"Total War"

In Gary Groth’s interview with Joe Sacco, Sacco states: “To me, with comics it’s up to the reader how long he or she wants to dwell on a particular image. A reader can make his or her experience either easier or more relentless in that way” (67). This statement reminded me of the first two pages of the section entitled “Total War.” In this section, pages 120-121, Sacco and Serif are shown a tape of the violence and destruction that was going on in Gorazde. The reader is not shown the tape but we are shown their reactions. The man showing them the tape is urging them to continue watching with an almost perverse interest or joy, exclaiming “YOU MUST SEE THIS! LOOK! LOOK! YOU MUST LOOK!” (120) The lettering is capitalized and gets increasingly thicker and bolder as the scene continues for emphasis. Sacco and Serif have looks of horror on their faces, yet they continue to watch. Serif partially covers one eye in panel 120.2, but still peeks through her fingers. In the next panel, 120.3, she completely covers her eyes and in panel 121.1 she looks the other way. She clearly cannot tolerate the atrocities she is witnessing and proceeds, in panel 121.2, to cover her face with both hands. However, after being subjected to the video for “an hour and a half” (121.3) there is a certain degree of acclimation to the violence they are witnessing and Serif is again watching the tape. Despite her initial uneasiness she offers to buy the tape, knowing it will be compelling news. The most interesting part of this scene for me is the last panel on page 121. An agitated Serif is walking away with Sacco, arms folded, and the text reads, “and only when we’d finally forced our way out the door and into the outside chill did he name his price—a figure so outrageous that it seemed to disgust Serif as much as all those full-color images of the dismembered and the disemboweled” (121.6). In a way this suggests another level to the horror of the war, that of both civilians and journalists trying to capitalize on the atrocities of the war.

Going back to the Sacco quote, comics journalism is unique in that it allows for the reader to choose the extent to which “he or she wants to dwell on a particular image,” almost shaping the news in a way because a certain amount of control is then placed in the hands of the reader. In this way the reader is allowed to shape the news for themselves by filtering the images to “make his or her experience either easier or more relentless.” The “Total War” section discussed above illustrates the viewer (Serif), in this case taking the role of reader in the Sacco quote, controlling how much she sees by covering her eyes and thus censoring her experience.