Pennsylvania schools and libraries are set to receive thousands of copies of "1/6," a graphic novel that imagines an America where the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection was successful.
The comic's creators plan to send the book to every public high school and library in the state in the lead-up to the November election. Copies will be mailed this week, along with a teaching guide. The authors also plan to host online events "to energize young Pennsylvanians about what they can do to fight for our democracy" in the coming months. The Kettering Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank, is funding the effort.
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"1/6" began life as a Kickstarter project. Its first issue debuted in January 2023, followed by a second in January 2024. The third issue is expected to drop later this year. The series is a collaboration between veteran Marvel and DC Comics illustrator Will Rosado, author Gan Golan and Harvard Law professor Alan Jenkins, who was previously assistant to the solicitor general for the Justice Department.
Billed as a piece of speculative fiction in the vein of "The Handmaid's Tale" or "Parable of the Sower," the comic opens in a very different Washington, D.C. Authoritarians have taken over the country, executing journalists and building monuments to the insurrectionists who broke into the Capitol on Jan. 6. The first two issues follow an underground resistance network seeking to undermine the new order and share the truth of what happened that day.
The goal of the authors' mass mailing is to get educators and students talking about democracy ahead of the election. They targeted Pennsylvania because of its historic role in America's founding, as well as the rise in book bans statewide. Former President Donald Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 vote in Pennsylvania, they say, was also a factor.
The School District of Philadelphia said that it would be up to the individual schools whether to stock "1/6" in their libraries, noting that it does not "ban any books" or dictate title selection, outside specific initiatives.
This story has been updated with a comment from the School District of Philadelphia.
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