The Lives of Sacco & Vanzetti/Rick Geary

The Lives of Sacco and Vanzetti by Rick Geary (A Treasury of XXth Century Murder); true crime, graphic novel; 80 pages

Geary's latest entry in the XXth Century Murder series focuses on an armed robbery that took place in Braintree, Massachusetts in 1920: two men were killed, and over $15000 was stolen. Weeks later, police arrested two Italian immigrants, Sacco and Vanzetti, whose anarchist political leanings made them perfect scapegoats for the crimes. Geary here recounts their trial, and the many injustices that took place during it--evidence tampered with and withheld, prejudiced comments from both the judge and the jury, witness testimonies dismissed without cause, and more. As Geary tells it, the trial itself was a joke--but were the men really guilty?

As always, Geary's account of the trial the events leading up to it is excellent. The simple, just-the-facts style makes it easy to follow the many twists and turns of the case, and the art is perfectly suited to the era represented. This is a sad story, but one that also makes you think about prejudices in today's courts.