BB Wolf is a poor farmer down in the Mississippi Delta during the 1920's and it's all he can do scrape by to support his wife and cubs. And adding to the trouble are the Pigs, who just don't like wolves and constantly work to keep them down in the gutter where they belong (the Pigs thoughts.) And so to relieve some of the stress BB sings the blues and just when you think things couldn't get worse...they do. Tragedy strikes and BB is forced out of town and to take revenge upon the Pigs that destroyed his family.

BB Wolf isn't your average wolf, nor is this book your average retelling of the "Big bad wolf and three little pigs." First of all this isn't a kids book at all and is really geared towards older readers (9th grade or above) as this book takes a close look at the Jim-Crow era through a graphical representation. It's a dark and gritty tale that will give you pause and make you look at things in a different way (not the last of which is the you'll never see the "Three little pigs" in the same light.)

Rich Koslowski's artwork is absolutely gorgeous. Full of detail and life (and gritty horror) it complements the story perfectly and brings to life the characters of the book. The reader can almost imagine themselves sitting down at the bar of the honkytonk and listening to BB sing the blues as the shadows grow darker. Each panel has an extraordinary amount of detail and thought put into it.

I highly recommend this book for anyone that likes books like Maus or Persepolis...and for anyone that wants to do a bit of soul searching. ( )