By Zack Quaintance — I recently came across a really interesting graphic novel project on Kickstarter, and it’s called We Live Here! A Graphic Novel about Detroit Housing Justice. The concept is that the book is tied together around the theme of the intertwined waves of urban revitalization and opportunism that are sweeping/have swept through Detroit in recent years. It’s a graphic novel story in which the author bases the scenes on the page on interviews with members of the activism group, Detroit Eviction Defense (DED). And it’s one of the more thoughtful and fascinating comics projects I’ve come upon in some time.

The writer of We Live Here! is Jeffrey Wilson, whose most recent book is the Seven Stories Press-published The Instinct for Cooperation: A Graphic Novel Conversation with Noam Chomsky. Wilson’s comics work has also appeared in the literary magazine McSweeney’s Quarterly, Counterpunch, and World War 3 Illustrated. Wilson has a track record of thoughtful comics, and this latest project is no exception. The artist, meanwhile, is Bambi Kramer, who recently had a story appear in Kamikaze #19 that went on to win the Angoulême award for alternative comic.

The power and ambition of their project together is evident in the preview text that appears on Wilson’s website, which you can find below:

What will Detroit look like in the future? The question is being answered daily as the city functions in the popular imagination as a kind of blank canvas. Cheap property entices real estate speculators from around the world to invest. Artists are coming from all corners of the country viewing the city as a creative playground. Billionaires are re-sculpting downtown as a spot for tourism. Biding these activities is a predominant view of the city as functionally nearly empty — in need of revitalization. Yet, beyond the conventional players in urban growth and development are others pushing for a different future. Local activist group Detroit Eviction Defense (DED) is answering the question, saying in effect, “We live here, there is no Detroit without us.”

Told in graphic novel form, these stories of everyday people fighting back, organization with others, going into the streets, and winning their homes back. The book is written by me, Jeffrey Wilson, and illustrated by Bambi Kramer.

>>VISIT THE KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN PAGE HERE<<

In addition, you can also checkout some of the artwork that the duo has shared on the campaign page below. This campaign is fully funded, but the campaign page notes that if the creators are able to raise enough money, the length of the project may double in size.

Click here for more great Small Press Previews!

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.