Former Charles M. Schulz Museum cartoonist-in-residence and environmental justice lawyer and activist Eddie Ahn‘s debut graphic novel, Advocate, is arriving from Ten Speed Graphic on April 16, 2024.
Korean-American cartoonist Ahn is a self-taught artist with an impressive resume. He’s previously been recognized as cartoonist-in-residence of the Charles M. Shulz Museum, located in Santa Rosa, California, and was a featured artist at the Kearny Street Workshop, which the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, California, hosts. In addition, his artwork was used as part of the “One Richmond” campaign and has appeared on AT&T utility boxes throughout San Francisco.
Watch a clip of the unveiling of one of Ahn’s utility boxes in 2018 below:
In addition to his work as a cartoonist, Ahn has been an environmental justice attorney and nonprofit worker for fifteen years. “While working as the executive director of Brightline Defense, a San Francisco-based environmental justice nonprofit, he was inducted into the State of California’s Clean Energy Hall of Fame for his work in equity and clean energy,” reads Ahn’s author profile. “In addition to his nonprofit work, he has served as president of the San Francisco Commission on the Environment as well as a commissioner on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Bay Conservation and Development Commission.”
Read the official press release from Ten Speed Graphic below:
A graphic memoir of uncommon power, Eddie Ahn’s remarkable debut ADVOCATE (Ten Speed Graphic; April 16, 2024) intertwines family history with the unvarnished realities of fighting for environmental justice. Ahn’s beautifully-drawn, full-color panels take readers from South Korea to Texas to the Bay Area, exploring themes of belonging and service, family and community, expectations and opportunities.
The child of immigrants, Ahn’s family was fractured by the Korean War—a history he tries to understand through memories of his grandfather and the writing he left behind. Growing up, Ahn’s parents run a liquor store and dream of a different future for their son—though not the nonprofit work he finds himself pulled towards before and after law school. Becoming the director of Brightline Defense, an environmental justice organization, Ahn learns the complexity of working within communities and navigating political spaces—all while dealing with the demands of financial hardship and racial profiling, the orange skies of the climate crises and the urgency of the pandemic.
A self-taught artist, Ahn’s unique perspective and layered relationships inform his superb art. From burrito math to the poker table, being mistaken as a rideshare driver, undergoing eye surgery after periods of blindness, and becoming a frontline worker during lockdown, Ahn’s expressive visuals, empathy, and humor amplify the impact of his experiences.
Essential reading for anyone drawn to environmental and immigration issues, as well as nonprofit work and community organizing, ADVOCATE is sure to join the pantheon of seminal graphic memoirs including Kate Beaton’s Ducks, Thi Bui’s The Best We Could Do, and Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home.
