TITLE: "Comicking the Campaign at Unsafe Speeds"
"Hello MySpacers, Michael Crowley and Dan Goldman here. We're really thrilled to be able to give you these exclusive pages from 08: A GRAPHIC DIARY OF THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL, our new graphic novel about the 2008 election that comes out today in book and comic stores across the country. Working on this comic was a unique experience. Not only had was putting campaign into graphic form like this a first, but the intensity of the unforgettable ’08 campaign meant we were churning news into comics at a breakneck pace to get the full story into readers’ hands so quickly.
We’re really proud of the result and thrilled by the book’s early buzz. Our goal was to make 08 both a work of factual journalism — all the important moments of the campaign are in there, accompanied by actual quotes from the politicians, operatives, pundits and voters who shaped the race. But we also add some literary flair through the presence of two reporters who chronicle and comment on the story from start to end with wit and insight.
The amazing ’08 campaign is a great enough story on its own. But we love the tale of how this unprecedented book came to be. When we were first introduced by our editor, Michael and I knew we were entering uncharted waters. We swapped some reading materials — I gave Mike some of my favorite comics to read, and he turned me onto essential reading for political junkies and insiders. We started at a relatively leisurely pace, thinking we could wait for the primaries —originally expected to be fast, furious, and finished by Super Tuesday — to run their course before we took stock of the story on our hands. Except… the campaign didn't end on February 5. Obama and Hillary would, of course, battle on for months. As the Democrat candidates raced on at full speed, and the story of a lifetime unfolded before our eyes, there was no time to pause and and take stock of the story. We had to dive right in to the telling to have a finished product by this January.
By the time Hillary finally quit, McCain was happy to pick up where she left off, delivering us a new embarrassment of riches to work with — both in words and images. Mike loved scripting Obama’s crisis over Jeremiah Wright and the story of how an economic crisis overshadowed every other issue and spelled doom for McCain in the fall. Dan relished drawing the unforgettable Sarah Palin, the hilariously strange Joe the Plumber.
All the while, we literally raced alongside the news to make sure that our book served as a new form of journalism, documenting this historical race in words and pictures. We're proud to give you this exclusive peek at the book, which illustrates that critical moment from last spring when which the media frenzy around Jeremiah Wright’s explosive sermons threatened to destroy Obama's campaign — until Obama rose to the occasion with a beautiful speech on race in Philadelphia that re-framed the campaign. Taking the issue head-on that day, Obama largely neutralized race as a factor in the campaign, paving the way for his historic victory over both Hillary Clinton and John McCain. We hope you enjoy reading 08 as much as we enjoyed the exhilarating process of creating it.
08 is out now; for more info on where/how to order the book online, go to
http://dangoldman. net/08All the best,
Michael Crowley & Dan Goldman
“08: A Graphic Diary of the Campaign Trail” Copyright 2009 by Michael Crowley and Dan Goldman. Published by Three Rivers Press, a division of Random House, Inc.. $17.95.
