Joe Sacco returns with Journalism

One of the most important cartoonists working today, Joe Sacco's latest book, Journalism, offers more tales from war zones around the world, told with the author's usual dark wit and searing detail. To be released from Metropolitan Books, it contains a number of short comics based on what Sacco saw or heard in such places as The Hague in South Holland, where former Bosnian warlord Milan Kovačević stood trial for genocide. Another story, "Kushinagar," examines the deplorable living conditions of India's untouchable caste, many of whom face starvation. There is also a comic that looks at the pointlessness of the war in Iraq, inspired by Sacco's own time spent with American soldiers.

Prior to Journalism, the author was awarded the Eisner for 2001's Safe Area Goražde, which contained accounts of the ethnic cleansing perpetuated by Bosnian Serbs during the early 1990s. He also wrote and illustrated the critically-acclaimed Footnotes in Gaza, which attempted to unearth the ghosts of hundreds of Palestinians killed by Israelis in 1956. While there's a strong likelihood that Journalism will be a sobering reading experience on par with his previous books, there are few journalists who go to the ends of the Earth seeking truth like Sacco does, which automatically elevates his latest to must-read status.

Journalism has a release date of June 19, but Seattle-area readers have a chance at an early look this Saturday. The Fantagraphics store in Georgetown will have copies on the new book on-hand as part of a signing event featuring the author.