Palestine back

Before SAFE AREA GORAZDE, Sacco's comic journalism took him to Palestine and this is his account of the people that he talked to. Solid portrayal, with a hint of the old American undergrounds in his penmanship. Quite an undertaking.

[Editor's note: this was written in the days when we were briefer, and I even suspect this may not have been its first printing. Regardless, as I trawl backwards through the Mailshots and printed Recommended Reading Lists I may either find an older, more in-depth review from Mark because we both love Sacco with a passion, or be forced to write a new one myself! In the meantime, on seeing some of Joe's original pages for this collection in an art exhibition running alongside some Fine Art pieces, I wrote:

"It's absolutely fascinating, not least because original comicbook art, unlike 'Fine' Art, is a means to an end rather than the end itself. What matters in comics is how it looks on the printed page, so there's a huge amount of insight to be gleaned from the working process behind it.

"White-out is a common occurrence, existing on almost every original page of comic art I own, either as a correction or an enhancement. At the museum, for example, you can see it used to slash rain across a page, although Joe Sacco's PALESTINE pieces there show him meticulously cross-hatching up to and between each individual streak instead."

Insane, really. But very, very impressive, as is this book. For a more expansive review of similar Sacco subject matter, please see his extraordinary FOOTNOTES IN GAZA.]