Joe Sacco (; born October 2, 1960) is a Maltese-American cartoonist and journalist. He is best known for his comics journalism, in particular in the books '' Palestine'' (1996) and '' Footnotes in Gaza'' (2009), on Israeli–Palestinian relations; and '' Safe Area Goražde'' (2000) and '' The Fixer'' (2003) on the Bosnian War. In 2020, Sacco released ''Paying the Land'', published by Henry Holt and Company.Steinhauer, Jillian
"The Outsider: Joe Sacco's comics journalism,"
''The Nation'' (Dec. 28, 2020).

Biography

Sacco was born in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

on October 2, 1960. Drawn & Quarterly (2004)
Joe Sacco: Biography
Retrieved April 24, 2006. His father Leonard was an engineer and his mother Carmen was a teacher.Duncan Campbell (October 23, 2003)

''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

''. Retrieved April 26, 2006. At the age of one, he moved with his family to Melbourne, Australia,Read Yourself RAW
Profile: Joe Sacco
. Retrieved April 25, 2006. where he spent his childhood until 1972, when they moved to Los Angeles. He began his journalism career working on the Sunset High School newspaper in Beaverton, Oregon. While journalism was his primary focus, this was also the period of time in which he developed his penchant for humor and satire. He graduated from Sunset High in 1978. Sacco earned his BA in journalism from the University of Oregon in 1981 in three years. He was greatly frustrated with the journalist work that he found at the time, later saying, " couldn't finda job writing very hard-hitting, interesting pieces that would really make some sort of difference." After being briefly employed by the journal of the National Notary Association, a job which he found "exceedingly, exceedingly boring," and several factories, he returned to Malta, his journalist hopes forgotten. "...I sort of decided to forget it and just go the other route, which was basically take my hobby, which has been cartooning, and see if I could make a living out of that," he later told the BBC.Ben Arnold (August 27, 2004)
Telephone interview with Joe Sacco
(

.ram RealAudio, or also spelled as Real Audio is a proprietary audio format developed by RealNetworks and first released in April 1995. It uses a variety of audio codecs, ranging from low-bitrate formats that can be used over dialup modems, to high-fid ...

file, source
Interview with Joe Sacco
. BBC. Retrieved April 26, 2006. He began working for a local publisher writing guidebooks. Returning to his fondness for comics, he wrote a Maltese romance comic named ''Imħabba Vera'' ("''True Love''"), one of the first art-comics in the

Maltese language Maltese ( mt, Malti, links=no, also ''L-Ilsien Malti'' or '), is a Semitic language derived from late medieval Sicilian Arabic with Romance superstrata spoken by the Maltese people. It is the national language of Malta and the only offic ...

. "Because Malta has no history of comics, comics weren't considered something for kids," he told ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...

''. "In one case, for example, the girl got pregnant and she went to Holland for an abortion. Malta is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

country where, at the time, not even divorce was allowed. It was unusual, but it's not like anyone raised a stink about it, because they had no way of judging whether this was appropriate material for comics or not."Hillary Chute (July 19, 2005)
Stand Up Comics
''The Village Voice''. Retrieved April 26, 2006. Eventually returning to the United States, by 1985 Sacco had founded a satirical, alternative comics magazine called ''Portland Permanent Press'' in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

. When the magazine folded fifteen months later, he took a job at '' The Comics Journal'' as the staff news writer.Gary Groth (October 4, 2001)
Joe Sacco, Frontline Journalist: Why Sacco went to Gorazde
'' The Comics Journal'' (a magazine owned and operated by Fantagraphics Books). Retrieved April 26, 2006. This job provided the opportunity for him to create and edit another satire: the comics anthology ''Centrifugal Bumble-Puppy'' Fantagraphics Books
Joe Sacco
. Retrieved April 25, 2006. (a name he took from an overcomplicated children's toy in Aldous Huxley's '' Brave New World''), published by ''The Comics Journal''s parent company Fantagraphics Books. But Sacco was more interested in traveling. In 1988, he left the U.S. again to travel across Europe, a trip which he chronicled in his autobiographical comic ''Yahoo'' (also published by Fantagraphics). The trip led him towards the ongoing

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

(his obsession with which he talks about in ''Yahoo'' #2), and in 1991 he found himself nearby to research the work he would eventually publish as '' Palestine'', a documentary graphic novel, which gather testimonies of survivors of war and trauma. The Gulf War segment of ''Yahoo'' drew Sacco into a study of Middle Eastern politics, and he traveled to Israel and the

Palestinian territories The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine that have been Military occupation, militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including E ...

to research his first long work. ''Palestine'' was a collection of short and long pieces, some depicting Sacco's travels and encounters with Palestinians (and several Israelis), and some dramatizing the stories he was told. It was serialized as a comic book from 1993 to 1995 and then published in several collections, the first of which won an American Book Award in 1996 and sold more than 30,000 copies in the UK.Eyeglass in Gaza
Interview in "

". Sacco next travelled to

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajev ...

and Goražde near the end of the Bosnian War, and produced a series of reports in the same style as ''Palestine'': the comics '' Safe Area Goražde'', '' The Fixer'', and the stories collected in ''

War's End ''War's End'' is a journalistic comic about the Bosnian War The Bosnian War ( sh, Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini / Рат у Босни и Херцеговини) was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina betwee ...

''; the financing for which was aided by his winning of the Guggenheim Fellowship in April 2001.Guggenheim Foundation 2001 Fellows Page
Guggenheim Foundation (2001) . Retrieved October 7, 2006. ''Safe Area Goražde'' won the

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

for Best Original Graphic Novel in 2001. Joe Sacco Iraq

He has also contributed short pieces of graphic reportage to a variety of magazines, on subjects ranging from war crimes to blues, and was a frequent illustrator of Harvey Pekar's '' American Splendor''. In 2005 he wrote and drew two eight-page comics depicting events in Iraq published in ''

''. He also contributed a 16-page piece in April 2007's issue of '' Harper's Magazine'', entitled "Down! Up! You're in the Iraqi Army Now". In 2009, his '' Footnotes in Gaza'' was published, which investigates two forgotten massacres that took place in Khan Younis and

Rafah Rafah ( ar, رفح, Rafaḥ) is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. It is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate, located south of Gaza City. Rafah's population of 152,950 (2014) is overwhelmingly made up of former Palesti ...

in November 1956. In June 2012, a book on

poverty in the United States In the United States, poverty has both social and political implications. In 2020, there were 37.2 million people in poverty. Some of the many causes include income inequality, inflation, unemployment, debt traps and poor education.Western, B ...

, ''Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt'', co-written with journalist Chris Hedges, was published. His latest work is ''Paying The Land'' (2020) discussing climate change and the indigenous Dene community of Northwest Canada, who, he says, were subject to cultural genocide by means of compulsory residential schooling, treaties, and capitalism. Sacco currently lives in

Awards

In addition to his 1996 American Book Award, and 2001 Guggenheim Fellowship, Sacco's Safe Area Goražde brought him a

Time magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on M ...

"Best Comic of 2000" award, followed by 2001

for Best Original Graphic Novel, and 2001 Eagle Award for Best Original Graphic Novel, and 2001 Harvey Award nomination for Best Writer and Best Graphic Album of Original Work. His ''Footnotes in Gaza'' was nominated for the 2009 Los Angeles Times Book Prize Graphic Novel award. Sacco was awarded the 2010 Ridenhour Book Prize for ''Footnotes in Gaza''. He was award the 2012 Oregon Book Award for ''Footnotes in Gaza'' and 2014 Oregon Book Award Finalist for ''Journalism''.

Bibliography

Comic books

Solo

*1988–1992: ''Yahoo'' #1–6. Fantagraphics Books *1993–1995: '' Palestine'' #1–9. Fantagraphics Books *1994: ''Spotlight on the Genius that is Joe Sacco''. Fantagraphics Books *1998: ''Stories From Bosnia'' #1: ''Soba''. Drawn & Quarterly

Editor

*1987–1988: ''Centrifugal Bumble-Puppy''. Fantagraphics Books *1987: '' Honk!''. Fantagraphics Books

Comics journalism stories

* "The War Crimes Trials," '' Details'' (September 1998), pp. 260-265. * "The Rude Blues," ''Details'' (April 2000), pp. 140-145. * "Hebron: A Look Inside," ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'' (March 12, 2001), pp. 40-43. * "The Underground War in Gaza," ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. ...

'' (July 6, 2003).
"Complacency Kills,"
''

The Guardian Weekend ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' (Feb. 26, 2005), pp. 16–24. * "Down! Up! You're in the Iraqi Army Now", '' Harper's Magazine'' (April 2007), 16 pp.

Books

Solo

*1993: ''Palestine: A Nation Occupied''. Fantagraphics Books. (collects ''Palestine'' #1–5) *1996: ''Palestine: In the Gaza Strip''. Fantagraphics Books. (collects ''Palestine'' #4–9) *1997: ''War Junkie''. Fantagraphics Books. . *2000: '' Safe Area Goražde: The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992–1995''. Fantagraphics Books. (expanded edition 2010) *2001: '' Palestine''. Fantagraphics Books. (collects ''Palestine'' #1–9) (expanded edition in 2007) *2003: '' The Fixer: A Story from Sarajevo''. Drawn & Quarterly Books. *2003: ''

Notes from a Defeatist ''Notes from a Defeatist'' is a collection of short journalistic comics by Joe Sacco Joe Sacco (; born October 2, 1960) is a Maltese-American cartoonist and journalist. He is best known for his comics journalism, in particular in the books ...

''. Fantagraphics Books. (collects ''Yahoo'' #1–6) *2005: '' War's End: Profiles from Bosnia 1995–96''. Drawn & Quarterly. *2006: '' But I Like It''. Fantagraphics Books. *2009: '' Footnotes in Gaza''. Metropolitan Books, . Jonathan Cape, *2012: ''

Journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...

''. Metropolitan Books, *2013: ''The Great War: July 1, 1916: The First Day of the Battle of the Somme''. W. W. Norton & Company. *2014: ''Bumf Vol. 1: I Buggered the Kaiser''. Fantagraphics Books. *2020: ''Paying the Land''. Henry Holt and Co.

As illustrator

*2002: ''From the Folks Who Brought You the Weekend: A Short, Illustrated History of Labor in the United States'' with Priscilla Murolo and A. B. Chitty. *2012: ''

Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt ''Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt'' is a 2012 illustrated non-fiction book authored by Chris Hedges and illustrated by Joe Sacco, chronicling life in poverty in different parts of the United States. Structure The book captures daily life in ...

'' with Chris Hedges. Nation Books,

References

Notes

Sources

* ———. 2003
"The thin black line: Cartoonist Joe Sacco, who illustrated the Sarajevo war zone in 'The Fixer,' will be in town to discuss his craft."
''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 18 ...

'' (November 14). * Adams, James. 2003. “Conflict's cartoonist: It bothers Joe Sacco that people are suffering in Gaza or Gorazde, and he uses his singular comic-book style to make sure it bothers other people too." '' Toronto Globe and Mail'' (November 10). * Arnold, Andrew. 2003
"Looks Like a Job for 'The Fixer': Joe Sacco's latest work of comix-journalism."
Time.com (October 31). * Baker, Bill. 2003. "Redirected Male: Fields of Gold." ''

Sequential Tart In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is calle ...

'' (April). * Baker, Bill. 2001
"War Tales: 5 Minutes with Joe Sacco on Safe Area Gorazde."
WizardWorld.com (January 2). * Baker, Bill. 2000
"Comics Journalism 101: 5 Minutes with Joe Sacco."
WizardWorld.com (December 28): * Baker, Bill. 2000
"[Undeclared
/nowiki> Wartime: 5 Minutes with Joe Sacco on Palestine."">/nowiki>Undeclared">"[Undeclared
/nowiki> Wartime: 5 Minutes with Joe Sacco on Palestine." WizardWorld.com (December 27): * Dodge, Chris. 2000. "Art behind the lines: How a comic book can reveal the truth of war." ''Utne Reader'' (May-June): 94-95 * Doughty, Dick. 1996. "Palestine with attitude". ''Journal of Palestine Studies'' * Gavin Edwards (writer), Edwards, Gavin. 2000. "The art of war." ''Spin (magazine), Spin'' (June) * Farah, Christopher. 2003
"Safe area America: Graphic novelist Joe Sacco goes back to Sarajevo with his powerful new book 'The Fixer' -- and talks about why the entire U.S. population should be tried for war crimes."
'' Salon.com, Salon'' (December 5) * Garfield, Bob. 2003
"Sacco's New War."
WNYC /

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from othe ...

's '' On the Media'' (November 14). (Also: a transcript of the interview i
here
) * Gallivan, Joseph. 2003
"Serious ink: Cartoonist Joe Sacco doesn't shy from conflict; in fact, he wants to tell all about it."
'' Portland Tribune'' (November 28). * Garelick, Jon. 2001
"Orwell with India ink: Joe Sacco's war journalism,"
'' Boston Phoenix'' (February 23). * Hajdu, David. 2003
"Comics for Grown-Ups,"
'' The New York Review of Books'' 50 (13; August 14). * Harvey, R. C. 2001
"Opus 60: Tittles and Jots: A Quick Look at What's Still on the Stands and Some Cartoonist Reportage."
''Rants & Raves'' (May 23). * Hedges, Chris. 1997. "A cartoonist sketches outline of Bosnia's pain". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' (June 1) * Heer, Jeet. 2003. "More about the war: Joe Sacco's comics reveal things about conflicts that the news just can't." ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'' (October 9) *

Hitchens, Christopher Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British-American author and journalist who wrote or edited over 30 books (including five essay collections) on culture, politics, and literature. Born and educated in England, ...

. 2000. "The Draftsman's Contract"

Safe Area Gorazde A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body and do ...

], ''Los Angeles Times'' (June 11) * Iannelli, E. J. 2000. "Battle lines: Joe Sacco's illustrated journalism puts a face on Bosnia." ''Resonance'' (26; Summer): 10-11 * Ken Kurson, Kurson, Ken. 1996? "The good word." '' Might (magazine), Might'' magazine: (3) * Lorberer, Eric. 2000. "Graphic novels: Safe Gorazde: The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992-1995 by Joe Sacco" eview '' Rain Taxi'' 5 (2; Summer): 16 * Lydon, Christopher. 2001. "Cartoon Journalist Joe Sacco nterview WBUR's '' The Connection'' (April 19) * Mautner, Christopher. 2000. "'Safe Area Gorazde': Cartoonish art draws compelling story of war's horrors". '' The Patriot-News'' (May 21) *

McKenna, Kristine Kristine McKenna is an American journalist, critic and art curator best known for her interviews with artists, writers, thinkers, filmmakers and musicians. Many of these have been collected in ''Book of Changes'' (2001) and ''Talk to Her'' (200 ...

. 2004
"Brueghel in Bosnia: Kristine McKenna talks with graphic journalist Joe Sacco."
'' LA Weekly'' (January 2–8). * Murray, Charles Shaar. 2003
"The graphic truth about Palestinian existence,"
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'' (February 4). * Nevins, Mark. 2002. "Drawing From Life: An Interview with Joe Sacco." '' International Journal of Comic Art'' 4 (2; Fall): 1-52 * Phipps, Keith. 2000
"Joe Sacco, Safe Area Gorazde: The War In Eastern Bosnia."
'' The A.V. Club''. * Reid, Calvin. 2003. "Joe Sacco, Comics Journalist." ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' (November 24) * Rhode, Michael. 2000. "Sequential Reportage"

etter Etter is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Albert Etter (born 1872), American horticulturist * Bill Etter (born 1950), American football quarterback * Bob Etter (born 1945), American football placekicker, bridge player, and prof ...

'' The Comics Journal'' (221; March) * Said, Edward. 2002
"Heroes and villains: As a child, Edward Said would marvel at the adventures in comic books. Joe Sacco's Palestine took him back to that time - and to the heart of the Middle East conflict."
''

'' (December 21). * Spurgeon, Tom. 2000. "Drawing enemy lines: Safe Area Gorazde: The War in Eastern Bosnia, 1992-95". '' The Comics Journal'' (227; September): 5-6 * Stein, Joel. 2000. "Joe Sacco's Safe Area Gorazde is a comic-book look at a horrible war." ''

'' (May 1): 72 * Thompson, David. 2003
"Eyewitness in Gaza: Joe Sacco's comic-book format provides an unlikely but compelling insight into the Palestinian experience in Palestine."
''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...

'' (January 5). * Totilo, Stephen. 2000. "Stuff we like: ''Safe Area Gorazde''." '' Brill's Content'' (May) * True, Everett. 2000. "No comic relief: It might be in cartoon form but Joe Sacco's account of life in wartorn Bosnia is not a laughing matter." '' London Times'' (June): 21 * Vaillant, John. 1998. "War 'toons. Joe Sacco: front-line correspondence, with pens and brushes." '' Men's Journal'' (November): 58

External links

Comics by Sacco
2006 report on military action in Iraq
''The Guardian''
2005 report on military action in Iraq
''The Guardian''
On Satire – a response
to the ''Charlie Hebdo'' attacks (January 2015), ''The Guardian'' Biographies * *
Fantagraphics Books: Joe SaccoHarpers magazine pieceAn Evening With Joe Sacco in Los Angeles
Interviews
Joe Sacco on ''Footnotes in Gaza''
– Interview on the 7th Avenue Project radio show

– Interview by ''

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazee ...

English''
Brueghel in Bosnia
Interview in '' L.A. Weekly''.
The Art Of War
Interview in '' Mother Jones''.
Joe Sacco, Man of the World
Audio interview on mp3 from The Crown Commission.
Interview with Joe Sacco
– interview on ''

Weekend America ''Weekend America'' was a weekly public radio program dealing with news, popular culture, the arts and more. The program was produced for American Public Media and hosted by John Moe in Saint Paul, Minnesota. ''Weekend America'' launched Saturday ...

''
Interview with Joe Sacco
on bdtheque.com for the release of Footnotes in Gaza.
Eyeglass in Gaza
Interview in "

".
Joe Sacco in conversation with Hillary Chute
– Interview in ''

The Believer Believer(s) or The Believer(s) may refer to: Religion * Believer, a person who holds a particular belief ** Believer, a person who holds a particular religious belief *** Believers, Christians with a religious faith in the divine Christ *** Beli ...

''
Joe Sacco on C-SPAN's Book TV

Joe Sacco: Presentation and interview from the 2002 UF Comics Conference
— ''ImageTexT'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Sacco, Joe American cartoonists American comics artists Alternative cartoonists Maltese comics artists Maltese cartoonists Maltese emigrants to the United States Maltese journalists Writers from Portland, Oregon University of Oregon alumni Living people 1960 births Sunset High School (Beaverton, Oregon) alumni People from Kirkop Maltese emigrants to Australia American graphic novelists American Splendor artists American Book Award winners Novelists from Oregon 20th-century Maltese artists 21st-century Maltese artists English-language writers from Malta Maltese-language writers from the United States

Biography

Awards

Bibliography

Comic books

Solo

Editor

Comics journalism stories

Books

Solo

As illustrator

See also

References

Notes

Sources

Further reading

External links