Dead Man Walking: Graphic Edition

Prejean’s essential work of moral literature, first published in 1993, receives a suitably stirring graphic adaptation scripted by Vines, her longtime collaborator, with Kenyan-born Swedish artist Grünewald. A member of the Sisters of St. Joseph in New Orleans, Prejean accepted an invitation in 1982 to correspond with a convicted murderer on death row. Through prison visits with Elmo Patrick Sonnier, she sees his innate humanity and is left torn between her distaste of legalized killing by a government “which can’t be trusted to collect taxes equitably, much less decide which of its citizens to kill,” the horror of his crime, and her compassion for the victims and their families. She also documents her unnerving encounters with recalcitrant inmate Robert Lee Willie. Prejean strives to grant both men grace in their last moments, and takes political and legal action to end what she comes to view as an amoral system. Vines weaves in mini-dissertations in graphic essay form on the death penalty’s racial and class inequities. The ephemeral, sometimes sketchbook-like art includes striking color spots and fanciful touches (birds and other creatures occasionally deliver some of the text) that occasionally distract, but the central narrative remains strongly argued and generously told. This is poised to bring Prejean’s classic to a new readership. Agent: Julia Masnik, Watkins Loomis. (Oct.)