This Week in Public Radio, Part I

Unless you're in on the comics/graphic novel publishing world, you might not be aware that there has been a growing trend in nonfiction--particularly autobiographical--comics. I read several in an independent study class on The Craft of the Graphic Novel (put together by my school friend Natty); the one most people have already heard of is Maus, by Art Spiegelman. Another great one I read recently is Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, an autobiographical account of a childhood in Iran during the Islamic Revolution.

Yesterday on NPR I heard a segment on All Things Considered about a new series of nonfiction comics called Echoes of the Lost Boys of Sudan. The publisher, James Disco (his real name? who knows) wanted a medium that would appeal to American youth. Each book in the four-book series tells the story of a different boy's journey. I think this is a great idea, and I highly recommend listening to the segment, available at the NPR site and linked above.