The Warren Commission Report

Starred review from February 23, 2015
The details of JFK's shattering assassination in November 1963 have been scrutinized in microscopic detail over the half-century that followed. In the immediate wake of the president's murder, President Johnson appointed the seven-member Warren Commission to investigate the shooting, a 10-month inquiry that yielded an official report stating that there was "no credible evidence" to contradict the idea that Lee Harvey Oswald acted as a lone gunman. The commission's findings are a Gordian knot of sometimes contradictory information that have stoked the fires of conspiracy theorists worldwide, and making a coherent path through that labyrinth is no simple feat for the casual observer. Mishkin, Colón, and Drozd have miraculously made the document accessible, concisely reconstructing the events, eyewitness statements, and a plethora of data with crisp visuals that approximate the flow of a top-notch documentary. A concise primer for one of the 20th century's most indelible tragedies, this book is an effort worthy of consideration when awards season looms.

August 1, 2014

The 1964 Warren Commission report on President John F. Kennedy's assassination set few minds to rest and energized conspiracy buffs worldwide. Rather than being an adaptation of the actual document, this "graphic investigation" describes the report's findings and shortcomings, reviews other theories in historical context, and summarizes evidence for and against different conclusions. Mishkin (Dungeons & Dragons, numerous DC titles) has gone deep and wide in gathering background. Colon (The 9/11 Report; The Great American Documents) and Drozd (comicsaregreat.com) bring a fine mix of graphic techniques to the complicated story. Their basic approach of photo-realist and clear line drawings is intercut with schematics, time lines, and other instructive visuals. In showing, for example, the chaos of Kennedy's hospital arrival, multiple text balloons providing testimony from witnesses float over the scene. In their effective use of coloring, a black-and-white Lee Harvey Oswald--the presumed killer, yet a "mystery man"--contrasts with overall subdued color broken by crimson-tinged violent moments. VERDICT Written for teens and adults, this dramatization of the murder mystery of the century integrates numerous narratives to make an excellent starting point for anyone interested in this American tragedy.--M.C.

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