Press
Publisher's Weekly
6/1/2009
Starred Review
A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, Josh Neufeld.
Pantheon, $24.95 (208p) ISBN 978-0-307-37814-9
American
Splendor artist Neufeld beautifully depicts the lives of seven New Orleans
residents who survived Hurricane Katrina. In the dialogue-free opening chapter,
“The Storm,” Neufeld powerfully intersperses images of the hurricane
gathering speed with the cities it crippled when it hit Louisiana on August
29, 2005, specifically New Orleans and Biloxi, Miss. Readers are then introduced
to seven New Orleans residents, from all walks of life and parts of the city.
Denise and her family — mother Louise, niece Cydney and Cydney’s
daughter, R’nae — join thousands of hungry and thirsty New Orleanians
waiting to be evacuated after their apartment is destroyed. Leo, the publisher
of a local music zine, and Michelle, a waitress, reluctantly leave the city
for Houston and are devastated when their apartment (and Leo’s impressive
comics collection) is flooded. Other characters flee, or try unsuccessfully
to ride out the storm. Neufeld’s low-key art brings a deeply humanizing
element to the story. Though the devastation caused by the hurricane and the
government’s lackluster response are staggering, Neufeld expertly underscores
the resilience of the people who returned to rebuild their lives and their
city. (Aug.)