Comics Journalism

Some links to some great short works of graphic non-fiction that are available to read online in full.

This is of course not a complete list! For more, check out this amazing index put together by Lukas Plank: http://comicsjournalism.net

Traditional Reporting:

The journey of Syrian refugees by boat and land to Europe, reported by Alia Malek, illustrated by Josh Neufeld: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/spa/ltexs0t2hep9pzk/Exports/fp_comic/fp_comic.html

Syria’s climate conflict, written by Audry Quinn, drawn by Jackie Roche: http://symboliamag.tumblr.com/post/87016370523/yearsoflivingdangerously-this

Andy Warner on legal weed: http://fusion.net/story/141906/this-is-what-i-grew-up-dreaming-to-do-a-marijuana-grower-gets-ready-for-legal-weed/

Susie Cagle on homelessness solutions: https://aeon.co/essays/best-way-to-solve-homelessness-give-people-homes

Susie Cagle on environmental changes and the Salton Sea: http://grist.org/slideshow/changes-on-the-horizon-for-californias-troubled-salton-sea/

Kazimir Lee Iskander on transgender women in Malaysia: http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2015/08/07/transgender_in_malaysia_cartoon_about_the_jempol_arrests.html

Gary Rivlin and Jackie Roche on a man’s effort to rebuild his life after hurricane Katrina: https://thenib.com/the-corner-store-after-katrina-abf1d42c6421#.r148r3boc

Lauren Weinstein on caregivers of Alzheimers patients: http://nautil.us/issue/31/stress/invisible-patients-a-caregivers-story

Darryl Holliday and Jamie Hibdon on homelessness in Chicago: http://www.citylab.com/housing/2014/10/illustrated-journalism-drawing-attention-to-chicagos-anti-homeless-measures-with-compartment-13/381954/

Me (Sarah Glidden) on Iraqi refugees in pre-war Syria: http://sarahglidden.com/the-waiting-room-3/

Experiential/on the scene:

Sam Wallman on European detention centers: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/feature/brick-brick-comic-eastern-europes-border-crisis

Kate Evans on Calais migrant camp: http://www.cartoonkate.co.uk/threads-the-calais-cartoon/

Wendy MacNaughton on the San Francisco Public Library: http://wendymacnaughton.com/#portfolio#journalism01

And on the San Francisco Farmer’s Market: http://wendymacnaughton.com/#portfolio#farmer

Sophie Yanow interviews New Hampshire primary voters: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/09/sketches-from-new-hampshire-meeting-the-voters

Ron Wimberly on New Orleans ten years after the flood: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/08/24/ten-years-after-comic-strip-ronald-wimberly

Chevelin Pierre and Pharès Jerome on post-earthquake Haiti: http://www.cartoonmovement.com/comic/29

Lisa Hanawalt at the New York Toy Fair: http://thehairpin.com/2012/04/the-toy-fair/

Me (Sarah Glidden) on Occupy Miami: http://sarahglidden.com/occupy-miami/

Autobiographical:

Lauren Weinstein on being the potential carrier of a genetic disorder: http://nautil.us/blog/carriers-a-webcomic-on-health-luck-and-life

Ron Wimberly on race in comics: https://thenib.com/lighten-up-4f7f96ca8a7e#.ssq8fycca

Adam Bessie and Josh Neufeld on Adam living with a brain tumor: http://www.psmag.com/health-and-behavior/scanner-constantly

Rebecca Roher on the changes in the body during and after pregnancy: https://thenib.com/mom-body-51fde2bc01f#.pmnh5afc0

Eroyn Franklin on struggling with the scandal of Bikram yoga: https://thenib.com/bikram-addict-242333de3483#.woeek3e1r

Portraits:

Darryl Holliday and E.N. Rodriguez on the mother of a shooting victim in Chicago: http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/grand-crossing-how-to-survive-shooting/Content?oid=11598405

Darryl Holliday on a paralyzed survivor of a shooting: https://thenib.com/life-after-the-second-set-2e2b6e4434dd#.598wv35eg

Benjamin Dix on Somalian refugees resettled in Europe: https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/multimedia/meet-the-somalis

Lisa Hanawalt on Wylie Dufresne: http://www.lisahanawalt.com/comics#/wd-50/

History and Current Events Explained:

Andy Warner on Syria: https://medium.com/@andycomics/a-fragile-future-e45f939f52a#.er846e36p

Andy Warner on the invention of the Slinky: https://backchannel.com/how-a-naval-engineer-turned-a-torsion-spring-into-the-slinky-977877664f2d

Andy Warner on 100 years of conflict in Iraq: https://thenib.com/shattered-state-a-history-of-conflict-in-iraq-96a891a1f57f#.j9o4hy429

Julia Wertz on the history of street cleaning in New York City: http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-n-y-c-mystery-history-hour-street-cleaning

Julia Wertz on the World’s Fair: http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-n-y-c-mystery-history-hour-after-the-new-york-worlds-fair

Alec Longstreth on the history of the Dvorak typing method: http://www.dvzine.org/zine/01-toc.html

Interactive/Multimedia:

Wendy MacNaughton and Amy Standen on winemaking (includes atmospheric audio):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKtpXHWdkEk

Dan Archer on the Nisoor Square Blackwater shootings: http://www.cartoonmovement.com/icomic/11

Augusto Paim, Bruno Ortiz and Mauricio Piccini on the life of a homeless man in Brazil: http://www.cartoonmovement.com/icomic/54

Various artists and writers on a “choose your own adventure” journey of a Syrian refugee: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32057601

Not comics journalism but relevant: Natt Hynh adapts Nam Le’s “The Boat” as an interactive comic: http://www.sbs.com.au/theboat/ 

An interesting use of Instagram for displaying comics journalism from Wendy Macnaughton https://www.instagram.com/p/BSbfJYegEUw/

Comics Journalism Specific Websites/Magazines:

Drawing the Times: http://drawingthetimes.com/

Comics Journalism Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/352952334843869/

Symbolia (now defunct) http://symboliamag.tumblr.com/

The Nib (now moving to First Look) https://thenib.com/

Cartoon Movement: http://www.cartoonmovement.com

One thought on “Comics Journalism

  1. Just saying: I have edited/produced a DOZEN nonfiction comic art books since 2005, beginning with WOBBLIES!, also the Zinn adaptation that has sold 75,000, biographies of Che, Isadora Duncan, Emma Goldman and most recently, Rosa Luxemburg. Not to mention an adaptation of Studs Terkel. Not to mention SDS and THE BEATS and BOHEMIANS and YIDDISHKEIT. What must I do to reach your list, I wonder. No harm done, of course.

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