Fire on the Water #[nn]

Drawn from a real-life tragedy, Fire on the Water announces itself with a cover that pulls no punches: a massive industrial structure engulfed in towering orange flames rises from dark water, while small rescue vessels struggle nearby and ghostly figures swirl through the smoke-filled sky above. Gary Dumm's artwork balances visceral urgency with a haunting, almost elegiac quality that makes the human cost of the disaster feel immediate. Published by Harry N. Abrams in 2020, this is the kind of graphic narrative — praised by Derf Backderf as delivering "a tight sharp narrative" — that reminds us why comics are such a powerful vehicle for bearing witness to history.