A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge

Seeing as how New Orleans just withstood its third Mardi Gras since Hurricane Katrina, it seems like a good time to alert you about a graphic novel project I'm writing and drawing. Entitled A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, the comic is about about escaping and surviving Katrina -- and what happens next in the lives of a diverse cross-section of Crescent City residents. A.D. is being serialized -- free for all readers -- on the personal storytelling website, SMITH Magazine.

A.D. tells the story of Katrina and its aftermath from the perspective of actual people still dealing with the storm each and every day. The characters are real, the dialogue is taken from direct quotes, the depictions of the inside of their homes are what the inside of their homes look like, down to the DVDs on their shelves and collars on their dogs. So far I've completed a two-part prologue and nine separate chapters, the most recent one, "Neutral Ground," just being posted this week. A.D. is augmented on the site by such extras as a Hurricane Katrina resource library, an active blog, related hyperlinks within many of the panels, and video & audio interviews with the actual characters from the story.

A.D. is truly a labor of love. I believe that comics (or graphic stories, if you prefer) have vast potential to inform as well as entertain. By telling the stories of Leo & Michelle, Denise, Hamid & Mansell, Kevin, and the Doctor, I'm attempting to forge a document, a companion piece if you will to Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke, Michael Eric Dyson's Come Hell or High Water, Douglas Brinkley's Great Deluge, and all the other records of the hurricane. So far the reaction has been very positive, with tons of reader comments, and press attention from such outlets as NPR, the L.A. Times, the New Orleans Times-Picayune, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the American Prospect Online; not to mention hundreds of comics websites and blogs.

As background, I'm a long-time fact-based cartoonist, not only with my own stuff but also as an illustrator for Harvey Pekar's American Splendor. I was also a Red Cross volunteer in Biloxi/Gulfport for three weeks shortly after Katrina. I self-published a blog-book about my experiences, Katrina Came Calling. Early on in the process, I also went down to New Orleans along with SMITH editor Larry Smith to meet all the A.D. participants, get their stories, take tons of photos, and record interviews with them.

As the story of New Orleans after Katrina continues to unfold, I'll continue to update A.D. with more multifaceted stories about the storm of the century. I encourage you to check out A.D. -- and leave a comment on our message boards.

A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge