A comic strip may seem like an unusual way to chronicle the story of Hurricane Katrina, but one serial Web comic pushes the boundaries of the genre as a non-fiction account of five New Orleans residents.
“This is not a comic about superheroes. It’s not funny,” creator and illustrator Josh Neufeld said. “It’s about real people, real events.”
“A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge” has been published by “SMITH Magazine” since January 2007, and it can be found on the magazine’s Web site at Smithmag.net/afterthedeluge.
Along with the traditional illustrated panels, the site has podcasts of interviews with the characters, links to real-life videos and an often-updated blog.
“‘A.D.’ kind of takes [the Web comic genre] to a new level with the links and the audio and video component,” Neufeld said. He said the main benefit of the Web format is “instant gratification.”
With a printed comic book, it can take months and months before Neufeld receives any feedback on his work, he said. The Web comic site allows readers to comment on each new chapter in A.D. under usernames.
In the first chapter, a commenter by the username Cade Roux said on the message board, “NO ONE was thinking about the storm coming to New Orleans until Friday.”
Neufeld subsequently changed panels to maintain an accurate timeline.
“Everybody is your fact-checker, your bullshit detector,” Neufeld said, “You’re relying on the entire community as your research team.”
The creative process for A.D. started a year ago when Neufeld met Larry Smith, “SMITH Magazine” editor, at a party.
“I’d been looking for a way to do my experience with Katrina and he came up with the idea of telling the story through five people,” Neufeld said.
Those five people were discovered through “old-fashioned legwork,” according to the Web site. One character is Leo McGovern, editor of New Orleans music magazine “ANTIGRAVITY,” reader of Neufeld’s blog and his subsequent book “Katrina Came Calling.”
“He was perfect,” Neufeld said.
Other characters include the teenage son of a pastor from New Orleans East, an Iranian-born father of two and owner of a family-run supermarket, a French Quarter doctor and a sixth-generation New Orleanian poet and singer.
“I can definitely relate to some of the characters,” said Everett Baudean, sociology senior and New Orleans native.
University alumna Mindi Zachary Talley said she enjoys Denise, one of the characters.
“She seems like such a stark, honest individual who represents the opinion and mindset of many New Orleans residents and how they feel about their home and their heritage,” she said.
The individual accounts of the characters in “A.D.” bring a different aspect into the usual coverage of Katrina, Talley said.
“It’s very interesting to get the ‘un-cut’ story directly from the people involved,” Talley said. “It’s an accurate account of what happened. The story is compelling to me because it really happened to real people, right in my backyard. The characters’ actions and emotions are real and not fictitious.”
Courtney Morgan, graphic design and studio art senior who is also from the New Orleans, said it’s nice to see it from a more realistic point of view.
“I can relate just by the sadness of what happened to our city. Not just the hurricanes, but the aftermath was maddening and upsetting.”
“A.D.” is updated monthly and will run for one full year. Neufeld also has plans to develop a print version of the comic.
—Contact Laura Walck at [email protected]