Sister Helen Prejean's bestselling memoir, Dead Man Walking, becomes a graphic masterpiece with a script by Rose Vines, who's worked closely with Prejean since 2002, and superb illustrations by award-winning Swedish Kenyan artist Catherine Anyango Grünewald. In the appended timeline that highlights relevant events since the memoir's 1993 publication, the penultimate entry marks Donald Trump's November 2024 promise of "dramatically expanding the use of the death penalty." That threat underscores the gravity of introducing Prejean's classic to new generations.
As a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of New Orleans, Prejean initially reluctantly "assented" to the 1980s "reform movement sweeping the Catholic Church that harnessed religious faith to social justice." When asked, she agreed to write to a death-row inmate as part of her newfound commitment to act against systemic injustice. The resulting transformative relationship with convicted rapist/murderer Elmo Patrick Sonnier ignited her lifelong activism against the death penalty. Without ever minimizing heinous crimes, Prejean recognizes and respects individual humanity, exposing the inhumanity of legalized execution.
Grünewald's remarkable visual adaptation incorporates complicated layers of morality, race, socioeconomics, and legal failures faced by prisoners, staff, victims' survivors, supporters, detractors. She brilliantly captures Prejean's complex internal struggles. Grünewald line draws in grayscale, with colorful splashes and shading for highlights and emphasis; rare but glorious are the full-color panels and pages. A dual chorus comprised of a challenging ant ("Is this an evisceration of the Eighth Amendment?") and knowing owl ("So it would seem") adds pithy commentary. In its artfully potent incarnation, this profound accomplishment deserves significant readership. --Terry Hong