Following the success of They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, San Diego based IDW Publishing announced three new non-fiction graphic novels at New York Comic Con 2019.
The first to be released will be After the Spring, coming in November 2019 from French writer/artist Hélène Aldeguer. After the Spring is a semi-autobiographical story that will detail Aldeguer’s youth as a Tunisian teenager during the midst of the infamous Arab Spring, in which multiple countries across North Africa staged rebellions against their governments. After the Spring will be entirely in black and white, written and illustrated by Hélène Aldeguer.
In April 2020 IDW will release The Mueller Report graphic novel, a fact-based yet comedic and entertaining illustrated summarization of the infamous Mueller Report. IDW Editorial Director of Graphic Novels & Collections Justin Eisinger noted the actual Mueller Report was far too long and dense, meaning no one would read it. “So it should be illustrated!” Eisinger said.
The idea is to make the Mueller Report more accessible and easier to read, while still retaining the truth of the report and keeping it factually accurate. This fully annotated edition of the Mueller Report- complete with footnotes directing readers to the correct page and paragraph of the actual report- is written by Steve Duin and illustrated by New Yorker cartoonist Shannon Wheeler.
Finally, IDW announced Tiananmen 1989 for a July 2020 release. This somewhat autobiographical novel will retell the violent crackdown of the titular Chinese protests in the late 1980s from the perspective of writer Lun Zhang. Zhang was a psychology professor placed in charge of student security within Tiananmen square and witnessed the chaos of the protests firsthand. Zhang eventually fled the country and has been living as an exile in France ever since. The novel will be illustrated by Adrien Gombeaud and Ameziane.
With graphic novels sales up in 2018 and no signs of slowing down, it is no surprise that IDW is investing more into graphic novels in 2019 and beyond. The overwhelming support for They Called Us Enemy also shows there is certainly a market for non-fiction graphic novels.
For more news from NYCC 2019, make sure to stick with AiPT!
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