This is not a manifesto

This visual feature presents graphic novel panels by Leela Corman, with an autobiography outlining her personal and political artistic development in New York City’s punk ethos of the 1980s and 1990s. Weaving in cultural touchstones in music, comics and popular culture throughout, she traces the emergence of her characters, plots and purpose. These are situated in early and mid-twentieth-century history, from wartime Poland to post-war New York City Ashkenazi Jewish life. Corman also describes technical details of research and studio processes, and ultimately makes the case for depicting unsettling, visceral moments of human and inhuman experiences.