Abrams ComicArts will publish Derf Backderf’s next graphic novel, The Dissidents, in September. The creator of My Friend Dahmer and Kent State said the new project is “a story about autocrats, vigilantes, communists…. and cartoonists.”
Set in the early 1900s, the graphic novel features an America that’s teetering on the edge of chaos under President Woodrow Wilson. Amid rising racism, economic inequality, labor unrest, political extremism and looming war, a group of real-life political cartoonists at The Masses, including Art Young, Boardman Robinson and Cornelia Barns, use their art to challenge corruption and defend free speech. When the government charges the artists with sedition for daring to document the truth, they face prison, exile and execution.
“It’s the era when modern comics are born,” Backderf said on BlueSky. “The daily comics page has just been invented, as have animated cartoons. Comics are suddenly everywhere and quickly become a national obsession. Renowned cartoonists are celebrities, on par with the first generation of film stars.”
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