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The Fixer: A Story from Sarajevo

Joe Sacco

3.87 · Rating details · 2,593 ratings · 140 reviews

When bombs are falling and western journalism is the only game left in town "fixers" are the people who sell war correspondents the human tragedy and moral outrage that makes news editors happy.

It's dangerous, a little amoral and a lot desperate.

Award-winning comix-journalist Joe Sacco goes behind the scene of war correspondence to reveal the anatomy of the big scoop. He ...more

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Hardcover, 105 pages

Published December 1st 2003 by Drawn and Quarterly (first published 2003)

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· 2,593 ratings · 140 reviews

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Nov 03, 2015 Pramod Nair rated it really liked it

Shelves: graphic-novel, non-fiction, war, journalism, sequential-art

“In Sarajevo the pieces are back in place too. Never mind there’s no work or money…”
the shops are open… the trams are running… the café’s are housing the idle & spewing a relentless Eurobeat…
And with every few steps one relentless Eurobeat drowns out another, but all the relentless Eurobeats cannot drown out the silence, which is the most relentless thing of all…

When Joe Sacco - the journalist & cartoonist who is regarded as the creator of the ‘War Correspondence Comics’ genre – visited ...more

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Jun 20, 2016 D. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: comics, nonfiction

An excellent expose of the Bosnian War told from the perspective of one of its most conflicted participants.

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Apr 05, 2018 Farhana rated it liked it

Shelves: graphic-books

The ending was not fulfilling - rather it was abrupt. I appreciate Joe Sacco's eccentric writing style. His work is sharp, clear-cut & straight forward as always. His raw black & white sketches with intrinsic details reflect the war-time mood so well. However, this piece of work is not anywhere near his "Palestine". Palestine's contents were far better, refined & Joe himself was very different in that piece of work.

In this book Joe takes us to the Bosnian war (1992-95) through the ...more

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Jan 06, 2008 Christopher rated it it was amazing

This is the story of Nevin, a former soldier who fought for one of the warlords active in Sarajevo in the 90's. The story bounces back between Nevin's war years, and what his life is like after the war. Killing, boozing, shooting pool and dying are pretty much par for the course. This story is much more personal than Sacco's work in "Palestine" but still manages to convey much of the social and political situation of the times.

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Feb 02, 2009 Sarah rated it really liked it

Wow the drawings in this book are amazing. So many tiny tiny lines.

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Oct 21, 2019 B. Gary Bruni rated it it was amazing

A real story with dirty people among houses and tragedy of the '90 war

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Apr 15, 2015 Kyle rated it really liked it

Joe Sacco is an enigma. He is unarguably a journalist, and a great one at that. Traveling to war zones and areas of turmoil to interview people and let them unspool their stories at a slow and even pace. But Sacco doesn't record them with a video camera or even photos he makes photo realistic pictures with just a twinge of Art Spiegelman's Raw in them, creating a sort of twisted reality that fits the usually horrific content of these people's stories.

And Fixer focuses only on a very small group ...more

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Mar 23, 2007 Aaron rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Comic journalism fans

A fixer, in the parlance of the international press, is a local who "fixes" visiting journos with access. He provides them with translation and access - sometimes directly to the front lines of battle. In this case, however, what he fixes Joe Sacco with is his own sad story, and story of the shattered lives of some other figures in the Balkan war. As is customary, he weaves multiple stories into the major story line of the book, but in this case he jumps back and forth continuously, making it ...more

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Dec 09, 2008 Kase! Wickman rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Claire Fox

Realistically drawn and truthfully told. I didn't think there could be a journalistic graphic novel until I read this, but the reporting is way better than some of the shit I've read in the Globe.

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Oct 14, 2008 Jason rated it really liked it

Shelves: for-teens, comics-and-graphic-novels, nonfiction

Joe Sacco playing at par. His method of presenting international events through individual perspectives is brilliant.

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Nov 22, 2018 Hamid rated it really liked it

Shelves: politics, non-fiction, adult-comics

3.5 stars

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Nov 17, 2019 Sonali Ekka rated it liked it

The Fixer is about Neven, a fixer from Sarajevo. Joe Sacco met him in his first trip to Sarajevo during the seige in the 90's. While the story is about Neven, it describes the situation in Sarajevo during the war.

So far, I had only heard of Sarajevo in the song "Bosnia" by the Cranberries, and I remember hearing about Bosnian war in the news when I was a child. I only knew that there was a war in Bosnia, why was it fought, who fought it and who won, were things that I never got to, or cared to The Fixer is about Neven, a fixer from Sarajevo. Joe Sacco met him in his first trip to Sarajevo during the seige in the 90's. While the story is about Neven, it describes the situation in Sarajevo during the war.

So far, I had only heard of Sarajevo in the song "Bosnia" by the Cranberries, and I remember hearing about Bosnian war in the news when I was a child. I only knew that there was a war in Bosnia, why was it fought, who fought it and who won, were things that I never got to, or cared to learn, because these were events in a country far away. And unlike the Middle Eastern conflict, European conflicts of the 90's were short-lived in global news.

And so, this novel answered all my questions (a quick Wikipedia reference of Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Sarajevo also helped!). The story jumps to and fro, it starts with the present when Sacco revisits Sarajevo in the 2000's and goes back in the 90's to when he first met Neven, to further back about Neven's alleged exploits in the war.

While Neven's own stories and claims are depicted to be doubtful because of his reputation, the major incidents, the 3 main paramilitary leaders who played key roles in the war, are accurate and help the reader get an idea of the situation in Sarajevo during the war. There are no right sides. Neven is a Serb who joins forces to fight the Serbs. He claims he's killed many people as a sniper. Others tell Sacco that Neven is bluffing. That many personal combats of his never even happened. Neven narrates "the true story" behind many major incidents which neither Sacco nor we have any way of cross-checking. By the end of the war, Neven as well as the 3 key leaders receive mixed responses. While "the war left behind Neven, instead of the other way around", the other 3 leaders meet different treatments from the government, some good, some bad.

Just like we are confused about the truth in Neven's stories, he and everyone who fought in the war are left confused about the purpose of the war: Who won? Who lost? Was it fair? Where do their loyalties eventually lie? Even the final death count is unclear. The only thing that is an obvious fact is that Sarajevo burned, it's citizens were trapped in their own city, evicted from their homes or killed inside.

The story is not very clear and concise. It runs as a narration by Sacco about what Neven told him. Maybe it is deliberate, to tell things straight from the horse's mouth and hence preserve the confusion in the mind of a fighter.

I also loved the visuals in this novel. Sacco's work is beautiful, it's dark and intricate. It clearly depicts the bloodshed, the filth, the cruelty, terror, pain and other emotions in people's faces. The 2 full pages showing Sacco entering Sarajevo during the war, against a backdrop of burning skyscrapers and an overcast sky (by clouds or smoke?) was the visual highlight of this book.

To summarize, I appreciate books like these which bring stories from underrepresented global events. ...more

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Aug 13, 2013 Elizabeth rated it really liked it

Shelves: history, setting-2000s, racism, misogyny, sex, politics, setting-1990s, american, comic-graphic-novel, class

More of a character study than a war investigation. Sacco almost relaxes into this microcosm as relief from the bigger picture he was faced with portraying in Safe Area Gorazde. Also, it further punctures, as so much of Sacco's work does, the idea of journalistic objectivity, and the story itself becomes about the people who bring you 'the story'. On one hand there's Joe, who looks like a bumbling and naive American reporter, and on the other hand there's Neven, a Bosnian ex-soldier who helps More of a character study than a war investigation. Sacco almost relaxes into this microcosm as relief from the bigger picture he was faced with portraying in Safe Area Gorazde. Also, it further punctures, as so much of Sacco's work does, the idea of journalistic objectivity, and the story itself becomes about the people who bring you 'the story'. On one hand there's Joe, who looks like a bumbling and naive American reporter, and on the other hand there's Neven, a Bosnian ex-soldier who helps reporters get to where the action is, a 'fixer'. The book is so unsettling because it is so intimate, the story focuses almost entirely on Joe and Neven as the only characters, with the political recent history given more for context of why these two people are in this place, and what different motivations are keeping them there. At times, it is very close to the bone and difficult to read, in places it is actually funny. At its heart though is the complex unwinding of the black and white ideas both people held going into the situation and how they increasingly see so much more division, ambiguity, and shades of grey.

Neven defends Sarajevo because he identifies as Sarajevan, although an ethnic Serb. He believes in what the city preserved before the war, a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, cultured urban Bosnia. Joe's experience of visiting Gorazde also meant his experiences were of the brutality of the Serb-led forces against those who identified as Bosnian. Yet as Neven tells of his experiences, and Joe gives the context of the wider actions of the supposed defending forces of Sarajevo, a picture emerges of ethnic, religious, regional, political and moral divisions that make up a much more complicated mosaic that you might expect. For example, Joe's wider history talks about the war crimes committed by Sarajevo defence forces against the ethnic Serbs who stayed in Sarajevo. But the more cutting and intimate reality comes from Neven, who has his commander tell him, that despite his voluntary military service, his bravery, sacrifice and the fact he is wounded in the line of duty, that he is still not trusted because he is ethnically Serb. In fact he tells Neven that he wants to discharge him because, whenever Neven is sent out on a mission, he 'costs' him two other men – one to shoot Neven if he should defect to the Serbian side, and one to watch Neven's back in case anyone in his own forces tried to shoot him simply for being an ethnic Serb. It is an incredible betrayal.

The friendship between Joe and Neven also starts out from a point of naivety, and grows into something more complicated. At first the relationship is defined by Joe's sense of bewilderment in Bosnia and reliance on his fixer to protect and guide him. He pays large quantities of money for this service. Neven is a larger-than-life figure with much bluster and bravado about his exploits during the war. But as the story progresses, the genuine friendship that develops between the two comes to influence this working relationship, so that Joe becomes slightly more cynical about Neven's stories and less willing to part with his cash. For Neven's part, his hard man exterior falters in places, and he reveals his doubts and uncertainties about his actions during the war, and his sense of fear for the future. He is the one who begins to look lost in the new Bosnia.

The end of the book finds them as two old friends, more comfortable than before but also more realistic about who the other person actually is, and it finds Sarajevo in a complicated peace. Neven is less blustering, willing to admit that his health and conscience have suffered because of the war, but hopeful. He tells a story about going through a court case to claim his inheritance and losing despite overwhelming evidence. He admits that his Serb ethnicity might be the reason he was denied his claim, but he refuses to believe it “because if it had something to do with me being Serb, what the hell was I fighting for?” The book ends, not on an image of Bosnia, or Joe and Neven, with all the corners filed off, not prettified, but an image that is complicated, complex, but nonetheless hopeful. A really good read. ...more

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Dec 23, 2014 Christina rated it liked it

Shelves: genre-nonfiction, source-library, format-comics, 2014-reads

During his coverage of the Bosnian genocide and the Balkan conflict, Sacco worked with a rather shady character known as a “fixer” – someone who can assist foreign journalists with gaining access to the frontlines of the conflict, the warlords and gangs running the countryside as the nation is torn apart, and victims to provide stories to color the news articles being written about the region.

Sacco’s “fixer”, known as Neveen, was a former solider involved in the conflict if not the genocide During his coverage of the Bosnian genocide and the Balkan conflict, Sacco worked with a rather shady character known as a “fixer” – someone who can assist foreign journalists with gaining access to the frontlines of the conflict, the warlords and gangs running the countryside as the nation is torn apart, and victims to provide stories to color the news articles being written about the region.

Sacco’s “fixer”, known as Neveen, was a former solider involved in the conflict if not the genocide itself, although he claims to support the multiculturalism of the former Yugoslavia. He knows exactly who to talk to in order to help Sacco find the best sources; he knows exactly what to do to extract the highest price for his services.

Nearly ten years later, Sacco returns to Sarajevo intent on meeting up with his former fixer. His focus in this short graphic memoir is not the conflict itself but rather the “fixers” and how the new Bosnian government has decided to deal with the people who profited in a time of war.

The history and the timeline are rather muddled in the memoir as Sacco alternates between the past, the present, and the memories Neveen claims to have, but I found that to be the most beautiful aspect of the book. How do journalists determine truth and lies? How do journalists inform and construct their narratives?

Sacco readily admits that he cannot verify Neveen’s claims that he is a Serb who did not join the Serbian Army, that he singlehandedly blew up multiple tanks. And, instead, he presents such stories as shades of grey allowing the reader to understand how complicated truth and reconciliation are following genocide and war.

I wish the narrative had slowed a bit and Sacco had included more background information. The shades of grey become a bit overwhelming without much firm truth to ground yourself in, and it was not always clear from the drawings exactly where in time and space or which person was the focus. (Particularly problematic when there are two people with the same name.) But I appreciate the book for what it did offer and I certainly would like to read more of Sacco’s work in the future.
...more

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Jan 01, 2017 Aziff rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The Fixer was recommended to me years ago by my editor and almost three years later, I've discovered this journalistic gem that makes me chill at both J. Sacco's narrative and visual storytelling. His story's conduit is Neven, a former army veteran-turned fixer, who "fixes" access for foreign journalists looking for a stories to write and report in the 90s war-torn Bosnia.

If you're a journalist, chances are, you've bumped into characters like Neven at least once. The source (and fixer) who's ...more

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Mar 29, 2014 Nick rated it really liked it

Shelves: graphic_novels, non-fiction

This is Joe Sacco's fascinating look at the Yugoslavian conflict, the warlords who dominated Sarajevo, and the man from the title; Neven -- The Fixer. Half the book is Sacco looking for or hanging out with Neven, who misses no opportunity to drain Sacco's wallet, and the other half is Neven's stories of Sarajevo and Sacco's subsequent thoughts and research. Sacco's portrayal of Neven results in one of the most memorable characters I've read of in some time. Subtle, mysterious, broke and out of ...more

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Apr 08, 2009 Nicholas Whyte added it · review of another edition

http://nhw.livejournal.com/1141540.html[return][return]This is, in a sense, a sequel to Sacco's brilliant Safe Area Gorazde, but following just one person, Neven, a Sarajevo Serb, a former fighter on the Bosnian side in the war who Sacco got to know as his "fixer" when he first visited Sarajevo just after the war ended in 1995. (I first went there myself in early 1997, and the city of Sacco's book is definitely the one I knew.)[return][return]Anyone who has worked in that sort of environment ...more

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Jan 02, 2015 Karyl rated it liked it

Shelves: goodreads-suggestions, library-reads, graphic-novels, 2015, non-fiction, history

I adore Joe Sacco's work. I still think about Safe Area Gorazde; it affected me so deeply. In this work, Sacco describes Neven, a "fixer," a man paid by foreign journalists for his translations and his memories. As a result, one is never sure how much of what Neven says is true, and how much is embellished for the sake of a few extra marks.

As usual, I enjoyed Sacco's art very much. Some of his frames are hard to look at closely, dealing as they do with some very gruesome subject matter. But I ...more

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Dec 08, 2010 Jessi rated it liked it

Shelves: biography-memoir, graphic-novel, history

The Fixer is a unique look at an odd bit of history. It weaves in general history of the Bosnian war in the early and mid-90s. But the conflict itself is not the main focus of the narrative. Who knew that you could make a seriously good living in a war-torn country by finding people with horrific stories to tell for the droves of journalists that flock to these types of conflicts? And although this profession is the title of the work, this still isn't really the focus. Instead, the story ...more

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Apr 21, 2008 Corinne Edwards rated it liked it

Shelves: graphic-novel, 2008, war, non-fiction, journalism, bosnia

I guess when you read the subtitle "A Story From Sarajevo" you should know that this not a pretty story. it's the story of Neven, whom the author meets in Sarajevo. Neven is a man who is willing to sell his war stories to the press and get them the "inside" story - he's a crass, chain smoking veteran of an incredibly complicated war. The way the story is told, I never completely believed anything Neven said - which probably exactly the point. Journalists are constantly having to decide whether ...more

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Feb 21, 2017 Oliver Hodson rated it really liked it

I recently read Sacco's 'Safe Area Goradze' and although it did carry through with certain characters, it was more driven by events. This tale is more centred on Neven, the Fixer, who guides Joe through Sarajevo, and you get a pretty amazing relationship developing and a meditation on truth. I thought it was pretty nice that as Sacco most doubts Neven, and as Neven doubts himself, the actuality and truth of his involvement in Celo's team in the war are revealed on more solid foundations. It ...more

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Feb 09, 2015 Tomislav rated it really liked it

Shelves: history, graphical

This is a graphic novel, except that it is hard-covered, large-sized, and more jounalism than novel. The story is framed by a journalist/author who travels to Sarajevo in 2001. He remembers his earlier connection with the shadowy Neven - a fixer, who arranged contacts for the journalist during the final year of the Bosnian War in 1995. Neven, in turn, recalls his own stories of being a Serbian Sarajevan in an irregular Bosnian militia, fighting the Četniks. It is a fascinating look into the ...more

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Sep 05, 2018 Divya rated it liked it

Shelves: 2018, war-comic

The fixer is a fairly okay graphic novel by war correspondent and investigative journalist, Joe Sacco. While it is a short read on the aftermath of the Yugoslav war that started in the 1990's, it offers a specific glimpse into the life - pre, post and during the war from Neven's and other warlords' point of view.
It took me a while to feel invested in the storyline and I attribute this to the author's eccentric storytelling skills. By no means, is it a bad thing, but towards the end I felt like ...more

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Nov 21, 2009 Madeleine rated it liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, graphic-novel-comic

I decided to read this because I'm impatient for Joe Sacco's new book, Footnotes in Gaza. I wasn't expecting this to be amazing, but it was. I'm coming to the conclusion that pretty much anything Sacco writes and draws is amazing.

I'm old enough to remember the siege of Sarajevo, barely. Actually, I was living in Europe at the time and sort of obsessed with the conflict (hey, I was an intense, political kid...I'm sure that doesn't surprise anyone). Here and in Safe Area Gorazde, Sacco really ...more

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Jan 19, 2011 Joe rated it liked it

Sacco once again takes us to some god-forsaken part of the world in order to find the human angle on yet another atrocity, this time to the Balkans and Sarajevo a few years after the end of the conflict there. Here we meet his 'Fixer', the most important man in any war journos life when he's out on assignment in places like this. The fixer is the guy who can set you up, get you in touch with the people you want to talk to, find you the angle you need on your story. But the war is over, and ...more

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Nov 29, 2018 Greg rated it really liked it

Sacco focuses on Neven, a "fixer" who helps foreign journalists in Sarajevo for cash. It's never fully decided whether what Neven reports is true or exaggerated (seems likely) but his stories are interesting and lead into a introduction to the history of paramilitary defenders of Sarajevo, a more cosmopolitan ethnically-mixed enclave of Bosnia that was battered by Serb-Nationalist offenses. The dirty world of the paramilitary groups that defended Sarajevo are an eye-opener for the complexities ...more

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Jan 12, 2009 Yofish rated it liked it

Recommended to Yofish by: long WaPo article

Shelves: read-graphic

Eh. Wasn't so excited about the art. "The Fixer" is a Sarajevan who fought in the war and now makes his money from journalists who want to be shown around the city and the war. (The author/illustrator was, apparently, one such journalist.)

Some of it is about how the author is never quite sure how truthful all the stories are that the Fixer tells. But mostly it offers a particular vantage point of the war. Its history is a little hard to follow (for me, mostly because most of the names are ...more

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Jul 14, 2012 Stephen rated it liked it

Another tale from the former Yugoslavia by Joe Sacco. I enjoyed this a lot - a good comic. The book focuses on Neven, a "fixer" for international visitors (mostly journalists) who need someone to show them the ropes of Sarajevo. Through Neven, it tells the story of Sarajevo in the Yugoslavian war - the sieges and the internal struggles. One thing it does really well is show the relationship between the unofficial paramilitary groups and the Bosnian government - naturally, it's a pretty ugly ...more

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Jan 02, 2014 Libor rated it really liked it

The Fixer is a great story. It doesn't use all the usual stereotypes about the Balkans and it still quite catches the atmosphere after the war. After the war, when former soldiers had nothing else to do than try to survive in the new world, new situation. A world where maybe their stories about how well they did during the war weren't going to impress anyone anymore. Everyone is looking after themselves, nobody's paying attention to "great and glorious" deeds done just few months ago; except ...more

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Jun 22, 2014 Jeff rated it really liked it

Powerful stuff!!! Sacco, one of the earliest and most important voices in the field of graphic journalism, dives deep into the fog of war to tell the story of Neven, a "fixer" who assists Western journalists navigate the complex and dangerous labyrinth of war-torn Yugoslavia in the 90's. What Sacco discovers is that Neven himself and his experiences during the seige of Sarajevo is a fascinating subject, and what emerges is a complex portrait of a person, part-con man, part-criminal, part-hero, ...more

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About Joe Sacco

Joe Sacco

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Joe Sacco was born in Malta on October 2, 1960. At the age of one, he moved with his family to Australia, where he spent his childhood until 1972, when they moved to Los Angeles. He began his journalism career working on the Sunset High School newspaper in Beaverton, Oregon. While journalism was his primary focus, this was also the period of time in which he developed his penchant for humor and Joe Sacco was born in Malta on October 2, 1960. At the age of one, he moved with his family to Australia, where he spent his childhood until 1972, when they moved to Los Angeles. He began his journalism career working on the Sunset High School newspaper in Beaverton, Oregon. While journalism was his primary focus, this was also the period of time in which he developed his penchant for humor and satire. He graduated from Sunset High in 1978.

Sacco earned his B.A. in journalism from the University of Oregon in 1981 in three years. He was greatly frustrated with the journalist work that he found at the time, later saying, "[I couldn't find] a job writing very hard-hitting, interesting pieces that would really make some sort of difference." After being briefly employed by the journal of the National Notary Association, a job which he found "exceedingly, exceedingly boring," and several factories, he returned to Malta, his journalist hopes forgotten. "...I sort of decided to forget it and just go the other route, which was basically take my hobby, which has been cartooning, and see if I could make a living out of that," he later told the BBC.

He began working for a local publisher writing guidebooks. Returning to his fondness for comics, he wrote a Maltese romance comic named Imħabba Vera ("True Love"), one of the first art-comics in the Maltese language. "Because Malta has no history of comics, comics weren't considered something for kids," he told Village Voice. "In one case, for example, the girl got pregnant and she went to Holland for an abortion. Malta is a Catholic country where not even divorce is allowed. It was unusual, but it's not like anyone raised a stink about it, because they had no way of judging whether this was appropriate material for comics or not."

Eventually returning to the United States, by 1985 Sacco had founded a satirical, alternative comics magazine called Portland Permanent Press in Portland, Oregon. When the magazine folded fifteen months later, he took a job at The Comics Journal as the staff news writer. This job provided the opportunity for him to create another satire: the comic Centrifugal Bumble-Puppy, a name he took from an overly-complicated children's toy in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.

But Sacco was more interested in travelling. In 1988, he left the U.S. again to travel across Europe, a trip which he chronicled in his autobiographical comic Yahoo. The trip lead him towards the ongoing Gulf War (his obsession with which he talks about in Yahoo #2), and in 1991 he found himself nearby to research the work he would eventually publish as Palestine.

The Gulf War segment of Yahoo drew Sacco into a study of Middle Eastern politics, and he traveled to Israel and the Palestinian territories to research his first long work. Palestine was a collection of short and long pieces, some depicting Sacco's travels and encounters with Palestinians (and several Israelis), and some dramatizing the stories he was told. It was serialized as a comic book from 1993 to 2001 and then published in several collections, the first of which won an American Book Award in 1996.

Sacco next travelled to Sarajevo and Goražde near the end of the Bosnian War, and produced a series of reports in the same style as Palestine: the comics Safe Area Goražde, The Fixer, and the stories collected in War's End; the financing for which was aided by his winning of the Guggenheim Fellowship in April 2001. Safe Area Goražde won the Eisner Award for Best Original Graphic Novel in 2001.

He has also contributed short pieces of graphic reportage to a variety of magazines, on subjects ranging from war crimes to blues, and is a frequent illustrator of Harvey Pekar's American Splendor. Sacco currently lives in Portland. ...more