Editor | Bob Cooper |
---|---|
Author | Joe Kubert |
Illustrator | Joe Kubert |
Cover artist | Joe Kubert |
Language | English |
Subject | Siege of Sarajevo, Bosnian War |
Genre | Comics, memoir |
Publisher | Dark Horse Comics |
Publication date | November 1996 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print, paperback |
Pages | 207 (hardcover) 224 (paperback) |
ISBN | 1-56971-346-4 |
Fax from Sarajevo: A Story of Survival is a nonfiction graphic novel by veteran American comic book artist Joe Kubert, published in 1996 by Dark Horse Comics.
The book originated as a series of faxes from European comics agent Ervin Rustemagić during the Serbian siege of Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Rustemagić and his family, whose home and possessions in the suburb of Dobrinja were destroyed, spent one-and-a-half years trapped in Sarajevo, communicating with the outside world via fax when they could.
Friend and client Kubert, the highly regarded artist of DC Comics' Sgt. Rock , Hawkman , and many other titles, was one recipient. Collaborating long-distance, they collected Rustemagić's account of life during wartime, with Kubert turning the raw faxes into a somber comics tale that won both of the comics industry's two major accolades, the Eisner Award and the Harvey Award.
Fax from Sarajevo was initially released as a 207-page hardcover book [1] and two years later as a 224-page trade paperback. [2]
The book is augmented with transcripts of the faxes sent by Rustemagić, as well those by his associates in the American and European comics industry. In addition, many photos of war-torn Sarajevo, taken by Karim Zaimović (who was later killed by a grenade) [3] are included in the book.
With the beginning of the Bosnian War in early 1992, Ervin Rustemagić, his wife Edina, and children Maja and Edvin have just returned to their home in the Sarajevo suburb of Ilidža after an extended trip to the Netherlands.
By April the city is under siege — the Serbs have closed the roads and are killing anyone who tries to escape the Sarajevo area. With he and his family spending every day terrified of the shelling, and often hiding in their basement to avoid the bombs, Rustemagić has to debate the safety of taking his son to the hospital to deal with his high fever.
Shortly thereafter, a Serbian tank rumbles through their neighborhood — Rustemagić's home and the SAF offices are destroyed. More than 14,000 pieces of original art were lost in the flames. Barely escaping with the clothes on their backs, Rustemagić and his family first find shelter in a half-destroyed building. The next day they find shelter in an apartment building in Dobrinja.
Over the months that follow the Rustemagićs are reduced to living in near-primitive conditions. Broken water pipes lead to days standing in line hoping to fill plastic jugs with water rations. Electricity and cooking fuel are scarce, and children scavenging for fuel are the targets of Serbian snipers (who are promised a cash bonus for every kill).
A Rustemagić family's friend escapes from a rape camp, making her way to the family's shelter to tell the horrors of her experience.
In June 1992, Ervin tries to gain permission to leave the country from the French consulate; each time he visits their offices he must drive a dangerous route from Dobrinja to Sarajevo in his Opel Kadett, protected from live fire only by metal plates attached to the car and piles of comic books, meant to absorb the force of a bullet.
Some months later, in October 1992, the family moves locations to the Sarajevo Holiday Inn, at that point mostly occupied by foreign journalists and constantly under fire.
Thanks to help from European publishers and artists, in late 1993 Rustemagić gains accreditation as a journalist, enabling him to escape Bosnia and Herzegovina. After more than a month fruitlessly attempting to get his family out of the country, he is given Slovenian citizenship, which immediately transfers to his family.
In September 1993, after a tense moment at the airport, Edina, Maja, and Edvin are allowed to fly out of Sarajevo. The entire family is reunited in Split, Croatia.
Fax From Sarajevo was named the best graphic novel of the year by The Washington Times . The book won the 1996 Don Thompson Award for Best Nonfiction Work. It won the 1997 Harvey Award for Best Graphic Album of Original Work, and the 1997 Eisner Award for Best New Graphic Album. It won two Le Prix France Awards: the 1998 Alph-Art Award for Best Foreign Book Published in France, [4] and the INFO Award for Best Non-Fiction Book Published in France. In addition, Fax From Sarajevo was nominated for the 1997 Firecracker Alternative Book Award. [5]
Sin City is a series of neo-noir comics by American comic book writer-artist Frank Miller. The first story originally appeared in Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special, and continued in Dark Horse Presents #51–62 from May 1991 to June 1992, under the title of Sin City, serialized in thirteen parts. Several other stories of variable lengths have followed. The intertwining stories, with frequently recurring characters, take place in Basin City.
Frank Miller is an American comic book artist, comic book writer, and screenwriter known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on Daredevil, for which he created the character Elektra, and subsequent Daredevil: Born Again, The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One, Sin City, and 300.
Jeremiah is a Belgian science fiction comic book series by Hermann Huppen. Jeremiah was created in 1979 for the German magazine Zack, and had a premiere in Sarajevo based Strip art magazine, since the editor of this magazine, Ervin Rustemagic, was also Hermann's manager. It has also been serialized in the French-language Métal Hurlant and Spirou magazine, as well as the Serbian magazines Stripoteka and Politikin Zabavnik. Currently, there are 40 volumes and one "Special Edition" in French and Dutch.
Bryan Talbot is a British comics artist and writer, best known as the creator of The Adventures of Luther Arkwright and its sequel Heart of Empire, as well as the Grandville series of books. He collaborated with his wife, Mary M. Talbot to produce Dotter of Her Father's Eyes, which won the 2012 Costa biography award.
Russell George Manning was an American comic book artist who created the series Magnus, Robot Fighter and illustrated such newspaper comic strips as Tarzan and Star Wars. He was inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2006.
The Tale of One Bad Rat is a 4-issue comic book limited series by Bryan Talbot. It was first published by Dark Horse Comics in 1994 and later brought out in a collected edition.
Joseph Kubert was a Polish-born American comic book artist, art teacher, and founder of The Kubert School. He is best known for his work on the DC Comics characters Sgt. Rock and Hawkman. He is also known for working on his own creations, such as Tor, Son of Sinbad, and the Viking Prince, and, with writer Robin Moore, the comic strip Tales of the Green Beret.
Johnny Mac Cassaday was an American comic book artist, writer, and television director. He was best known for his work on the critically acclaimed Planetary with writer Warren Ellis, where his art style conveyed a sense of realism despite that book's fantastical settings. He later works included Astonishing X-Men with Joss Whedon, Captain America with John Ney Rieber, and Star Wars with Jason Aaron.
Shannon Wheeler is an American cartoonist, best known as a cartoonist for The New Yorker and for creating the satirical superhero Too Much Coffee Man.
Edvin Biuković was a Croatian comics artist.
Strip Art Features (SAF) is a comic-book publishing house and rights agent currently based in Celje, Slovenia.
Ervin Rustemagić is a Bosnian comic book publisher, distributor, and rights agent, born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and currently based in Slovenia. He is the founder of Strip Art Features (SAF) in Sarajevo, as well as the magazine Strip Art of the former Yugoslavia. Rustemagić represents artists such as Hermann Huppen, Bane Kerac, and Joe Kubert.
Sarajevo Tango is an anti-war comic book/graphic novel by Hermann initially released in 1995. Sarajevo Tango is also the first of Hermann's big works done in direct color, and according to several critics, one of his finest.
Ian Edginton is a British comic book writer, known for his work on such titles as X-Force, Scarlet Traces, H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds and Leviathan.
Safe Area Goražde is a journalistic comic book about the Bosnian War, written and drawn by Joe Sacco. It was published in 2000.
The Fixer: A Story from Sarajevo is a nonfiction graphic novel on the Bosnian War, written and drawn by Joe Sacco. It tells the story of a Sarajevan man who, having lost everything else in the war, sells his services — and stories — to Western journalists. The Fixer was published in 2003.
Igor Kordej is a Croatian comic book artist, illustrator, graphic designer and scenographer of international reputation.
Steve Lieber is an American comic book illustrator known for his work on books such as Detective Comics and Hawkman, and the critically acclaimed miniseries Whiteout, which was adapted into a 2009 feature film starring Kate Beckinsale. His other works include the Eisner Award-winning sequel Whiteout: Melt, and the thrillers Shooters and Underground. With writer Nat Gertler, he co-authored The Complete Idiot's Guide to Creating a Graphic Novel.
Hellboy: Weird Tales is a Dark Horse Comics bimonthly eight-issue comic book limited series that offered a variety of guest writers and artists the chance to give their own take on the Hellboy characters created by Mike Mignola whilst he was in Prague working on the first Hellboy movie. The issues were published bi-monthly to alternate with a series of B.P.R.D. one-shots and were collected in two trade paperback volumes.
The Dark Horse Book of... was the banner title given to a series of four Dark Horse Comics one-shot hardcover comic book horror anthologies edited by Scott Allie and featuring the work of Mike Mignola and others. In 2017 Dark Horse collected all four volumes together in The Dark Horse Book of Horror.