Notable narrative: ‘Stowaway’

Our new Notable Narrative is a piece of comics journalism by investigative reporter Tori Marlan and cartoonist Josh Neufeld. “Stowaway,” an interactive e-narrative published by The Atavist, is the story of an Ethiopian orphan who made his way across continents and to the United States, partly via human traffickers. Marlan, who has worked for The Chicago Reader, the Christian Science Monitor, the Utne Reader and This American Life, among others, first encountered “Fanuel” in Chicago, at the International Children's Center, which houses and counsels immigrant children detained by the Department of Homeland Security or referred by the Office of Refugee Resettlement. She teamed up with Neufeld, who has covered Hurricane Katrina and other stories through his comics journalism, and is currently a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan. Marlan and Neufeld reported for different narrative elements – he for visuals, she for the story of the boy's life – and came together panel by panel. We had lots of questions about the demands and boundaries of this emerging format, and Marlan and Neufeld were kind enough to answer them, even when we pushed. Check back tomorrow for that conversation. Their story, available in iPad, iPhone and web-based versions, sells for $2.99. An excerpt: