IDW Publishing have announced the graphic memoir, “Redbone: The True Story of a Native American Rock Band” by the creative team of writers Christian Staebler and Sonia Paoloni, with the cooperation of the Vegas family, and artist Thibault Balahy. IDW will also be releasing the graphic novel in a Spanish language edition, “Redbone: la Verdadera Historia de una Banda de Rock Nativa Americana.”
The graphic novel will tell the historically accurate story of how Redbone became a force in the Native American Civil Rights movement by becoming the first band made up entirely by Native Americans, to the wider use of tribal beats in the music industry and other popular culture, and the band members standing up for their ancestry over commercial reward. Their biggest chart hit, “Come and Get Your Love,” was featured in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, and 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, the highest-grossing film of all time.
In a statement, Pat Vegas, co-founder of the band, as well as writer, vocalist, bass guitarist, and producer, said “I’d like to thank this book’s creators for such a fantastic piece of work. It’s an honor for me to be depicted in a comic and to have my story told.” His daughter, Frankie Vegas, said “I hope you enjoy this flashback journey into the history of my family! It’s rich in knowledge, wisdom, truth, love, originality, and strength.” Editor Justin Eisinger closed by describing the graphic novel as “an inspired telling of the group’s storied origins, itself serving as a window into a riveting and often obscured history of Native American civil rights past and present.”
The English and Spanish editions of the “Redbone: The True Story of a Native American Rock Band” will both be available in September.
