The 9/11 Report as a Graphic Novel

Political commentary web site Slate has released a graphic novel version (Internet Archive) of The 9/11 Report. (Internet Archive). I haven’t read beyond the first few pages yet, but I find it a fascinating experiment. It takes a government report, typically dry and uninspiring affairs (though I think the 9/11 Report is better than most) and gives it visual impact. Textual detail is lost to artist interpretation, but at the same time it adds a sense of immediacy.

I’m sure some will view this as a dumbing down of 9/11 report, but frankly, such folks probably wouldn’t read a graphic novel in the first place and understand how the genre has grown beyond its original comic book roots (or indeed, how comic books themselves have matured far beyond their four-color superheroics).

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