There are all kinds of journalistic storytelling styles, starting with your basic who/what/when/where and why.

There is also “if it bleeds, it leads.”

And let’s not forget the “New Journalism” class of the 1960s and ‘70s, exemplified by everyone from Tom Wolfe to Truman Capote it used dramatic literary techniques to add depth to the reader’s involvement.

These days, some bloggers and tweeters have taken short-form journalism to new highs—and lows.

But how many people think of comic book and graphic novel creators as part of journalism? I see a few hands raised, but not nearly enough.

I would suggest to you that a wave of artist and writers who once would have been relegated to the comic book ghetto are creating compelling journalism in hand-drawn pictures these days. A recent guest on this show, Brendan Burford (Syncopated), publishes a series of what he calls “nonfiction picto-essays”—essentially journalism in sequential art.

The latest example I can recommend to you is Josh Neufeld’s new book, A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge. It’s the story of a handful of very different residents of the Crescent City in the days leading up to and the months following the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Reading it, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you’ll come away with an informed perspective about the lives of average Americans dealing with extraordinary challenges.

You can LISTEN to this interview with A.D.: NEW ORLEANS AFTER THE DELUGE graphic novelist JOSH NEUFELD by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player above!

Copyright 2009 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!