THE MORE THE BETTER: THE MUELLER REPORT

     Robert Mueller is in the news again when he testified before Congress this Wednesday. Not that he was ever out of the news. But the real star of the show has always been The Mueller Report itself. And how to interpret it. 

   Three kinds of formats attempted to provide information about The Report, using different media and purposes. Consider MSNBC'S TV documentary," What You need to Know,"  on Sunday, July 21. Such exposure was a good idea. After all, how many people will ever read the original material and therefore really understand what it says or seems to say? But it was easy to lose interest in the documentary because it contained material we've seen many times on MSNBC's  cable news programs.

     The Mueller Report took another form in Mueller's live TV testimony before the
Judiciary and Intelligence Committees on Wednesday, July 24.  It was more captivating then the documentary, because it was live, but it also called attention to the foibles brought about by the inherent problems of the Report's intention: for the Republicans, the testimony was hopefully meant to prove Trump's innocence of charges. Visa Versa for the Democrats.

     What about these foibles? 

      First, Mueller came off ( to some people ) as unsure of his answers, awkward and, frankly speaking, being somewhat hard of hearing or able to concentrate ( or maybe tired and preoccupied ). For Trump allies, this would no doubt prove The Report was flawed.

     Conversely, the manner of questioning was another foible that left the Republican committee members looking like bullies when they raised their voices, spoke fast and were often not clear with their questions. It was as if they were out to rattle Mueller and rattle him they sometimes did. 

     Some Judiciary Committee members needed a professional public speaker to design their questioning, cutting out the five minute restriction on queries and instead limiting how many questions were asked.  This way members would not  rush to get all their questions asked, many in a chaotic way ( this applied mostly to the Republicans. )

     Another exposure of The Mueller Report supplying helpful information comes in the form of a graphic novel by well-known cartoonist, Barbara Slate. It is by its very nature a different way of communicating material featuring print, not TV, media. What's particularly salient for this critic is the manner which the graphic novel  follows the tenet,  "form equals function."  To explain: we know that Tump and his administration have been characterized as a joke, so ridiculous at times that  it may remind us of a comic book. So why shouldn't Mueller's documentation of findings  be in a comic format?

      Ironically, Mueller himself is as non-comic as we can get. Thus, the juxtaposition of Trump and Mueller features two of the most contradictory characters existing in print and non-print media alike.

     Of course, we could expect some satire along the way in this graphic novel, and Ms. Slate includes some. But it is kept at a minimal;  it's as if the author wanted to write a serious, informative book at the get-go so that readers would not criticize it for showing bias and subjectivity. Therefore, it is not a political book, per se, and was never intended to be.

     The book's purpose is more straightforward and, truthfully, more educational than anything else. It would be beneficial for high school students, for example, and we certainly would love to see this intention put into practice. Moreover, this critic would also love to see another version of the book written, one that is informative AND SATIRIC as only Ms. Slate can render.

     What satire that does appear is welcomed, nonetheless. Consider  names of IRS ( Internet Research Agency ) Facebook Groups which "popped up everywhere" according to the graphic novel: "Stop all Immigrants," " LGBTQ United," and "Black Matters." Here's  a mixture of right and left-wing factions that don't belong together on the same list. Another satiric drawing shows a figure saying to a crowd, " It is imperative to intensify criticizing Hillary." The next panel  shows two women talking: " How about she's an alien?" ( Figure #1); "Naw. We did that one already." ( Figure #2).

     Otherwise, most topics are not difficult to follow and are relevant, like " How to Organize a Rally in 6 Easy Steps" and "The Trump Tower Meeting." Some pages are organized  around people involved in the Russian interference of our election, including George Papadopoulos and  Michael Flynn. These episodes have a lot of illustrations with diverse sizes ( medium close-ups , medium shots and long shots ) which all give variety to the visual portions.

     While these various versions of The Mueller Report may appeal to different tastes,  they are all extremely valuable. The more Americans know, the better.

For The Mueller Report Graphic Novel by Barbara Slate, contact: Richard Minsky

                                                                                                                   media@minsky.com

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