Of Studious Babies, Talking Rabbits, and Watercolor Activism: Using the Comics Form to Consider Nonfiction

Graphic nonfiction is optimal for helping readers challenge the common tropes associated with nonfiction, yet the application of fictional aspects to nonfiction subject matter is uncommon, even in the graphic novel form (Porat, 2015). However, the three books this article focuses on, "One Dead Spy, El Deafo," and "Drowned City," blur lines between genres by inviting questions about the factual nature of each book. Because of this, the authors value the questions and hesitations that come with the term "graphic nonfiction" (Mitchell, 2012). Through the analysis of the three comics, the authors conclude that the comics form is in a unique position, because of its multimodality, to consider history and factual representation through layers of narration (Chute, 2008). Aside from the form bringing interest (Chute, 2008; Porat, 2015), the medium recognizes and shows the difficulties, impossibilities, and fallacies that come from the concept of absolute truth (Hatfield, 2005; Mitchell, 2012). As a medium utilizing both visual and textual modes, nonfiction comics call attention to the "problematics of what we consider fact and fiction" (Chute, 2008, p. 459).