9/11 Report: a Graphic Adaptation for Every American

by **Gouda** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 6:08 am

Well, this about says it all: <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/showarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fwp-dyn%2Fcontent%2Farticle%2F2006%2F07%2F15%2FAR2006071501044_pf.html">Wash Post via Raw Link:</a> <blockquote>Quote:<hr>The Bold Outlines Of a Plot Adapted as a Comic Book, The 9/11 Commission Report Hits Home Anew By Bravetta Hassell Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, July 16, 2006; D01 If the mood on the plane that crashed into the side of the Pentagon, American Airlines Flight 77, could have been a color, it would have been a soft, translucent tan, according to a comic book about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.  Yes, that's right, a comic about the attacks is set for publication late next month. Industry veterans Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón have collaborated to produce "The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation," which is being published by Hill and Wang, the nonfiction imprint of Farrar, Straus and Giroux. The book condenses the nearly 600-page federal report released by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States to fewer than 150 pages, and the creators say they hope their book will help attract young readers and others who might be overwhelmed by the original document. With sans-serif captions, artist renderings, charts and sound-describing words such as "Whooom!" and "R-rrumble," the adaptation recounts the attacks with parallel timelines of the four hijacked planes. But can a topic as massive and sobering as Sept. 11 be dealt with effectively in the pages of a comic book? When a first draft of the book, two-thirds complete, came across his desk, Hill and Wang Publisher Thomas LeBien says he was "absolutely struck with it potentially being a wonderful idea." Jacobson and Colón worked hard to "make sure we were both honest and respectful," LeBien says. Adds Jacobson -- emphasizing that he used "99 percent" of the commission's words in the adaptation: "We very possibly fell into some comic book tricks, but it truly didn't bother us, and for the most part, it shouldn't bother people." And the illustrations? When it came to the faces of officials such as Vice President Cheney or of the 19 hijackers, he worked from photographs. "I do research and draw off the pictures," he says. The two are well established in the graphic world. Jacobson, 76, the creator of "Richie Rich" series, used to be editor in chief of Harvey Comics. Colón, 75, who drew "Richie Rich" and "Casper" for 25 years, also worked for Harvey before a short stint as an editor at DC Comics -- the home of characters such as Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Superman and the Flash. He also illustrated for Marvel Comics, where Spider-Man and the X-Men were created. Jacobson and Colón began working on the 9/11 project about a year and a half ago after Colón learned that the commission's report was in the public domain and that several movie producers were considering making a film based on it. "I called Sid about what I had just seen in the paper," says Colón, who said he'd tried to read the original report but found the overlapping timelines confusing. He thought he and Jacobson could do a good job distilling it. "There are going to be a whole bunch of kids, teenagers and adults that will not read the report," Colón says, adding that comics might offer an alternative. "The educational system at large has resisted them, I think, because of the term 'comic book.' I like to think of them as something that has more purpose." The effort for the two longtime collaborators and friends was bicoastal. Colón lives on Long Island and Jacobson in Los Angeles. Jacobson e-mailed the illustrator what he visualized and Colón would scan in his drawings and send them back. LeBien sent the book to the commission's former top officials in hopes of winning their approval. He got more than that. "When I first heard about it, I was very concerned," says former New Jersey governor Thomas H. Kean, who chaired the commission. "But when I looked at it, it was absolutely accurate." He and vice chairman Lee H. Hamilton wrote a foreword for the comic, which also includes an adaptation of the report card on how the commissioners' recommendations have been implemented. Kean says he's hoping the comic book will lead more audiences to the original report, which landed on bestseller lists after its release two years ago. "I didn't think we'd be a bestseller, and I didn't think we'd be turned into a comic book," Kean says. This is not the first time difficult topics have been tackled graphically. In "Maus," which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1992, comic book artist Art Spiegelman tells the story of his father, a Holocaust survivor. And Marjane Satrapi remembers life as a little girl during the Islamic revolution in "Persepolis," a graphic autobiography. And "In the Shadow of No Towers," Spiegelman's comic book diary about his Sept. 11 experiences, was published in 2004. "The 9/11 Report" will be marketed to general readers as well as comic fans, says Jeff Seroy, senior vice president for publicity and marketing at FSG. The book is the first of several nonfiction graphic works from Hill and Wang, which also plans to publish biographies of Malcolm X and Ronald Reagan later this year...more<hr></blockquote> <img src="http://ec3.images-amazon.com/images/P/0809057395.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V64056077_.jpg" style="border:0;"/> <blockquote>Quote:<hr>About the Author[s]  Sid Jacobson was the managing editor and editor in chief for Harvey Comics, where he created Richie Rich, and executive editor at Marvel Comics. The artist, Ernie Colón, has worked at Harvey, Marvel, and DC Comics. At DC, he oversaw the production of Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Blackhawk, and the Flash; at Marvel, Spider-Man.<hr></blockquote><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0809057395/002-7026710-7364058?v=glance&n=283155">www.amazon.com/gp/product/0809057395/002-7026710-7364058?v=glance&n=283155</a> *** Confusing "overlapping timelines" and stuff. Someone get Paul Thompson on the line. A lot of the Jack Chick Tracts look a lot like this. By the way, the book's cover illustration: what are those 4 or 5 spectral orbs floating over the empire state building supposed to represent? Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=gouda@rigorousintuition>Gouda</A> at: 7/17/06 4:10 am

by **xsic bastardx** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 7:09 am

Maybe the Comic Book can tell me How Steel Sky Scrapers Fall From Fire.

by **Gouda** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 7:21 am

The WaPost doth use some odd phrasing here, no? The 9/11 Commission Report Hits Home Anew

by **yathrib** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 11:47 am

Science fiction/Fantasy has always worked well in this medium!

by **yathrib** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 11:50 am

Science fiction/Fantasy has always worked well in this medium!<img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/eyes.gif ALT=":rolleyes">

by **Avalon** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 12:10 pm

Jacobson e-mailed the illustrator what he visualized and Colón would scan in his drawings and send them back. "Scan in"? Scan them into WHAT? Is there some popular usage that I'm unaware of, where scanning has turned into scanning in?

by **xsic bastardx** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 12:28 pm

Using a scanner and scanning them into his computer?

by **Avalon** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 12:41 pm

Into his computer, as opposed to scanning them and having the information generated by the scan drip from the "tube" into an old jelly jar, a test tube, or his spouse's bunny slippers? Or putting his finger over the end and letting it spray all over the room? <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/eek.gif ALT=":eek">

by **darkbeforedawn** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 12:51 pm

Well speaking of dumbed down, I just saw an article about Loose Change in the new Vanity Fair. It's pretty hard hitting despite being written for someone with a 10 min attention span. Maybe Loose Change is some CIA disinfo campaign, but if so it has backfired if articles like this one continue to surface.

by **Avalon** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 1:09 pm

With sans-serif captions, artist renderings, charts and sound-describing words such as "Whooom!" and "R-rrumble," the adaptation recounts the attacks with parallel timelines of the four hijacked planes. You know that the writer is trying to dazzle you with bullshit (are all the adults off on vacation at the Washington Post?), when she feels the need to inform you that for no extra charge, you'll be getting the added value of "sans-serif captions," just like in Richie Rich comics! Instead of spending all their time drawing little feet on the bottom of all the caption letters, they can now put more care into drawing Cheney's sneer from his photograph. Will we get Cheney's young man* saying "Do the orders still stand?" in front of Mineta? It may not have an index, or the notes section, but at least I can be proud that my paperback copy of the 9/11 Report is done in Times Ten, the 10-point version of Times New Roman. All the letters in the text there have little feet (serifs), unlike the letters in Richie Rich. Thanks to the ever-useful Identifont at <a href="http://www.identifont.com/index.html">www.identifont.com/index.html</a> *Cheney's young man, if you're reading this, wouldn't you feel better if you talked to somebody about this? Preferably leaving a full documentation with your lawyer and some other safe place first.

by **Seamus OBlimey** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 1:52 pm

Sounds like they're trying to imprint the official version into impressionable minds. Maybe we should make the unofficial comic right here, or at least storyboard it. Just an idea but there's so much material out there that it shouldn't be difficult to string bits of it into a (dare I say) narative. Comic pics re 9/11 anyone? Or storywriters? Ideas?

by **Et in Arcadia ego** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 2:38 pm

<img src="http://www.medaloffreedom.com/FredRogers_BigBird.jpg" style="border:0;"/> ____________________ Oderint, dum metuant

by **Avalon** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 2:44 pm

I think the discomfort level for mass murder and treasonous behavior by "elected" government officials makes any kind of "business as usual" comic style inappropriate. Spiegelman was able to bridge the gap with Maus, I'd trust Paul Zaloom to be able to do it theatrically. But if somebody thinks Richie Rich is worth killing trees for, you get a feeling of where their sympathies lie.

by **xsic bastardx** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 2:45 pm

heres a dandy....I heard mr rogers there was some connected guy back in the military.....maybe CIA.....anyone else ever hear that

by **Rigorous Intuition** » Mon Jul 17, 2006 2:54 pm

I think a graphic novel would be a great medium to communicate something like the truth, but that Richie Rich knock-off clearly won't be it. <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/JeffWells/subalbum1/inv-cover2.jpg" style="border:0;"/> (a cover from The Invisibles) Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=rigorousintuition>Rigorous Intuition</A> at: 7/17/06 1:30 pm

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