Joe Sacco
Joe Sacco
Joe Saccois a Maltese-American cartoonist and journalist. He is best known for his comics journalism, in particular in the books Palestineand Footnotes in Gaza, on Israeli–Palestinian relations; and Safe Area Goraždeand The Fixeron the Bosnian War...
ProfessionJournalist
Date of Birth2 October 1960
close damn interview people power seldom surprised
I will interview bigwigs if I get the chance, but you are seldom surprised by people in power - you've got to get awfully damn close to get anything new.
became clear push toward
It became clear to me that I had to push it toward a more representational way of drawing.
advantage comic depict hard journalism
For me, one advantage of comic journalism is that I can depict the past, which is hard to do if you're a photographer or filmmaker.
journalist kinds lots people primary spends stories time
I think any journalist who spends time in a place realizes that there are lots of stories around beyond their primary story. You meet so many interesting people and have all kinds of experiences.
matter robert subject
Robert Crumb is an influence on how I draw, but not on the subject matter I take or my approach. One thing I do like about Crumb is that he's chronicled his age, his times, and I think that is what artists should do.
I'd much rather hang out in a cafe. That's where things are really happening.
generally good
I think I'm generally a good listener anyway.
became clicked later searching
When I was there, something clicked in my head; I found myself interviewing people, searching out facts and figures. Later on I became much more self-conscious of what I was doing.
advantage asking learned people talk
What I've learned is that people like to talk about themselves. And that's kind of the advantage you have when you're asking people questions.
amount apparent bosnia side spent time
There's probably one more story about Bosnia that I'd like to do, because I spent a fair amount of time on the Serb side of the lines, which isn't apparent in the other books.
comics format information solid
With comics you can put interesting and solid information in a format that's pretty palatable.
When I went to Bosnia, I was there to tell someone else's story and I was more methodical.
admired george hunter michael orwell others people whose work
The people whose work I've admired are people like George Orwell and others like Michael Herr and, of course, some of Hunter S. Thompson's work.
drawn
Of course, I'm drawn to a place like Iraq because It's the biggest story of our generation.