9-11: Emergency Relief (Paperback)

~ Jeff Mason (Author), Will Eisner (Author), Harvey Pekar (Author), Ted Rall (Author), Jeff Smith (Author), James Kochalka (Author), Josh Neufeld (Author), Nick Bertozzi (Author), Dean Haspiel (Author), Joyce Brabner (Author), Jessica Abel (Author), Gregory Benton (Author), Tony Millionaire (Author), Will Eisner (Editor) "AND NOW A SECOND PLANE HAS CRASHED INTO THE OTHER TOWER....." (more)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School-More than 60 sequential art pieces address the responses of their creators to the events of September 11, 2001, in a collection conceived as a fund-raiser for the American Red Cross. Harvey Pekar, Jeff Smith, Jessica Abel, Ted Rall, Peter Kuper, and Will Eisner are among the dozens of creative artists who share their feelings, thoughts, and activities in the wake of the destruction of the World Trade Center and the other airline attacks on that day. While some, including Sam Hester, Josh Neufield, and James Kochalka, provide simple and explicit reports of having an ordinary day in the life of a working artist turn into an extraordinary confrontation with politics, bloodshed, and emotional upheaval, others offer complex tales and scenarios fraught with psychological peril or personal responsibility. Brian Clopper spent the day teaching elementary school students whom he had been told not to inform of national and world events, while Jenny Gonzalez, newly released from a psychiatric hospital, had to contend with her own breakdown and dental surgery. Most of the pieces here provide reportorial accounts, but a few offer brilliant metaphor instead. With so many viewpoints, the surprise is that the collection as a whole is even in quality and absorbing from beginning to end or as an anthology to be consumed in any order. This is important for school and public library collections, as well as for book discussions and auxiliary reading in social science curricula.
Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Publisher and editor Mason has put together an impressive black-and-white anthology recording the responses of many members of the comics community to the crisis in New York City on September 11, 2001. Contributors include comics legends such as Will Eisner, whose one-page statement is heartbreaking, while others are relative newcomers such as Jessica Abel. Some stories record the actions/reactions of the cartoonists on that fateful day, while others are impressionistic. What shines through this collaborative effort is individual reaction to a collective sense of terror. Of particular interest is the piece "Down & Out," which takes place on the lower level of the World Trade Center. The comics industry has had a strong response to the events of September 11, with DC Comics and Marvel Entertainment also producing tribute books, perhaps because heroism is one of the focal points of American comics. 9-11 tellingly depicts an uncertain and hesitantly optimistic worldview. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries. Stephen Weiner, Maynard P.L., MA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Alternative Comics (January 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891867121
• ISBN-13: 978-1891867125
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #712,511 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific book!, January 24, 2002

By	Russell T. Burlingame III (Oswego, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Everyone has a dark side--it's that frightening part of our personalities that drives
you to root for something to blow up and hurt James Bond. It's what makes us "root
for the bad guy" at Mel Gibson films. It's what drove us to watch with rapt attention
on September 11, as the Civilized World crumbled before our eyes.

This, happily, is not the part of us that forces us onward through "9-11," a graphic
novel that tells nearly fifty stories by respected creators from the comic-book industry
about the terrorist attacks and their implications. "9-11" is, with rare exception
like Ashley Wood's obscenity-laden two page monologue, a labor of profound love.

Here, comics legend Will Eisner--who literally invented the concept of "sequential
art," the name by which the academic community now refers to comics--joins virtually
ever major creator in the comics industry in donating his time, money, energy and
artwork to charities benefiting the victims of the September 11 terror attacks.

Marvel Comics lead the pack, their magazine-format "Heroes" book being the first
released (in late October) and best-promoted of all benefit books. The first week
in January, they followed up with "Moment of Silence," another comics-for-charity
project to which Hollywood director and comics guru Kevin Smith contributed a story.
"9-11" was released on January 9 by Alternative Comics, a small, independent publisher.
It contains mostly works done by small-press of self-published comics creators who
are not under contract to a major publisher. Contributors include Phil Hester of
DC Comics' best-selling "Green Arrow," Michael Avon Oeming of "Powers" and "Bluntman
and Chronic" fame, Eisner and "Bone" scribe Jeff Smith. Sixty-two stories featuring
more than 75 creators are collected in the 200-page book, which costs [price]. All
profits from the sale of "9-11" go to the American Red Cross.

Especially notable in the "9-11" tribute book are several pieces by non-legends,
who have been largely overlooked even in the comics press due to names like Harvey
Pekar, Will Eisner and Tony Millionaire being attached to the project. A. David Lewis'
11-page "Alabaster Cities" details his exploits on the morning of September 11, which
are refreshingly non-dynamic. Rather than depicting himself running out the door
to help, as is the temptation when writing a story about your personal reaction to
great tragedy, Lewis and many other creators in the book simply paint a picture of
desperate phone calls, frantic e-mails and great personal reflection and fear. Despite
a medical condition that precludes him from Armed Services duty, Lewis confesses
to ever-so-briefly worrying about being drafted on September 11--a thought that surely
crossed the mind of every young male in the country in the hours following the attacks
on America.

John "Bean" Hastings has a short but poignant story about the importance of art and
popular culture in troubled times--it's clear that he put a lot of himself in a small
amount of pages, and the result is stellar. Keith Knight's indictment of middle America's
closedminded attacks against Arab-Americans and Danny Donovan's disappointment that
the heroes of comic books and movies weren't there to save us when it was truly needed,
hit home in witty and well-thought-out stories designed to make readers take a break
from the seemingly endless pages of grieving and think about their own attitudes.

All in all, "9-11" is a beautiful book, put together by truly talented people and
well-executed; it can do no person harm to buy a copy. Or two--the money, after all,
is going to charity.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, dense and horrifying, February 15, 2002

By	James Avery Baker (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

Easily the best of the comics industry's myriad responses to the tragedy of September 11th, this book gets down into the nitty-gritty of human experiences and reactions to tragedy. No superheroes. No larger-than-life expostulation. Just real people - talented artists - telling amazing stories. Higlights include Gregory Benton's "Treasure," an untitled Hutch Owen story by Tom Hart that manages to toe the fine line between rage and sentiment and "Citadel Of The Night" by K. Thor Jensen and Chris Knowle. Honestly, though, the book is so full of great material that nobody should be without it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Universal Emotions in Black and White, January 30, 2002

By	onliner (Richmond, VA United States) - See all my reviews

9-11: Emergency Relief puts a unique perspective on a shared tragedy. Taking the events out of the cold realism of news photography and video and into the pen and ink world of the comix artist lets the reader share the emotions of another individual on a highly personalized level.

Do not let the genre keep you from reading this book! Even if you are not a comix afficionado, the images and storytelling technique of each artist/author are fascinating and deeply moving.

Like any good book, it is well structured. Stories lead up to the event, there are on-site accounts, the aftermath, and the realization that we're living in a changed world. For people having trouble coming to terms with the events of 9-11 -- regardless of their age -- this book provides comfort and insight. We all have stories to tell about 9-11 and most readers have probably wished they could express their own feelings so well. Fortuntely, this group of artists says it for us.