Footnotes in Gaza - (6 points)

 I initially was really interested in Footnotes in Gaza because I do not know much history about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This particular comic centered around the author trying to figure out what caused the massacres to happen in Khan Yunis and in Rafah. What was particularly interesting is that the author is a journalist as well as the illustrator of this comic, and doesn't have ties to either side of the conflict. This was unique because the entire format of the comic is people telling the author (Joe Sacco) about what they think happened or what they had personally experienced or heard. It's worth noting that the massacres that happened in Khan Yunis and in Rafah happened in the 50s, while the comic is set 2003. So it's very much like a historian gathering first person sources. It's pretty much presented without too much bias, and each person is depicted fairly. He lets each person tell their own story, which reminds me a lot of oral history. The translation of these testimonies into comic form is especially interesting, as it becomes a story within a story. Or in this case, a frame question and scattered answers of what possibly happened. The artwork fits the tone of the book really well. It's back and white, but Sacco combines the aesthetic of traditional characterizer with realism and hard hitting panels. Backgrounds are also really well rendered, and the shading is heavy, with blocks of black in some places.