Ghamir Ali is an editorial cartoonist from Morocco with a focus on politics, issues and events in the Arabic community. His work is published by Al Jazeera.

Documentary Comics - Graphic Truth-Telling in a Skeptical Age
Nina Mickwitz
Palgrave Macmillan US
XI, 187 pages

eBook - $69,99, Hardcover - $95
Available via Palgrave.com

Our slogan is there is more than one truth, because we believe that different people view the world in a different way. This means that subjectivity always plays a part in journalism. Subjectivity is a central theme in Documentary Comics, by Nina Mickwitz. Mickwitz sets out to answer the question if comics journalism can be seen as a genre of documentary. Documentaries have long been associated with audiovisual recordings of reality. And audiovisual recording have, in turn, been long associated with objectivity. Documentary Comics argues that all documentaries have in them elements of subjectivity. This subjectivity starts with the decision of what the subject of a documentary will be, but can be found in almost every aspect of the narrative that is told, or rather constructed, in a documentary.

If audiovisual documentaries have long been thought of as objective, hand-drawn comics have a long tradition of being thought of as subjective. One of the biggest challenges for comics journalism has been to establish itself as a form of serious journalism. In part, this has to do with the tendency of people to think of comics as subjective, and therefore not representative of reality. Mickwitz challenges this notion. In several case studies, she shows how documentaries deliberately use subjectivity to create and steer the narrative in a particular direction. She compares this to how comics use a particular drawing style, color (or lack thereof), the composition of panels on the page, and the representation of sound to construct a version of reality.

Seen through this particular lens, comics have the advantage that they are very transparent in the way they translate reality onto paper or screen. No one will ever argue that a comic is reality, while audiovisual recordings are still regarded by many to be 'real', in spite of many examples to the contrary. Mickwitz shows how both (audio)visual recordings and drawings are, in fact, construction of reality. Once we accept that notion, we can begin to see subjectivity as a tool instead of a hindrance, a tool that can be used to construct a certain perspective on reality. As long as documentaries are honest and straightforward about the perspective they set out to create, this form of subjectivity can coexist with all the demands we make of good journalism. And comics journalism cannot prevent but be clear about the fact that it creates a perspective on reality.

Nina Mickwitz proposes to compare comics journalism to documentaries to see if this framework can have added value for the analysis of comics journalism. What follows is an exploration of the nature of subjectivity, and a breakdown of what makes comics tick.

Documentarty Comics is a thorough and comprehensive book, but it is meant for the serious student of comics journalism. The book is very academic in the way it deals with the subject matter, and will most likely not appeal to people outside academia. The rather steep price ($95 for the harcover, $65 for the e-book) doesn't help either. The subject matter, however, is intriguing and the way Mickwitz approaches comics as documentaries is certainly novel. One thing I missed was having all the comics she discusses at hand. Some pages are reproduced in the book, but the (modest-sized) black and white prints only made me eager to have the real thing to see right away what Mickwitz meant when she refers to a particular type of coloring.

In conclusion: we are delighted to see a field emerging within academic research that is devoted to comics journalism. Documentary Comics is a solid publication that will certainly help further establish comics journalism as something that deserves to be taken seriously. And that's something we can only applaud.

Review by Tjeerd Royaards

Cartoonists Rights Network International is gathering statements in support for Kenyan cartoonist Gado, who was fired last week from his 23-year position at the Daily Nation, most likely because of political pressure. Here is our official statement:

The dismissal of Kenyan cartoonist Gado from the Daily Nation, where he worked since 1992, is incomprehensible and indefensible. Gado is one of Africa’s most important cartoonist and therefore an asset of tremendous value to any media outlet that takes critical journalism seriously. The only explanation for his sacking seems to be political pressure from the outside. That such pressure has succeeded in ousting one of Kenya most prominent critical voices from the Daily Nation does not bode well for the future of free and independent journalism in Kenya.

A cartoon on gun control in the United States and the Republican Party.

Pete Kreiner is a freelance cartoonist from Hobart, Australia. Check out more of his work on his Facebook page.

A recent cartoon by Gado about freedom of expression in Kenya.

From Jerome Starkey at The Times:

One of Africa’s most famous cartoonists has been sacked by Kenya’s biggest media group as fears grow that the country’s press is caving in to government suppression of free speech.

Godfrey Mwampembwa, better known by his pen name, Gado, had mocked countless presidents — and won legions of fans — during his career at the Daily Nation, which started in 1992. Colleagues have called him “Africa’s most important cartoonist,” but his drawings earned him powerful enemies as well.

In 2009 President Kenyatta, then the finance minister, tried to sue Gado over a cartoon pillorying him for a $100 million accounting error. In 2005 Gado outraged Muslims with a drawing of a woman suicide bomber asking: “I’m also going to get the 72 virgins... right?!”.

Gado was persuaded by his bosses to take a sabbatical last year after the Nation’s sister paper, The EastAfrican, was banned in Tanzania over a cartoon mocking President Kikwete. When he tried to return to work, Tom Mshindi, the editor-in-chief, said his contract would not be renewed.

Mr Mshindi denied that the decision was a reflection on the freedom of the press, which he said was “no better or no worse” than under Kenya’s previous government.

Gado said Mr Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, had often put pressure on the paper’s management. “Freedom of the press is being rolled back and it’s dangerous,” he said. The Nation’s managing editor, Denis Galava, was sacked in January for an editorial attacking the government’s “almost criminal negligence”

Jonathan Shapiro, a South African cartoonist, said he feared the Nation’s owners were “kowtowing to pressure from the government”. He said: “Gado is the most important cartoonist in Africa. It’s appalling that after 23 years he has been shafted like that.”

Emanuele Del Rosso is an Italian journalist and cartoonist. He worked for, and collaborated with, several online magazines and newspapers. He currently contributes to Radio Netherlands Worldwide (an organization Cartoon Movement has partnered with on numerous occasions).

Pedro Pablo Hidalgo (aka Pedripol) is a Spanish editorial cartoonist living in Cádiz. He publishes a daily cartoon in CTXT Magazine. To see more of his work, visit his website.