By Jordan Simon

Part of what makes both a comic book and an autobiography so compelling is conflict. As readers, we want to see our hero, or heroine in this case, go through some sort of obstacle, overcome it and, in typical fashion, triumph and persevere. In the grand scheme of things, Female Force: Liza Minnelli, accomplishes this. In this latest comic book released from Bluewater Productions, writer Michael L. Frizell provides a look into the life of the iconic entertainer. Going into this comic book, I was aware of Liza Minnelli and her various accomplishments, but I was not aware of the obstacles she overcame in her personal life.

Female Force: Liza Minnelli begins with a brief glimpse into Minnelli’s childhood. As the daughter of famed actress Judy Garland (The Wizard of Oz) and acclaimed director Vincent Minnelli (An American in Paris), Minnelli spent most of her childhood at the foregrounds of MGM Studios in Hollywood. It did not take long for Minnelli to make a name for herself after appearing in a few episodes of her mother’s television sitcom. Her performance in the Broadway play Flora The Red Menace earned her a Tony Award.  In 1972, her portrayal of Sally Bowers in the musical film Cabaret earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress.

But despite her success in film, theater and television, Minnelli insists,  “I’m not a very good singer, I just know how to present a song.” It is hard to imagine words like these coming from a woman whose enduring legacy was built on musicals such as Chicago and Victor/Victoria. However, it is this type of candor that makes Minnelli a likeable person that you root for.

This is also where the comic book takes a dramatic shift into tragedy. When Minnelli was 23, her mother died of an accidental overdose in London. What soon followed for Minnelli was a series of unsuccessful marriages, multiple surgeries and a stint in rehab at age 35. While Frizell does not sugarcoat the obstacles Minnelli overcomes, readers will surely appreciate the humorous way she reacts to her outlandish life, especially the part where she jokes about how she inherited her mother’s alcoholism by saying that she is, “after all, Scottish, French, Irish and Italian.”

One of the comic book’s strengths is its imagery. Illustrator Rafael Cordero creates a balance of both dark and lighthearted imagery that is meant to reflect the titular entertainer’s various accomplishments and many hardships.

For all of its colorful imagery and humorous anecdotes, Female Force: Liza Minnelli concludes with two learned lessons: Despite the decline of comic book sales over the past few years, the quality of such mediums has remained intact. Secondly, Minnelli’s influence crosses generational boundaries, as Lady Gaga, who makes a brief cameo in the comic, would concur.