Political Comics

Considering that a lot of comics have politics embedded in their stories or worldbuilding or actively part of their characters’ parameters, what would constitute a political comic as opposed to a comic containing politics?

In my opinion and from the general descriptions of this budding genre, a political comic is one that depicts a close account and insight into a political, historical or social situation, utilizing the plot and storyline to give the readers an experience of that exact situation.

Whereas the political cartoon uses hyperbole and satire to deliver an opinion on an event or political issue, the political comic uses the power of storytelling and immersion into a realistically presented setting.

Stellar examples of political comics would be Maus, Palestine and of course the example I use super often Persepolis.

Through the pages of a political comic, a reader can gain knowledge and experience along with visual representations of what is being described. It’s like looking through the photo album of some other person’s life, and that makes every frame more powerful- perhaps even the motivation to research and learn more on the same issue.

So a political comic is not necessarily about politics (as in political party activities and the like) but it definitely is about how politics shape reality in our world and the impact of those political agendas in human history.

When I started making Without Moonlight, my intent was to introduce the reader to a period of Greek history that is unknown compared to its ancient counterparts, but still just as rich and powerful if only one would take the time to know about it.

I also purposefully didn’t use historical figures as main characters (that will be soon making appearances) because I wanted to avoid painting them in the hue of my own opinion about them by giving them my own narrative/artistic interpretation (especially since most, if not all, are controversial figures), and instead created characters that are avatars of people that lived in and/or survived that era, famous and not-so-famous.

What are some political comics you enjoy- if any? Have you ever considered or are you making a political comic?