We’re relaunching The Illustrated PEN series with six guest editors—MariNaomi, Robert Kirby, Liza Donnelly, Grace Bello, and Seth Tobocman and Peter Kuper of World War III. This week, guest editor Robert Kirby features a piece by Mike Dawson. Kirby writes:

In “The Wrong Side of History,” Mike Dawson examines how we talk about gun control, one  of the most  polarizing political issues of our time.  The strip demonstrates perfectly his gift for deconstructing controversial subjects through the push and pull of his own conscience. It is one of many stories included in his upcoming book Rules for Dating My Daughter (Uncivilized Books).

Guest editor Robert Kirby is a cartoonist, editor, and reviewer living in Minneapolis. Among his books are Curbside Boys (Cleis Press, 2002), The Book of Boy Trouble (Green Candy Press, 2006), the Ignatz Award-winning anthology QU33R (Northwest Press, 2014), and his latest, What’s Your Sign, Girl? Cartoonists Talk About Their Sun Signs (Ninth Art Press, 2015). His reviews and features appear in The Comics Journal, Panel Patter, Rain Taxi, and other publications. 

The Illustrated PEN is a weekly online series that aspires to be at the intersection of literature, journalism, and visual storytelling, where images and words come together in an ever-emerging and essential creative form. We’ll feature fiction and nonfiction graphic narratives, comics journalism and illustrated reportage, stories of social justice and personal stories that can’t be told through words alone.