9-11: Emergency Relief

9-11: Emergency Relief.
Gainesville, Florida:
Alternative Comics, 2002.


In a compilation of works by over 60 artists, 9-11: Emergency Relief is part memoir, biography, and tribute. With all proceeds being donated to the American Red Cross, it is an astonishing work of both philanthropy and comics. There are some well-known contributors such as Jessica Abel, Will Eisner, Peter Kuper, Harvey Pekar, and Ted Rall. Others are just making their way into the comics arena and their stories are no less moving. Most of the contributions tell the story of what happened to each particular artist on September 11, 2001. More than a few were completed within less than a week of the terrorists’ attacks, provoking a raw telling of the events in each author’s personal view. Rarely engaging humor in their work, many stories invoke the same emotions so many citizens experienced in the days after that terrifying tragedy.

In the creation of comics instead of essays, the book displays an array of emotions in visual detail, as opposed to a cognitive representation of written language. If one can set aside their feelings (a difficult task in such a moving collection) and simply take in the different pieces, the book as a whole is a stunning anthology of the many different styles used throughout the graphic form. Ranging from the harshly abstract to the cartoonish, the reader gets a sense of the limitless possibilities offered to comics’ artists. For the many young adults unfamiliar with graphic novels, this work, though heavy with emotion, is an excellent introduction to the many artists currently working in the field. Giving the reader a chance to learn more about the artists they most enjoy, at the end of the book is a bio of each contributor, often detailing the other works and projects of their careers.