9-11: Artists Respond: Volume 1

I came across this collection of short graphic stories by different artists relating their reactions to the 9/11 World Trade Towers tragedy. At this date we are very close to the 10th anniversary of that day and reading these immediately brought back the shock, horror, and sadness of the day. Some are simple, one page, and wordless and I found these the most moving. The points of view vary from a person being rescued to folks at home trying to reach loved ones to Afghanis explaining events to their children. One of the most moving showed the events on flight 93. Another showed scenes with lines from the poem "In Flanders Field". Some were black and white and some in color. All reached my heart. ( )

I usually don't like 9-11 themed books and other media because I'm not a big fan of all the uncritical and thoughtless flag-waving and Islamophobia that's become the dominant reaction among Americans to that terrible event, but I decided to pick this volume and the second up when I came across them at a local used book store because I like many of the contributors to the two collections, and I was pleasantly surpriesed by what I found.

You see, the victims of the 9-11 attacks were really killed twice. First, they lost their lives in the attacks, then the memories of them were defiled as the right wing used the terror to advance its agenda. I'd forgotten that there were actual people who died on that day.

This collection presents a variety of views. I particularly liked the pieces "Zero Degrees of Separation" by Randy Stradley and Dave Gibbons, "prayer" by John Muth, and "Which one is real? by Bob Harris and Gregory Ruth. That last piece, more than any, examines the ambiguity that emerges when one looks at the United States critically and carefully.

For enjoyment and fun, I liked the story "He Walks on Air" by David Chelsea. It's a two page strip about Phillipe Petit, the French performer who walked and danced on a tightrope between the tops of the towers in 1974, and his promise that if they're rebuilt, he'll do it again. ( )

A collection of comic book stories by various artists and writers, responding to the World Trade Center attacks of 9/11/2001. Uneven quality and interest, some are even difficult to take the meaning of. But several are genuinely moving, and all are interesting. The one which moved me the most was the first, a graphic retelling of the old poem, "In Flanders Fields". The rest don't quite come up to the level of this short heartbreaker. Frank Miller's by the way, is a particularly jarring and bitter counterpoint to the general unity of these works. ( )