EXCLUSIVE Preview: Greg Palast and Ted Rall's Tales From the Crypt of Democracy

Greg Palast and Ted Rall have exclusively provided ComicBook.com with a five-page preview from their forthcoming comic story Tales From the Crypt of Democracy, which will be released on September 18 from 7 Stories Press as part of Palast's newest book of political journalism, Billionaires & Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps. ComicBook.com Senior Staff Writer Russ Burlingame (that's this reporter) is a Special Projects Editor for Greg Palast's office and worked on this comic. Featuring an introduction by Robert F. Kennedy, who collaborated with Palast and Rall on their 2008 graphic voter guide Steal Back Your Vote, Tales From the Crypt of Democracy is a 48-page graphic guide to the people on both sides of the political aisle (this preview focuses on the Republicans) who are looking to buy the election and prevent the other party's supporters from voting this fall, even if it means breaking a few laws along the way. Both the overall book and the comics element are companion pieces to Palast's Vultures' Picnic, a look at the underbelly of the oil, banking and vote-rigging industries that will soon be adapted as a graphic novel of its own. That book was recently introduced by iconic comics writer Warren Ellis at its U.K. launch, who has praised Palast and compared him to Ellis and Darick Robertson's own iconic comic character Spider Jerusalem. Robertson, for his part, provided the cover art for the forthcoming Vultures' Picnic graphic novel, as seen in the back of the book's U.S. hardcover release. The research is provided by Palast, who worked with Rall, who wrote and drew the actual comic. Rall is a best-selling and often controversial political activist, journalist and cartoonist probably best known for his books To Afghanistan and Back and Silk Road to Ruin, which followed his travels through the Middle East in the years following the September 11 terrorist attacks. Check out a five-page preview of the comic book below, and watch between now and the release in just over two weeks for more exclusives, interviews and even a giveaway or two.