In The Silence of Our Friends, Mark Long and Jim Demonakos team with Eisner Award-winning illustrator Nate Powell (Any Empire; Swallow Me Whole) to bring readers a story of friendship and integrity set against the backdrop of the civil rights movement.
Houston, 1967: white TV journalist Jack Long strikes up an uneasy friendship with black professor and civil rights advocate Larry Thompson, even though doing so could endanger both men and their families. Jack sympathizes deeply with Larry's cause, but his boss does not. With a wife and three children, including a blind daughter, Jack might invite the Thompsons for dinner, but he can't afford to follow his conscience on the job. When a riot breaks out at historically black Texas Southern University, hundreds of students are arrested, five of them accused of killing a police officer. Only Jack can provide the testimony proving their innocence, but first he must find the courage.
Nate Powell's signature use of contrast and shadow perfectly conveys each action and emotion in a story inspired by Mark Long's own childhood. Fearless in its depiction of racism, The Silence of Our Friends is both a tale of moral struggle with the fear inherent in standing up for an unpopular cause and an example of the graphic novel's literary capabilities. --Jaclyn Fulwood, graduate assistant, University of Oklahoma Libraries