Sep 14, 2010 5:38 PM

Topical Comics Tackle Israel, Cuba, New Orleans

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Comics like Cuba: My Revolution, Dark Rain: A New Orleans Story and How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less explore geopolitical controversy using pretty pictures rather than dense historical text. Vertigo's topical titles have arrived in a cluster bomb: Dark Rain fell in August, Cuba: My Revolution hits Tuesday and How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less launches Nov. 3. But does the complexity of the real-life situations the comics depict get lost in translation, or will they pack as much impact as their hard-hitting predecessors like Art Spiegelman's Maus and Joe Sacco's Palestine? We asked the comics' respective writers in the gallery above, probing their desire to dissect historical tragedy for a publisher better known for hawking superheroes in tights. Click through and let us know in the comments section below if the comics stack up, or if serious-minded graphic novels should stand down.

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Scott Thill covers pop, culture, tech, politics, econ, the environment and more for Wired, AlterNet, Filter, Huffington Post and others. You can sample his collected spiels at his site, Morphizm. ... Read More

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