This talk considers the role of drawing—and comics grammar—in the reporting of war and violence. It focuses on the contemporary innovator of comics journalism, Joe Sacco, who has reported in comics form from the Balkans and the Middle East, among other globally volatile locations, featuring himself as a character on the ground in conflict zones.

Hillary Chute is a literary scholar and an expert on comics and graphic narratives. She is an Associate associate professor in the Department of English at the University of Chicago and an associate faculty member of the Department of Visual Arts.