Graphic Novels: Sequential Political Cartoons

If you had an urgent message that needed to be communicated with the rest of the world, how exactly would you do it? Would you buy some TV time and make a commercial? Would you publish an article in the most popular newspaper? Would you make a documentary? Or maybe hire a celebrity for sponsorship?

Why not make a graphic novel?

Had you asked me this question a few months ago, I would have laughed at the suggestion of a graphic novel. How can a graphic novel communicate a message more effectively than, lets say, those two minute ASPCA commercials? Well, it can. Graphic novels are great mediums for conveying messages to a mass audience; just ask Derrick Jansen and Stephanie McMillan, authors of the graphic novel As the World Burns 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Stay in Denial.

As the World Burns, is a graphic novel that takes a satirical approach to our response to Global Warming. It shows us, in a comical fashion, just how pointless our current standards for reducing and/or ending Global Warming are. So, how can a graphic novel effectively argue what we are doing right now is wrong and then prompt us to change? To answer this question, we have to first look at the comic book medium and analyze its ability to communicate an idea.

This graphic novel, like many graphic novels, is illustrated in a cartoon-like fashion. When you first look upon the illustrations and see a bunny with a missing eye, it may seem hard to understand why such a serious topic, like Global warming, is being illustrated in a style traditionally associated with children’s cartoons. But, cartoons are so much more than that. In Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, Scott McCloud explains what exactly cartooning is, and, more importantly, its ability to produce a meaning. “By stripping down an image to its essential “meaning,” an artist can amplify that meaning in a way that realistic art can’t” (McCloud 30). That’s why, the illustration shown is just as impactful as realistic images of animal cruelty. And, rather than distracting the reader with violent or disturbing images, these cartoon illustrations allow for the focus to remain on big corporations and not the graphic material.

This graphic novel was published in 2007. That’s more than a decade ago! And yet, its sadly still relevant. Global Warming is a real threat and the over-satirized President in this graphic novel resembles our current President in an almost prophetic way. Twelve years have passed by but this graphic novel’s political and social relevance is just as important, if not more, than when it was originally published. The message Jansen and McMillan want to get across is clear, but the subtle techniques of the comic book medium they use to deliver said message may not be as obvious to all readers. As the World Burns utilizes sequential art in a way that transcends time and makes a statement in ways only the comic book medium can.