Joe Sacco, whose Safe Area Gorazde has received excellent press recently (see 'Safe Area Gorazde'), drew four new pages of his special brand of comic reportage for the issue of Time Magazine that is out today -- March 5, 2001.   The pages depict Sacco's return to the Middle East for the first time since the 1990s, when he honed his graphic journalistic chops with an in-depth look at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that was eventually published by Fantagraphics Books as Palestine.  Sacco is the premier practitioner of journalism by comic strip, and his unique abilities have brought him to the attention of the editors of Details, and now Time Magazine.  This summer Fantagraphics Books will publish a one-shot comic book of Sacco's reactions to his return to the Middle East during this turbulent period.  A new collected edition of Palestine is due out this month.

 

Sacco's work is very important in demonstrating the breadth of the comics' potential and in gaining some respect for comics in the land in which they were born and still remain despised by many.  Among many other things, the comics medium (at least in Sacco's hands) is a brilliant tool for getting past the superficiality of most television reporting, while still providing readers with vivid visual impressions.   Not every store is in position to take advantage of Sacco's exposure to Time Magazine's huge circulation, but retailers who are should think about ways in which they can highlight the work of this unique artist and engage customers with a new appreciation for the considerable and diverse potential of this hybrid beast that is the 'comics.'