08

December 1, 2008
For everyone who didn't get quite enough coverage and analysis of the longest presidential campaign in American history, 08
provides a brief and breezy graphic account of all that led up to the Obama-McCain November showdown. New Republic
senior editor Crowley provides the semaphore-like text (“It started like any other debate. Bush-bashing. Bickering about health care. Iraq”). The b&w illustrations are courtesy of Shooting War's
Goldman, who brings a punchy and dramatic rhythm to a rendering that could all too easily have been done by the numbers (though his fixation on wrinkles leaves many faces looking like they are covered with spiderwebs). Unlike most nonfiction comics concerning current affairs, 08
doesn't assume an omniscient narrator, creating instead a rather creaky framing device of a washed-up veteran political reporter, taking a flight with his editor while the editor reads his latest story on the campaign. The voice of this old ink-stained cynic allows the narrative to be a little less vanilla, but it's still not much more than an illustrated time line. Though Crowley and Goldman don't dumb anything down, they still skip past much interpretation.

March 15, 2009
Was there ever a presidential campaign like 2008's? A large cast of contenders from both parties, all dissing Bush, while commentators desperately tried to make sense of unfolding events. This isn't about "how he did it," as in "Newsweek"'s President Obama issue. It's about what the contenders said and what the media said in response, but there are also memorable made-up images, like McCain giving his Vietnamese captors the finger and Giuliani posed "American Gothic"-style with pitchfork plus his three wives and his own drag persona. Those who know all the characters through television coverage will appreciate this recap of public moments, uplifting, informative, or embarrassing. Unfortunately, many people depicted in the photo-realistic art are not identified. Most are well-known political or media figures. But still, the less TV-habituated who might want to catch up on what they missed will in fact miss much. Also, some side storieslike McCain volunteer Ashley Todd's hoaxshow up via cryptic allusion but are never explained. Worse, the book lacks any useful substructure: no table of contents or even page numbers. Buy it anyway: public interest trumps the niceties in this case. Crowley is a senior editor at the "New Republic" and Goldman the artist for the highly regarded "Shooting War". Occasional salty language may influence teen suitability in some libraries.M.C.

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