Panels and Gutters: Empathy, Comics Journalism, and Joe Sacco’s "Footnotes in Gaza"

Comics journalism is the practice of reporting news and history through the framework of sequential art. Drawing on literary devices practiced by New Journalism, comics journalism incorporates an additional, visual dimension that alters reader experience. Joe Sacco’s 2009 graphic novel Footnotes in Gaza employs visual and verbal elements to tell the story of past and present instances of violence in the Gaza Strip. By breaking with traditional journalistic objectivity, Sacco encourages empathetic connection between readers and subjects in the story.