There was a very interesting feature on ARTE TV, called La BDs’en va-t-en guerre (“Comic Books Go War”, Italia, 2008, 64min by Mark Daniels).
The documentary shows how the “documentary comic” is being used to describe events that are usually covered by journalists/photojournalists. It tries to explain why this is important and relevant and that it appears to be easier to communicate and share views on human tragedies in this way, even considering the amount of time and engagement that is necessary to prepare a comic book.
The documentary introduces the most important artists of this genre like Keiji Nakazawa’s Gen d’Hiroshima, where the author shares his memories about how he witnessed and survived the fall of the atomic bomb when he was 7 years old, Art Spiegelman’s unforgettable Maus, and younger artists such as Joe Sacco (Palestine, une nation occupée, Gorazde), Marjane Satrapi (Persépolis), Ted Rall (Passage afghan), Emmanuel Guibert (Le Photographe) and Joe Kubert (Fax de Sarajevo), who convey testimonies through stunning visual stories, which are often just as brutal but nonetheless “easier” to look at than pictures from journalists.
This is certainly a very interesting topic which one could talk at length about, especially regarding the arguments claiming that we are getting “numb” towards a certain type of crisis documentation. For some stories – witness stories for example, where not enough photographic material exist or where the personal aspect is to be stressed – the documentary comic could be a way to go.
I wrote about The Photographer: Into War-torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders here … and it was interesting for me to see an interview with Emmanuel Guibert on this documentary, telling about the work on the books and about his friendship with Didier Lefèvre.
“Comics go to war” will be reaired Jan. 31st on ARTE, if anybody is interested.
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