Catching up With Josh Neufeld’s Wonderful ‘A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge’

With the exception of a tropical storm taking a northwesterly course along the western coast of Mexico, the tropics have been very quiet on this second anniversary of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Just don't confuse the quiet with much progress being made on the recovery efforts since that devastating Cat 5 storm hit the Central Gulf Coast in 2005, however.

Have a few minutes to spare on the computer this weekend, even after reconciling your electronic banking and tweaking your fall fantasy football team roster? I urge you to spend it catching up with Josh Neufeld's wonderful FREE Webcomic, A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, sponsored by SMITH magazine, now in its sixth chapter.

Up to yesterday, I was aware of Neufeld's somber story and all the favorable press, yet vstill ery wary about reading it. Why? Perhaps, chalk it up to general Katrina "fatigue," particularly after watching Spike Lee's HBO requiem for New Orleans, When the Levees Broke, or if you've managed to survive multiple hurricanes as my family has relatively unscathed.

I must admit, however, broken promises made by the feds to help Katrina victims, that some view as partisan efforts (pundits argue the state of Mississippi has successfully competed for more disaster funds than has Louisiana) drop-kicked my lethargy -- and blood pressure -- into the stratosphere, enabling me to read Neufeld's accounts of six survivors with fresher, angrier eyes.

These riveting stories are certainly on the level of the grand master himself, Harvey Pekar, and not only for its honest and linear storytelling either. Neufeld's skillful pacing and masterful cartooning tell a story not worth missing...