**Editor's note: All images belong to respective copyright holders. Some images have been manipulated to improve presentation quality and remove grain**
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Reporters.
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Regardless of your feelings about the news in general, reporters are, and always have been, eyewitnesses to the world around us. If it wasn’t for reporters, we wouldn’t have been witness to the greatest heights and lowest depths of the human experience - from firsthand accounts of the Hindenburg crash to the rescue of Baby Jessica from the well. Reporters come in all shapes and sizes, covering all aspects of life, and although they are guided by the principle of only reporting on stories, sometimes they become entangled in the stories they report.
Reporters, and to a greater extent, news outlets in general have always been viewed with skepticism from various groups at various times and have become increasingly polarized over the past decade (either actual or perceived). However, there are reporters who continue to pursue the truth, no matter where it leads, and often at great personal peril.
This time around on the Graphic Reader, we’re talking about those that report the news in their worlds - from the glamorous to the mundane, the near-sacred to the profane. These people choose to put their safety in question to get the facts of the matter. In fact, there have been reporter characters have had such an impact on pop culture, they redefined what could be.
Examples include the late Raymond Burr, who famously played a reporter character for the English version of Godzilla, and in the process, created a whole new movie archetype in Japanese cinema.
Dale (Dalia) Messick fought tooth and nail to get her reporter, Brenda Starr, into newspaper strips in the 1940s. Not only did she succeed (albeit two years after her boss, who absolutely refused to print her comics, died), but the series ran for 70 years, and was one of the catalysts of the feminist movement, helping prove that women could be just as successful.​
2025 sees the introduction into the Public Domain of Hergé’s Tintin, who began his storied career as a reporter, before morphing into an adventurer. Hergé himself was a fascinating character and deserves a deep dive into his life, but that’s outside the scope of today’s discussion.
Two of the most famous reporters in the world work for The Daily Planet - that storied and award-winning newspaper out of Metropolis. Known the world over as Clark Kent and Lois Lane, paragons of Truth, Justice, and the American Way.
These characters are or were all upstanding and noble characters - developed to display the no-nonsense, get the story, save the innocent, and make sure the facts stand to ensure justice happens.
But what about other reporters? Those that worked on the fringe, or became a threat to the reigning authorities, or became the story they were trying to tell? Reporters who challenged what we assumed to be “the truth”, only to discover that facts are indeed much more controversial than any truth one could create?
To select which books with reporters to cover was a difficult choice, as there are so many good examples, but I managed to narrow it down to five. These five books are Incognegro by Mat Johnson, Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson, Kolchak the Night Stalker, originally created by Jeff Rice, Palestine by Joe Sacco, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, originally by Hunter S. Thompson.
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Kolchak The Night Stalker by Rice, Purcell, Pallot, Wolak & Groszewski
Kolchak started out as an unpublished novel by Jeff Rice, detailing a seasoned reporter who does what most other reporters won't - namely, follow the clues wherever they go, no matter how outrageous or improbable. Adapted into a television movie starring the late Darren McGavin (the old man from A Christmas Story) as Carl Kolchak, who ends up tracking down a vampire that is running rampant through the city. No matter how hard he tries to get law enforcement and the local government to understand what is going on, the undead threat continues to rack up kills until a major confrontation removes any doubt from those who were present.
And, following in the footsteps of such leaders as the Mayor of Amity Island, local government shuts it all down, demanding Kolchak never reveal what actually happened, as it might be bad for business. The series never really stood a chance on television (even though it spawned two TV movies, and a short lived live action series), as it was considered too silly. It did however, find a much needed second life in comics and books.
Even though it may not have been successful originally, Kolchak is considered by many to be a highly influential character. Chris Carter, creator of the 90s The X-Files, has cited repeatedly the massive influence Kolchak the Night Stalker had on his development of the series. There are also heavy nods to Kolchak in Supernatural and similar series.
Kolchak: The Night Stalker
Created and Adapted by: Jeff Rice
Illustrated by: Gordon Purcell and Terry Pallot
Colored by: Ken Wolak & Dawn Groszewski
Published by: Moonstone Comics
ISBN #: 978-0-9710-1293-6
Originally Published: 2002
$5.50
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******
​ Some reporters just seem to have a knack for finding those niche stories that end up defining their careers forever. Woodward and Bernstein became forever associated with government malfeasance in the wake of the Watergate Scandal, while tabloids like the Weekly World News seemed (on the surface) to be patently absurd.
For Carl Kolchak, many of the articles that were found in such supermarket tabloids were not just stories to amuse someone standing in line, they were his bread and butter, his entire purpose of journalism. People may laugh at the thought of Bigfoot running around, causing mischief in the Pacific Northwest, but Kolchak was probably the one that got him out of the urban areas - not only to protect civilians, but also to make sure the creature wouldn't hurt itself.
Now, that's not to say that Kolchak is a bleeding heart, must save the creature from humanity sort of reporter. Kolchak is often considered a hack and a nuisance by local law enforcement and government officials, while his editors often can't believe what he writes about. Because of this, Kolchak tends to lead an itinerant lifestyle, traveling from city to city, only to be chased off or threatened with jail if he ever reveals the evidence behind his stories - After all, what kind of mayor would be willing to admit their city has a vampire problem?​
Excerpt from Kolchak The Night Stalker
As for this book, if you are familiar with Darren McGavin, you can hear him speaking when Kolchak is providing exposition. His no-nonsense delivery outlining events much like he is discussing budget fights or international news. The artwork is lovingly rendered as well, with just enough hinting at luridness without actually crossing that line. Kolchak is one of those reporters that doesn't go looking to make news, but that doesn't mean he won't get his hands dirty if he has to.
Incognegro
Written by: Mat Johnson
Illustrated by: Warren Pleece
Published by: Vertigo (DC)
ISBN#: 1-4012-1097-X
Originally published: 2008
$19.99
******
In the 1930s, being black, especially in the South, was often an invitation to a death sentence. However, Zane Pinchback, a light-skinned black reporter makes his living going undercover and exposing lynchings through his black-run newspaper. It's dangerous work, and Zane is constantly on the verge of running afoul of people that would like nothing more than to see him hang from the limb of an oak tree.
On the verge of retirement, Zane has to travel back into the proverbial lion’s den in an attempt to prove his brother’s innocence in the brutal slaying of a white woman in Mississippi.
Joined by a friend who thinks Zane's exploits are a blueprint to international fame, Zane will have to not only try to save his brother, but find out what prompted his brother to risk his life, uncover a secret that someone would be willing to kill for, and out-wit and out-maneuver a Grand Wizard who has a personal vendetta against Zane and will not stop until Zane is humiliated, debased, and killed in the most degrading and debased ways possible.
Incognegro is one of those books that is a tough read, and incredibly thought-provoking. The writing is top-notch, and the artwork is expressive, yet jarring - this story does not pull any punches. The first page highlights the lynching of a black man (while the event depicted is fictional, the events presented are all based on factual events) which is extremely disturbing. There is a lot of violence throughout, the language is coarse, and the use of the ‘N’ word at times rivals that of a late 90s gangsta rapper. The artwork is simplistic, but that only serves to further drive home the horrors of racism and hatred that were so prevalent at that time. Every so often, a book comes along that forces a good long hard look at our history and what can (and sometimes still does) happen.
While this may not have the historical prominence and ideological cache of Art Spiegelman's Maus, this is still a tour-de-force of reckoning that needs more respect, notice, and space. Zane Pinchback is the kind of reporter who has no choice but to become part of the story to tell the story, no matter the cost.
Issues like this have long plagued humanity, and while the hope is always that stories like this will eventually be viewed as antiquated and from a less enlightened time. However, it seems like any time we reach a point where it might actually come true, there seems to be a massive step backwards that amplifies and exacerbates the situation.
Transmetropolitan
Written by: Warren Ellis
Illustrated by: Darick Robertson
Published by: Helix, Vertigo (DC)
ISBN#: 978-1-4012-2084-6 (Book 1)
Originally published: 2009
$14.99
******
Classified as a cyberpunk transhumanist series, Transmetropolitan is one of those series that absolutely must be read to be believed. Set in a future (never specified but implied to be the 23rd century) that feels like a hyperbolic caricature of life at the turn of the century. Retired journalist, misanthrope, and all-around despicable human being Spider Jerusalem is forced out of retirement at the behest of his publisher, whom Spider still owes two books to.
Set in a dystopian future (that seems to share a lot of cultural concepts as Mike Judge's Idiocracy) that proves the rich can do what they please while the less fortunate are left to scrabble and scrape for another day. Sex does not just sell here, it is omnipresent and almost blasé in its execution.
However, to Spider, nothing is sacred - not religion, not politics, not even the use of highly illicit and dangerous hard drugs that should only be whispered about in private. For Spider, the only thing that matters is the truth, no matter how ugly, inbred, or debauched it may be. The future may be looking down the barrel of eminent destruction, but if there's anyone that stands any chance of saving it, it's Spider Jerusalem. He knows it, and he hates you all for putting him in that position in the first place.
Coming down form his mountain retreat, Spider ingratiates into the reluctant graces of his old editor at a local paper and sets out to develop stories about the city - the disenfranchised, the downtrodden, the exploited all become fodder for his stories, even though he exploits them himself. The first book is more individual stories about different ‘factions’ within the city, or Jerusalem’s day-to-day experiences reintegrating into a full-tilt, psychotic, manic fever dream of excess.
Early subjects focus on transhumanism (a thinly veiled allegory for transgenderism), commercialized evangelicalism and its inverse - evangelical commercialism, fanatical revenge, mockery of the police state, and stabs at politicians overlay an incessant backdrop of sex, drugs, and existential dread.
I know that I’ve talked about Transmetropolitan and Ellis before (several times, in fact), but this is a series that I revisit every year or so, and I am always shocked at how relevant the stories remain - especially considering these stories were originally written almost two decades ago. It reveals that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Granted, most journalists aren’t going to bust into a dive bar, start shooting up the place, and expect subjects to be willing to talk to them (granted, Jerusalem doesn’t necessarily want to talk to them either, but his books won’t write themselves), but he does manage to embody the spirit of journalists the world over - the ability to speak truth to power - even if it is from the business end of a bowel disruptor.
For being someone who technically won't be born for another century or so, Spider genuinely feels like an old-school beat reporter that is sick of all the new-fangled methods of information delivery, and he's not going to take it laying down. Now granted, his style of getting the story quite often zig-zags back and forth over, under, around, and through the line between "probing questions" and "assault with a deadly weapon", with many interactions blending the two together in a cacophony of tortured screams, demands to know, and the unmistakable sounds of a digestive system engaged in nuclear war with itself.
Ellis has a way with language that may offend you deeply, but it still speaks directly to the heart, regardless of subject, and Robertson’s artwork is so well rendered, you can spend hours examining his spreads for in-jokes, cameos, and puerile humor. As such, this is not a series for the faint hearted, weak of stomach, or sensitive of mores. I would also recommend children, nursing mothers, and the elderly should also steer clear (at least per The Graphic Reader's [non-existent] legal department).
If Spider feels familiar, that’s because he’s heavily modeled after real-life gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, who was famous not only for inserting himself into his stories but also for his prodigious and excessive use of recreational drugs and alcohol (which coincidentally is a good segue into the next title)
Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Written by: Hunter S. Thompson
Adapted and Illustrated by: Troy Little
Published by: Top Shelf Productions
ISBN: 978-1-6030-9375-0
Original Price: $19.95
******
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In the annals of news reporting, there have been plenty of reporters that have inserted themselves into precarious situations in order to get a better understanding of what they're reporting on. Most of them end up becoming entwined with the story, and for better or worse, altering the original intent.
There have been very few that can imbed themselves in a story and tell it as straight down the line as possible. Ego, hubris, and fame will invariably cause a reporter to take some sort of artistic license.
However, there has only ever been one reporter that has had the willpower and sheer nerve to "spit in god's eye" and make himself the focus of the story he is reporting without feeling trite. I am speaking of course of the late Hunter S. Thompson.
Thompson was an iconoclast of the highest order - a gun-toting, booze swilling, swaggering entity that was so full of himself that he really had no choice but to become a reporter. Known for two things:
outlandish stories that seemed like fever dreams, and a fierce determination to shove a metaphorical middle finger in every orifice of the American psyche.
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, ostensibly his most famous work, is retold here, word for word (minus an aside or two that would interrupt the flow of the story) from what was originally published in Rolling Stone magazine. Traveling to Las Vegas to cover a desert motorcycle race, Thompson, using the nom de guerre Raul Duke is joined by his friend and attorney Dr. Gonzo. In the lead-up to their trip, Duke has purchased an entire trunk full of narcotics and the two proceed to drag the reader kicking and screaming into a drug fueled journey through early 70s Las Vegas completely crocked and full of mischief.
Now granted, this is probably one of the worst summaries of this book to ever grace a computer screen, but with this book, you have two choices when it comes to describing the contents - a bare-bones, surface scrape that hopefully entices more than it terrifies, or an all-consuming deep dive into the maddeningly genius storytelling of Thompson.
Now, I'm not going to try and defend Thompson here. The man was truly a horrible bastard who was interested in showcasing the decay and disillusionment of the hopefulness of the 60s. Constantly convinced of his own greatness, Thompson wrote much about what his interpretation of society was (through the lenses of copious alcohol and drug use), and how the world was failing the sensibilities of those who wanted better. This adaptation is a faithful adaptation of the original book. In an interview, Little stated explicitly that the dialog is taken word for word from the source material (minus some exposition and internal monologue that wouldn't translate well).
Speaking about Little's artwork, Don't let the image above fool you. While Duke may look like somebody's dad in the second panel, he is shown to be an absolute force of nature as the story continues. While Ralph Stedman is often thought of when Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is discussed, Little creates his own version of the characters that translates the excitement, menace, horror, and sense of despair that permeates this story. Of all the adaptations I've read of different IPs, this is one of those that first grabs you by the nuts, and then grabs you by the throat, leans in real close, and whispers, you're in for a ride, buttercup.
If you can survive this ride into the proverbial death of the American dream, you'll be forever changed. For better or for worse is up to you.
Well, here we are, at the end of another review session, a little worse for wear, a bit wiser, maybe a little more cynical.
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This review has taken me far longer to complete than I was wanting it to. There's been a lot of outside elements at play, and for a while there, I honestly just wanted to give up and quit all together. But telling you about comics and graphic novels is almost like therapy to me. So, I guess I'll keep doing it.
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Anyways, if you have something you would like me to review, or you have a theme you would like to see explored, drop me a line. So, until next time, thanks for reading!