View source for Brought to Light

{{Short description|1988 comics anthology}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox graphic novel <!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics--> 
|title=Brought to Light
|foreigntitle=
|image=Broughttolight.jpg
|imagesize=250px
|caption=The cover of the ''Brought to Light'' paperback
|publisher=[[Eclipse Comics]]<br>[[Warner Books]]
|date=13 December 1988
|series=<!--[[Eclipse Graphic Album Series]] #30-->
|main_char_team=
|origpublication=
|origissues=
|origdate=
|origlanguage=
|origisbn=091303567X
|writers=[[Alan Moore]]<br />[[Joyce Brabner]]
|artists=[[Bill Sienkiewicz]]<br />[[Tom Yeates]]<br />[[Paul Mavrides]]
|pencillers=
|colourists=
|editors=[[Joyce Brabner]]<br />[[Catherine Yronwode]]
|transpublisher=
|transdate=
|transisbn=
|pages= 76
|translator=
|previssue=
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|US=
|creators=
}}

'''''Brought to Light''''' – subtitled ''Thirty Years of Drug Smuggling, Arms Deals, and Covert Action'' – is an [[anthology]] of two political [[graphic novel]]s, published originally by [[Eclipse Comics]] in [[1988 in comics|1988]].<ref name=DS>{{cite web|work=[[Digital Spy]]|title='Brought to Light' digitally remastered|first=Hugh|last=Armitage|date=September 26, 2011|url=http://www.digitalspy.com/comics/news/a342277/brought-to-light-digitally-remastered.html#~phvNvjELbufjJt}}</ref>

==Creation==
Both stories were based upon research by the [[Christic Institute]], who initiated the work. [[Joyce Brabner]], then married to [[Harvey Pekar]], had already helped co-ordinate ''[[Real War Stories]]'' with Eclipse Comics and the [[Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors]], and planned ''Brought to Light'' as a thematic follow-up.<ref name=AH142ETP>{{cite magazine|date=June 1, 1988|title=Enlarging the Penumbra|author=Bob Hughes|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=142}}</ref> Eclipse publisher [[Dean Mullaney]] and editor-in-chief [[Cat Yronwode]] first attempted to get [[Chuck Dixon]], writer of politically charged stories for ''[[Airboy]]'', involved but he considered the Institute "[[Far-left politics|far-left]]" and considered that a lot of their theories strayed into "[[Tin foil hat|aluminium foil hat]] territory".<ref name=archives1>{{cite comic|title=Airboy Archives|issue=Volume 3|date=March 2015|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]|writer=Chuck Dixon|story=Airboy Volume 3}}</ref>

[[Alan Moore]], [[Bill Sienkiewicz]] and [[Tom Yeates]] contributed to the book, which was co-published with [[Warner Books]] and was distributed to mainstream bookstores. In an interview with the British magazine ''[[Escape (magazine)|Escape]]'', Moore noted "I'm humanizing these vast subjects by having the story narrated by a shadowy figure in a bar... the CIA eagle. The reader sits next to this hideous representation of America’s covert warfare activities that spills its whole life story, as drunks are prone to do in bars." Sienkiewicz explained his involvement by telling ''[[Amazing Heroes]]'' "I think people are really turning a blind eye to ''[the CIA's involvement in foreign government affairs]'', the cocaine and everything else, and I think it's important that they be made a little more aware of what's going on. This book will do that, inform them, and hopefully do it entertainingly. I feel that if it's not the most important series or book I've done, it's damn near up there."<ref name=AH145GN>{{cite magazine|date=July 15, 1988|title=Graphic Novels|author=Tom Powers & J. Collier|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=145/Preview Special 7}}</ref> The novel brought coverage in ''[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]'', ''[[Interview (magazine)|Interview]]'' and ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', something Brabner felt was important to help spread word about the events.<ref name=AH148TOTN>{{cite magazine|date=September 1, 1988|title=Top of the News ''(advertisement)''|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=148}}</ref> The book was initially set to be published on 11 November 1988 before delays pushed it back to 13 December.<ref name=AH158TOTN>{{cite magazine|date=February 1, 1989|title=Top of the News ''(advertisement)''|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=158}}</ref>

Eclipse arranged for Tom Yeates to sign copies of the book in ''[[Cody's Books]]'' in [[Berkeley, California]] on the first day of the [[Oliver North]] trial.<ref name=AH158TOTN/> There were rumors that Moore was unable to travel to America due to the CIA being annoyed at his contribution to ''Brought to Light''; however, the real reason was Moore not renewing his passport.<ref>Beaton, Frank. [http://www.ninthart.com/display.php?article=536 "Snake Charmer: An Interview with Alan Moore," part II] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051026160334/http://www.ninthart.com/display.php?article=536 |date=October 26, 2005 }}, NinthArt (April 7, 2003).</ref>

==Contents==
===''Shadowplay: The Secret Team''===
:Written by [[Alan Moore]]; illustrated by [[Bill Sienkiewicz]]; introduction by Daniel Sheehan.
The narrative covers the history of the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] and its involvement in the [[Vietnam War]], the [[Iran-Contra affair]], and its relationship with figures like [[Augusto Pinochet]] and [[Manuel Noriega]]. The narrator of is an aging anthropomorphic [[bald eagle|American Eagle]], presented as a bellicose, retired CIA agent who approaches 
an unseen character in a bar. The eagle proceeds to drink alcohol and, in a drunken stupor, divulge all the details of The Agency's past. Early on a reference is made to the number of gallons an [[Olympic-size swimming pool]] can hold, and the fact that an adult human body has one gallon of blood; from then on, the victims of CIA activities - directly or indirectly - are quantified in swimming pools filled with blood, with each pool representing 20,000 dead.

===''30 Years of Covert War''===
A two-page feature by [[Paul Mavrides]], the "World Map of 30 Years of Covert Action" details what the Christic Institute purported to be election tampering, drug trafficking, assassination, and other crimes committed by the CIA.

===''Flashpoint: The LA Penca Bombing''===
:Written by [[Joyce Brabner]], based on an account by [[Martha Honey]] and [[Tony Avirgan]]; illustrated by [[Tom Yeates]]; coloured by Sam Parsons; lettered by Bill Pearson.
An account of the [[La Penca bombing]] during the civil war in [[Nicaragua]] in 1984. Honey and Avirgan were both present, and their investigation would lead to the [[Oliver North]] trial.

==Reception==
Reviewing the graphic novel for ''Amazing Heroes'', Ed Sample found himself unmoved by much of the narrative due to its clumsy and heavy-handed storytelling, but reflected it was an important catalyst to thought and discussion.<ref name=AH162CIR>{{cite magazine|date=April 1, 1989|title=Comics in Review|author=Ed Sample|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=162}}</ref> More positive views came from more traditional literary journals, including ''[[Publishers Weekly]]'' and ''[[American Library Association]]'s Booklist''.<ref name=AH164TOTN>{{cite magazine|date=May 1, 1989|title=Top of the News ''(advertisement)''|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=164}}</ref> ''Brought to Light'' was nominated for the 1989 [[Harvey Awards]] in the 'Best Graphic Album' category but lost out to another Moore project, ''[[Batman: The Killing Joke]]''.<ref name=AH170HA>{{cite magazine|date=August 1, 1989|title=Harvey Awards|magazine=[[Amazing Heroes]]|publisher=[[Fantagraphics Books]]|number=170/Preview Special 9}}</ref>

==Audio version==
''Shadowplay'' was made into a spoken word performance by [[Codex Books]] in 1998;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.codexbooks.co.uk/brou.html|website=Codex Books|title=Brought to Light|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051201115741/http://www.codexbooks.co.uk/brou.html |archive-date=2005-12-01 }}</ref> Moore provided the narration himself, which was set to music by the composer [[Gary Lloyd]].<ref name=DS/>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* Full text at [[Internet Archive]]
** [[iarchive:BroughtToLightShadowplayTheSecretTeam|''Shadowplay: The Secret Team'']]
** [[iarchive:BroughtToLightFlashpointTheLaPencaBombing|''Flashpoint: The La Penca Bombing'']]
*[http://www.blather.net/articles/amoore/brought_to_light1.html Alan Moore discusses ''Brought to Light]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070928010725/http://idler.co.uk/conversations/conversations-alan-moore/#more-52 Alan Moore interview] at ''[[The Idler (1993)|The Idler]]''
{{Alan Moore}}
{{Eclipse Comics}}

[[Category:1988 graphic novels]]
[[Category:Comics publications]]
[[Category:Eclipse Comics titles]]
[[Category:Non-fiction comics]]
[[Category:Non-fiction graphic novels]]