Celebrate Black History Month with Muhammad Ali: Kinshasa 1974, a stunning graphic novel

MUHAMMAD ALI, KINSHASA 1974

Writer: Jean-David Morvan
Artists: Rafael Ortiz, Abbas
Publisher: Titan Comics
Hardcover, $29.99, £26.99
On sale 23 February 2021
ISBN: 9781787736207

On the 30th October 1974, the most famous boxing match of the 20 th Century took place. Nicknamed the “Rumble in the Jungle”, it pitted Muhammad Ali, desperate to win back his world champion belt, and George Foreman, the current holder, against each other. Foreman had just KO’d the only two boxers to have ever beaten Ali. By his own admission, Ali was terrified of facing him in the ring…

Now, the photojournalist Abbas immortalises this legendary meeting, having kept his photos in his personal archives for 36 years before unveiling them to the world. In a cross between a documentary, photo report and graphic novel, this book reveals the context of the most powerful photographs taken by one of the greatest photographers of the Magnum Photos agency. Enriched by the testimony of Abbas himself, Jean-David Morvan’s script is rigorously brought to life by artist Rafael Ortiz.