TRADE REVIEW: The Mueller Report Graphic Novel
The Mueller Report Graphic Novel was first released in September 2020.
By Ariel Baska — Hands up, who read all 448 pages of the Mueller Report when it was released last year? Those of you who did, you feel like re-reading it? No? Well, never fear. Regardless of your relationship to the original (and redacted) tome, this graphic novel is an invaluable resource for navigating this moment in our country’s history, while simultaneously providing an enlightening, gripping, and rather hilarious take that fills in missing pieces you never knew you needed.
The now-infamous two-pronged report sought to examine whether there was conspiracy to influence the 2016 election or obstruction of the investigation into Russian interference. Rather than recite the facts, Shannon Wheeler and Steve Duin instead elucidate the full context of the report through witty sketches and a narrative that’s both informative and infused with parody.
The entire book is told from the perspective of a beleaguered Mueller, trying to get the story out however he can. He begins by telling the story of the redactions from the report that shaped what the public was and was not allowed to see. A cartoonish Trump appears with William Barr, who wields a black paintbrush swallowing up the page whole. The use of cute avatars for political figures allows a certain amount of distance, as if you’re watching the drama unfold for the first time.
Wheeler’s background as cartoonist for the New Yorker shows in the deft turns of political intrigue. Duin’s work as a journalist is important to the crafting of context, but together they weave a special kind of extratextual magic. They create a framework for understanding the report, the back stories of a myriad of colorful characters, the back channel communications, the reactions to the reactions, the tweets and the subtweets without ever losing sight of the bigger picture.
If all this sounds a little overwhelming, they’ve done you an enormous service by providing an illustrated timeline of events from within the report, and how that timeline connects to the events that culminated in the President’s impeachment. Add to this a rogues’ gallery of all the people referenced in this truncated version of the report, and you have a handy-dandy reference tool for discussing how election interference and influence-peddling from foreign governments can happen.
We’re at a crossroads as a country as we come to our 2020 presidential election in the midst of a global pandemic. We’ve come to this moment as a country because so many (like myself) have been too distracted by headlines to really learn from the 2016 election, and stand up and do anything substantive. It’s a vital moment to be involved, to make educated decisions, and to make your voice count. Read this book for a fuller picture of democracy’s breaking point, then go vote.
Overall: Essential reading for every American, cleverly rendered with both charm and gravitas.
TRADER REVIEW: The Mueller Report Graphic Novel
The Mueller Report - Graphic Novel
Writers: Shannon Wheeler and Steve Duin
Artist: Shannon Wheeler
Editor: Justin Eisinger
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Price: $13.99
It's the greatest WHODUNIT of our time... or a new low for "Presidential Harassment!" Shannon Wheeler, Eisner Award-winning New Yorker cartoonist (Too Much Coffee Man, Sh*t My President Says, God is Disappointed in You), and veteran journalist Steve Duin (The Oregonian, Comics: Between the Panels, Oil and Water) turn their critical eye on The Mueller Report—a comprehensive, understandable, and readable graphic novel version of the book every patriot needs. Fight the spin spewing forth from both parties and political pulpits and check out this graphic novel that brings a 400-page legal document down to size. Wheeler and Duin, in graphic form, bring to life scenes detailed in the report: from the infamous Trump Tower Meeting of 2016 to Trump exclaiming "I'm f*cked" upon finding out he was the subject of investigation. It's in the report and it's in the graphic novel! The Mueller Report: Graphic Novel borrows style from classic private detective yarns, complete with a villainous rogues' gallery, nail-biting cliffhangers, and a lone lawman standing proud against the wave of crime. See Trump berate his Attorney General. Watch a petulant Commander-in-Chief lob insults at the White House counsel. Witness the "witch hunt" as it happened, cataloged as only the top lawman in the country could! This staggering laundry list of questionable contacts, misleading statements, unreported engagements, and possible coordination—enough to stun any student of the U.S. Constitution—is laid bare with a cold, satirical edge. Now includes new BONUS MATERIAL! Wheeler and Duin take on the Ukrainian Call and the Whistleblower Complaint that ignited the Impeachment! You'll laugh. You'll cry. You may Tweet in anger. But most importantly, you will be reading the report for yourself!
Release Date: September 2020
Buy It Digitally: The Mueller Report - Graphic Novel
