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Joe Sacco

ジョー・サッコ

Joe Sacco

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1960-10-02 （Kirkop, Crown Colony of Malta）
Nationality
Maltese, American
Languages
English
Religion
Roman Catholic (background)
Residence History
Melbourne, Australia (childhood) → Los Angeles, United States (moved 1972) → Portland, Oregon, United States (residence)

Career

Occupations
cartoonist, journalist, author
Active Years
1981-
Influenced By
Writers of New Journalism, Harvey Pekar (collaborator/influence)
Influenced
Later practitioners of comics journalism, Non-fiction graphic novelists influenced by his reportage approach
Nominations
Harvey Award nominations (2001), Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist (2009)

Education

Sunset High School (Beaverton, Oregon)
School newspaper / journalism
Degree: High School Diploma
Period: 1974–1978
Year of Graduation: 1978
Country: United States
Worked on the school newspaper; early journalism experience
University of Oregon
School of Journalism
Degree: BA（ジャーナリズム）
Period: 1978–1981
Year of Graduation: 1981
Country: United States
Completed BA in three years

Awards

American Book Award
1996
Work: Palestine
Organization: Before Columbus Foundation (award)
Result: 受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship
2001
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: 受賞
Eisner Award (Best Original Graphic Novel)
2001
Work: Safe Area Goražde
Category: Best Original Graphic Novel
Organization: Comic industry awards (Eisner Awards)
Result: 受賞
Time magazine Best Comic of 2000
2000
Work: Safe Area Goražde
Organization: Time magazine
Result: 選出
Ridenhour Book Prize
2010
Work: Footnotes in Gaza
Organization: Ridenhour Prize organization
Result: 受賞
Oregon Book Award
2012
Work: Footnotes in Gaza
Organization: Oregon Book Awards
Result: 受賞
Firecracker Alternative Book Award (Outstanding Graphic Novel)
2002
Work: Palestine
Organization: Firecracker Alternative Book Awards
Result: 受賞
Doctor of Literature (Honoris Causa)
2023
Organization: University of Malta
Result: 学位授与

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Palestine

2001 Comics journalism / Non-fiction comics

A long-form documentary comic based on testimonies from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Compiled from extended field research in the early 1990s, it is a landmark work of comics journalism.

occupationoral testimonyhistory and memory

Safe Area Goražde

2000 Comics journalism / war reportage

Collects testimonies from the Goražde area during the Bosnian War, depicting the realities and impacts of conflict based on on-the-ground reporting.

warethnic conflictsurvival and humanity

The Fixer: A Story from Sarajevo

2003 Comics journalism / reportage

A reportage comic focusing on events in Sarajevo, drawing on fieldwork to portray people's lives and the complexities of conflict.

effects of wardaily life amid violence

Footnotes in Gaza

2009 Comics journalism / historical investigation

An investigative long-form comic that examines two massacres in Gaza in 1956, painstakingly tracing witnesses and sources to address memory and forgotten history.

war crimeshistorical inquirytestimony

Paying the Land

2020 Comics journalism / environment and Indigenous issues

Documentary comic reporting from Northwest Canada among the Dene community, exploring climate change and the effects of colonialism and residential schools on Indigenous peoples.

climate changeIndigenous rightscolonialism

War on Gaza

2024 Comics journalism

A 2024 reportage comic documenting recent conflict in Gaza and its impact on civilians, based on field reporting.

contemporary warfarehumanitarian issues

The Once and Future Riot

2025 Comics journalism / essayistic

A 2025 release with essayistic elements; details are limited and should be updated as more information becomes available.

social movementshistorical reflection

Bibliography

  • Yahoo (1988–1992)
  • Palestine (1993–2001 collected)
  • War Junkie (1997)
  • Safe Area Goražde (2000)
  • The Fixer (2003)
  • Notes from a Defeatist (2003)
  • War's End (2005)
  • Footnotes in Gaza (2009)
  • Journalism (2012)
  • The Great War: July 1, 1916 (2013)
  • Bumf Vol.1 (2014)
  • Paying the Land (2020)
  • War on Gaza (2024)
  • The Once and Future Riot (2025)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Rigorous investigative reporting combined with comics formDocumentary approach privileging on-site testimony
Recurring Motifs
war and occupationtestimony and memoryreporting and ethics

Legacy

Joe Sacco is regarded as a pioneer of comics journalism. His practice of intensive field reporting rendered through graphic narrative has influenced many creators and scholars, and established a model for visual investigative reporting on war, occupation, and social injustice.

Quotes

  • I do comics, not graphic novels.
    Source: The Guardian (interview) (2003)
  • I couldn't find a job writing very hard-hitting, interesting pieces.
    Source: Interview (reminiscence about university years) (2006)

Trivia

  • Moved with his family from Malta to Melbourne at age one, later relocating to the United States in 1972.
  • Created a Maltese-language romance comic Imħabba Vera, considered among the first art-comics in Maltese.
  • Founded a satirical alternative comics magazine, Portland Permanent Press, in Portland.
  • Known for intensive field reporting in comics form and recipient of multiple literary and book awards.