|
Slate.com
Slate.com offers a compelling graphic novelization of the 9/11 Commission report by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón. |
UPDATE: Today, Slate's Daily Podcast features an interview with the artists who created this graphic novel. Download (MP3 audio, 14 minutes)
Amid the barrage of 9/11 anniversary coverage in all media, I must say I've been most impressed by Slate.com. This online magazine published excepts from a compelling graphic novelization of the 9/11 report, by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón.
You can also buy a complete print version of this book, but check out the online version. It's well worth the time.
I think this sort of approach might, in some cases, make far more sense for presenting recent history or controversies than the docudrama approach (ŕ la ABC's The Path to 9/11)
The advantages? In a graphic novel, you can present footnotes and citations. When delivering a graphic novel online, you can also include hyperlinks embedded as image maps, or even photos or video/audio clips. (Honestly, I wish Slate's presentation did more of this. Tom Tomorrow occasionally includes footnotes in his cartoon strip This Modern World.)
And for a more movie-like effect, you could even produce a graphic novel as a Flash video, complete with voiceovers and sound effects.
Will this approach have the same appeal as a TV movie? Probably not. But it might broaden the audience for compelling, complex, fact-based stories.
We're storytelling creatures, after all.
