Palestine

Joe Saccos’ work has had such an impression on me.

In 1991-1992, Sacco spent two months in the occupied territories, collecting stories for this masterpiece of journalism and comics. He was breaking new ground; Comics Journalism as a form did not really exist before this book.

On the ground, Sacco found that as a cartoonist, he could delve deeper into the experiences of the Palestinians he interviewed; all knew their identities were safe as the book would be drawn, with no identifying photos, no names. Their stories and pain pour forth. 

Looking back on this publication thirty years later, the… show more.

This was one of the first documentary comics that I read and felt like a piece of research. In this fundamental piece of graphic narrative we witness the subjectivity of the author, the experience, and the reflection over it filtered through the script, the incredibly well-drawn panels, and the organization and layout of the pages. Palestine is a piece of art with its own voice highlighting other voices and questioning the role of the comic artist in that regard.