Philippe Girard has created a short biographical comic on the life of Leonard Cohen, the poet/musician/writer/actor most famous for his song “Hallelujah”, with Leonard Cohen On a Wire. Cohen seems like an interesting figure to me and I don’t know anything about him so I was looking forward to this book. Unfortunately, it’s not very good.
Mostly because it’s just not that compelling a life story. Cohen was a smart Jewish kid from Montreal who got into and became successful at making poetry and music, enjoyed booze, drugs and women, made art and travelled around. It’s not that amazing to read about. Nor does the comic really give you an idea of just how unique his voice sounded or what his music was like, though this is really more a flaw with the medium.
It does provide an ok overview of his life though so you do learn about some controversy he had around Israel in the ‘80s, how nutso the record producer Phil Spector was, and, amusingly, how much more famous covers of “Hallelujah” were than his original was, even in his own lifetime (it’s true - I first encountered the song through Jeff Buckley).
Girard’s art isn’t that special - it’s quite basic and unremarkable with lots of characters looking roughly the same. Nor do I get what the title means. Something about that penultimate page of a bird of a wire, meaning Cohen was also like that, trying to be free…? Eh, whatevs.
If Girard’s book is any measure then I don’t think there is a great book to be had about Leonard Cohen’s life, comic or otherwise. I’m sure the substance of Cohen’s art is vastly more engaging but, seeing broadly the things he did which this book focuses on, he’s presented as a generic, ‘60s-’70s rock star who had a handful of hits and that’s just not very entertaining to read. Leonard Cohen On a Wire is a shallow look at the man’s life that I wouldn’t recommend bothering with, Cohen fan or not.
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