“Stagger Lee is first and foremost an African-American folk hero and particularly in the first half century of the song’s existence, he played a very important cultural role: a symbol of uncompromising manhood. Interestingly, the myth translated very readily across racial and cultural lines, proving elastic enough to suit the needs of different singers and different audiences. When Woody Guthrie sings about Stackolee, it’s not the same guy John Hurt’s singing about in Stack-O-Lee, but they’re both still—somehow—singing about Stagger Lee.”

Stagger Lee

I should add to this that Derek’s new graphic novel, Displaced Persons, is in the April Previews and is slated for a June 4 release, so if you liked Stagger Lee, you may want to pick this up too. The last time I spoke to Shep, he showed me pages from an upcoming GN he’s doing as well, so as soon as I know more about that, I’ll write about it here too.