Ann Arbor comics artist Jerzy Drozd has spent most of his career drawing robots, monsters, and other imaginary creatures. So he had to grow some new muscles to pen a graphic novel about the death of president John F. Kennedy.
The Warren Commission Report: A Graphic Investigation Into the Kennedy Assassination visually restages the official investigation into JFK’s killing, attempting to reconcile the commission’s report with the numerous conflicting theories on the assassination.
Drozd, one of two artists who worked on the project, says his first nonfiction work was challenging, given the “onus” to be “precise about staging and details.” Writer Dan Mishkin’s intensely researched script included many Web links to photos for the artists to use as references.
Drozd says the challenge helped him grow as an artist, and he’s eager to do another such project. Judging by positive notices from outlets including Esquire and the Atlantic, his first foray into nonfiction was a success. “National media is paying attention to this thing, and people are speaking very highly of it,” he says. “It’s immensely gratifying but … I’m still sort of adjusting myself to it.”
