September 11 - the graphic novel
From the department of stranger than fiction, the report of the 9/11 Commission is being published as a graphic novel. Yes, you read that right, there is now a comic book version of the 9/11 report.
Apparently a couple of veteran comic book creators tried to read the 500-some pages of the 9/11 report and found it so impenetrable that they realized that lots of Americans would either not read or not understand it. So they started this project to translate it into graphic novel format, to retell the Commission's findings in a narrative format.
Not only did the Commission approve the book's representation of their report, they are enthusiastic about it, and they wrote the foreword to the book.
"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."
Personally I think this is fascinating. Can you imagine this kind of crossover happening in any other era? I think that I like the idea of representing the report in a more accessible format for people who don't speak governmentese or can't wade through 600 pages of text detail. I haven't seen the thing, so it's hard to form an opinion, but I'm inclined to think that if the Commission gave it that positive of a review, it's probably a good thing.
Apparently a couple of veteran comic book creators tried to read the 500-some pages of the 9/11 report and found it so impenetrable that they realized that lots of Americans would either not read or not understand it. So they started this project to translate it into graphic novel format, to retell the Commission's findings in a narrative format.
Not only did the Commission approve the book's representation of their report, they are enthusiastic about it, and they wrote the foreword to the book.
"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."
Personally I think this is fascinating. Can you imagine this kind of crossover happening in any other era? I think that I like the idea of representing the report in a more accessible format for people who don't speak governmentese or can't wade through 600 pages of text detail. I haven't seen the thing, so it's hard to form an opinion, but I'm inclined to think that if the Commission gave it that positive of a review, it's probably a good thing.