The latest issue of the twice-yearly International Journal of Comic Art includes tributes to the late Trina Robbins and Kevin J. Taylor in the 600-page plus page new issue, and a report on the use of comics in United Nations Special Reports, their inclusion the focus of debate last year.
Curated by founder, publisher and editor-in-chief John A. Lent, IJOCA Volume 26, No. 2 offers global comics studies and expertise, reviews, interviews, tributes to Trina Robbins and Kevin J. Taylor and more. It’s available on subscription and individual issues are available to buy, too.
The opening focus of the issue is a transcript of a United Nations Comics and Human Rights Event organised by Jewish Currents, co-sponsored by the American University of Beirut Palestine Land Studies Center and University of Oregon Comics & Cartoon Studies.
Speakers at the event in New York were Michael Fakhri, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, artist Omar Khouri, University of Oregon comics studies professor Kate Kelp-Stebbins and comics author, editor and journalist Sarah Shay Mirk.
Michael Fakhri is a professor at the University of Oregon School of Law where he teaches courses on human rights, food law, development, and commercial law. He is also the director of the Food Resiliency Project in the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center. He was appointed Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food by the Human Rights Council in March 2020.
The event took place the day before Dr. Fakhri presented the report, titled “Starvation and the right to food, with an emphasis on the Palestinian people’s food sovereignty” to the UN General Assembly.
Because he felt words could not capture certain aspects of the horror of Palestinian life during the current starvation campaign by Israel, and “Nor do words alone adequately provide a vision for a better future for the Palestinian people and the world”, he prepared a graphic report, illustrated by Omar Khouri, illustrations Michael considered essential to the report.
Omar Khouri, who lives and works in North Lebanon, is a multi- and interdisciplinary artist working with painting, comics, film, video games and music, to name a few. In 2006, he co-founded Samandal Comics, the first experimental comics collective in the Middle East.
As envisaged and originally agreed, this would have been the first ever graphic report to be included in an official UN Human Rights Special Report. Sadly, despite United Nations staff support for the use of graphic reportage in the spirit of promoting universal human rights, Michael was disappointed to be notified, after its submission, that the Secretariat would not allow the inclusion of artwork in any part of it. This decision, which followed strong pushback from the Israeli government, caused delays in its issuance.
Commenting in preamble to the published version on the UN website, Michael noted: “The Special Rapporteur recalls that the content of the report is, and should remain, the sole responsibility of the mandate holder, constituting an essential part of his independent work and assessment. The Special Rapporteur requests the Secretary-General to clarify the application of the existing rules related to maps, figures and photographs to enable the use of artwork, such as illustrations, comics and graphic art, in official United Nations documents.”
The visual version of the report is available to view and download in English here (PDF format).
Be warned that both versions make for harrowing reading.
It has been reported that the UN has subsequently banned the use of comics in Special Reports.
downthetubes understands Michael’s report was very effective and other people at the UN were very interested in using comics for their own causes, but the UN administration limited distribution in the beginning and later decided not to allow them in future reports. It does not appear there is a public-facing statement about this, as yet.
While comics and graphic art are not traditionally part of official United Nations documents, there’s growing interest in their potential use, and they certainly do not appear to have been banned from use. The United Nations is exploring ways to incorporate artwork, including comics and graphic art, into its documents, possibly as illustrations or visual aids, to enhance communication and engagement.
In May, for example, seeking the provision of multimedia materials for UNMISS, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, the global organisation included comics in a document calling for Expressions of Interest. It has also previously published an illustrated version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, featuring art by Yacine Ait Kaci (YAK).
Other contributions to IJOCA Volume 26, No. 2 include “Extraordinary Master Erotic Artist and Storyteller, Kevin J. Taylor (1963-2024)” by William H. Foster, III; “Great Existentialism Carries Great Responsibility: Sartre’s Philosophy in the Spider-Man Comics” by Ignacio A. Loranca Frontana; “No Joke! No Joke!”, a Short Survey of Philippines Political Comics and Cartoons in 2024 by C.T. Lim; “Tribute to Trina Robbins” by Kim Munson; “First-Hand Impressions of Thai Comics and Pop Culture” by Lim Cheng Tju; “Women Creating Monsters: A Bibliography of Comics and Graphic Novels, Part I: Graphic Novels, 2014-2024” by Lizzy Walker; and much, much more.
• The visual version of the UN Special Report, “Starvation and the right to food, with an emphasis on the Palestinian people’s food sovereignty” is available to view and download in English here (PDF format)
• You can watch the panel discussing the use of comics in special UN Reports in full here on Vimeo
International Journal of Comic Art Links
- International Journal of Comic Art website
- IJOCA submission guidelines
- IJOCA back issue table of contents
- International Journal of Comic Art Author, Country, and Genre Index Volumes 1-25 (1999-2023)
- Comic Art Academic Monograph Publishers – An IJOCA Reference Guide
- Email newsletters including Patreon, Substack, and others – An IJOCA Reference Guide
With thanks to Paul Gravett
- About the Author
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, International Comic News
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