Comics + Law Project
Comic Arts and Public Service:
Tales from National and International Law
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William Aceves and James Cooper’s work explores the role that comic arts play in civic education and public policy. The Comics + Law Project began in 2008, when Professors Aceves and Cooper presented at the Comic Arts Conference at Comic-Con in San Diego. In their first presentation, they shared their vision concerning the use of the comic arts in public education and the promotion of public policy.
Their first article, The Orthodoxy of Format: Some Sketches on Legal Scholarship, used a comic arts format to examine the state of legal scholarship in the United States. Their second article, The Life Cycle of Immigration: A Tale of Two Migrants, focused on the challenges of migration.
Aceves and Cooper are proud to return to the Comic Arts Conference at Comic-Con after several years to explore how the field has changed and how the use of comic arts in public education and public policy has proliferated. Law can be made more accessible by utilizing elements of popular culture, including the comic arts. The law should meet people where they are. Access to justice first requires access to knowledge, and law should be for everyone.
The following selected bibliography highlights some examples of publications that use comic arts to examine important matters of law and public policy. It surveys four subjects: technology & intellectual property, legal reform, human rights & civil rights, and climate change & climate refugees. Of course, there are many more. (Click here for our poster!)
Selected Bibliography
Technology & Intellectual Property
German Luna et al., Copyright (2001)
Ctr. Urb. Env't Reform, What is the Freedom of Information Act or FOIA?! (2018)
James Boyle & Jennifer Jenkins, Theft! A History of Music (2017)
Robert Sikoryak, Terms and Conditions (2017)
Kelly Weinersmith & Zach Weinersmith, Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve and/or Ruin Everything (2017)
Mairghread Scott & Jacob Chabot, Science Comics: Robots and Drones: Past, Present, and Future (2018)
Farid Haque & Clint Watts, Resilience Series: Real Fake, Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Sec. Agency
Farid Haque & Clint Watts, Resilience Series: Bug Bytes, Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Sec. Agency
Jean J. Ryoo & Jane Margolis, Power On! (2022)
Keith Aoki, James Boyle & Jennifer Jenkins, Bound by Law?: Tales from the Public Domain (2008)
Legal Reform
Jeffrey Wilson & Bambi Kramer, We Live Here: Detroit Eviction Defense and the Battle for Housing Justice (2024)
Tommie Smith, Derrick Barnes & Dawud Anyabwile, Victory. Stand! Raising My Fist For Justice (2022)
The Real Cost of Prisons Comix (Lois Ahrens ed., 2008)
Sabrina Jones & Marc Mauer, Race to Incarcerate (2013)
Harvey Pekar, Students for a Democratic Society (Paul Buhle ed., 2008)
Tony Medina, I Am Alfonso Jones (2017)
Eddie Ahn, Advocate (2024)
Comics For Choice (Hazel Newlevant & Whit Taylor eds., 2018)
Mikki Kendall, Amazons, Abolitionists, And Activists: A Graphic History of Women’s Fights for Their Rights (2019)
Ctr. for Cartoon Ed., Health And Wealth (2021)
Daniel G. Newman, Unrig: How to Fix Our Broken Democracy (2020)
Jonathan Gruber, Health Care Reform: What It Is, Why It’s Necessary, How It Works (2011)
Human Rights & Civil Rights
Don Brown, The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees (2018)
Amnesty International, We Are All Born Free (2008)
Archie Bongiovanni & A. Andrews, The Stonewall Riots: Making A Stand for LGBTQ Rights (2022)
David F. Walker, The Black Panther Party (2021)
Tracey Baptiste & Shauna J. Grant, Rosa Parks & Claudette Colvin: Civil Rights Heroes (2023)
Connie C. Miller, Mother Jones: Labor Leader (2007)
Bentley Boyd, The Civil Rights Freedom Train (2005)
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, Finding Your Voice (2019)
John Lewis & Andrew Aydin, March: Book One (2013)
John Lewis & Andrew Aydin, March: Book Two (2015)
John Lewis & Andrew Aydin, March: Book Three (2016)
Francisco Jimenez, The Circuit (2024)
Jon Sack, La Lucha: The Story of Lucha Castro and Human Rights in Mexico (Adam Shapiro ed., 2015)
Brian K. Mitchell, Barrington S. Edwards & Nick Weldon, Monumental: Oscar Dunn and His Radical Fight in Reconstruction Louisiana (2021)
Julio Anta, Home (2021)
Ernesto Saade, Just Another Story (2024)
Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story, Fellowship Of Reconciliation (1957)
Eoin Colfer & Andrew Donkin, Illegal (2018)
George Takei, Justin Eisinger & Steven Scott, They Called Us Enemy (2019)
Art Spiegelman, Maus: A Survivor’s Tale (1986)
Climate Change & Climate Refugees
Sophie Yanow, What Is A Glacier? (2017)
Christin Pierre, The City of Shifting Waters (2010)
Charlie Lagreca & Rebecca Bratspies, Ctr. Urb. Env't Reform, Mayah’s Lot (2015)
Eoin Colfer & Andrew Donkin, Global: One Fragile Word, An Epic Fight for Survival (2023)
Kate Beaton, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands (2022)
Anna M. Cervantes, From Our Land Called Home, Agam Agenda (2023)
Anna Suanco, Unos, Agam Agenda (2023)
Josh Paradeza, Pula, Agam Agenda (2023)
Cormac McCarthy, The Road (2024)
Jean-Marc Jancovici & Christophe Blain, World Without End (2024)
Mk Reed, Science Comics: Wild Weather, Storms, Meteorology, and Climate (2019)
Christina Hill, Climate Migrants (2024)
Audrey Quinn, Syria’s Climate Conflict, Years Of Living Dangerously (May 26, 2014)
Yoram Bauman & Grady Klein, The Cartoon Introduction to Climate Change (2022)
Philippe Squarzoni, Climate Changed: A Personal Journey Through the Science (2014)