialogue balloons as they have a different type of font than I am used to. I wish there was a technology that allows people to change fonts in speech balloons.

Many thanks to Europe Comics and NetGalley for providing an ARC of the novel for reviewers.

This book is based on a story I was not familiar with: the business acumen of a black American woman who survives and thrives in Harlem in the 1920s despite the opposition of white mafia groups in league with city officials. It documents the enconomic hardships and struggles of the black community in New York at this time, but never seems to be preaching. The central character herself is an emblem of defiance and success. The book packs its punches into dynamic and beauutiful drawings which need to be read in paper form to be fully appreciated. Electronic media don't really suit this format, but I would definitely read it more than once.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me review this book.

The main highlight of this graphic novel is probably the art style that illicited compelling and this intense storyline of the story other than the historical aspects that the story presented.

I just hoped that the font style was more readable because it was really a main hindrance for me while reading this.

Overall, I did enjo this graphic and is really looking forward on the next part.

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974

An amazing comic. It reintroduced me to Queenie, Stephanie St. Clair and Bumpy Johnson. The graphics are top notch and the story follows Queenie's run in with Dutch Schultz and gives glimpses of Harlem after the Great Depression. I look forward to more installments.

Author note: The quick and angry sex go against the tone. The story and art are beautiful without the random acts.