HISTORY COMICS

An overview in graphic format of the facility through which so many immigrants to America passed.

A frame story involving a modern couple born in Mexico (their daughter says, “I was born here, a Mexicanewyorker!”) expands Feggo’s focus to include glances at the entire contentious history of voluntary or forced immigration to the U.S., past and present. In tribute to what he dubs “a modern-day Plymouth Rock,” he mostly traces the development of an uninhabited mound in waters near the Lenape island of Manahatta to the sprawling complex that opened in 1892, shuttered in 1954 after processing some 12 million new arrivals, and eventually became a museum. While the author compresses a huge story into relatively few pages, it’s an effectively told, moving history. Big steamships and the Statue of Liberty put in appearances, but most of the scenes in Howard’s neatly squared-off panels are people-centric. He first depicts Indigenous residents and European settlers in historical dress; later, anxious-looking figures or families make the arduous ocean crossing, step down gangplanks, and submit themselves to inspections. Crowds of headshots illustrate the ethnic diversity of all the new arrivals. For a finale, the modern museum’s restored, expansive main hall serves as a reminder of “where we all came from and the future we are all building…and rebuilding…TOGETHER!”

Coherent, provocative, and more cogent than ever.