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Works of Radical Imagination

Book cover for Francis, The People's Pope
Book cover for Francis, The People's PopeBook cover for Francis, The People's PopeBook cover for Francis, The People's PopeBook cover for Francis, The People's PopeBook cover for Francis, The People's Pope

An even-handed, wise and funny biography in graphic-novel form. Joining his bestselling series of graphic biographies (Snowden, New York Times Graphic Books Bestseller Bernie, and Trump), Ted Rall’s Francis, the People’s Pope will present the life, ideas, and political impact of the most progressive spiritual leader in the Roman Catholic church’s history. And just in time! 

Can a reformer, working within an established, conservative, bureaucratic institution make real change? Usually, radical thinker and political cartoonist Ted Rall would be among the first to shout “hell no.” But Rall believes that Pope Francis may be the one notable exception. By expressing sympathy and outrage on behalf of the poor and hungry, solidarity with same sex couples, and righteous anger against the world’s banks’ use of capital to gain profit at the expense of local communities and on the backs of the middle class, Rall believes Pope Francis may have already changed the tone and substance of the conversation. As the world’s governments persist in ignoring global warming, and exporting war and suffering, Rall considers Pope Francis to be the one world leader who might be able to encourage and inspire a new populism to turn the tide. 

Book cover for Francis, The People's Pope
Book cover for Francis, The People's PopeBook cover for Francis, The People's PopeBook cover for Francis, The People's PopeBook cover for Francis, The People's PopeBook cover for Francis, The People's Pope

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“[Rall] rises to the occasion and presents a balanced and ultimately positive look at how the compassionate Pope Francis injects true humanity into one of the world’s most powerful positions.”

Francis: The People’s Pope, a graphic biography by journalist and cartoonist Ted Rall, is, in its way, a celebration of the current successor of St. Peter.”

“I don’t like how the cartoonist has made our pope look like Homer Simpson.”

Ted Rall

Twice the winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award and a Pulitzer Prize finalist, TED RALL is a radical syndicated political cartoonist, opinion columnist, graphic novelist, and occasional war correspondent whose work has appeared in hundreds of publications, including the New York TimesWashington PostVillage Voice, and Los Angeles Times. For Seven Stories Press, he is the illustrator of the full-length comic Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps (2012), written by Greg Palast, and the author and illustrator of The Book of Obama (2012), The Anti-American Manifesto (2010), and After We Kill You, We Will Welcome You Back as Honored Guests (Hill and Wang 2014). His most recent books are Snowden (2015), Bernie (2016), Trump (2016), and Francis, the People's Pope (2018).