Portland Authors Are Drawing a Graphic Novel About the Bundy Trial

Portland author David Shapiro and illustrator Christopher Herndon are unlikely figures to appear in a federal courtroom. They typically sketch dinosaurs and bears.

But they were drawn into Bundyland.

Shapiro and Herndon have been attending hearings in Portland's federal courthouse, where militant Ammon Bundy and nine followers face charges for seizing the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

In the last week, have begun producing sketches for a graphic novel about the Bundys' refuge occupation.

Their first released sketches show Cincinnati talk-radio host Pete Santilli trying (and failing) to gain pre-trial release.

The two artists have compatible fascinations. Shapiro, a naturalist, spent his early days in Oregon looking for wolverines in the Mt. Hood National Forest, while Herndon's portfolio is filled with epic paintings of dinosaurs and fossils. The duo's last collaboration was Terra Tempo, a trilogy of educational graphic novels about time traveling kids encountering triceratops and woolly mammoths.

Last week, WW sat down with them to discuss their latest work.

How did you get from Terra Tempo to the Bundys? What about the case is interesting to you?

Shapiro: What caught my eye about this was that public lands were under attack. I think the federal protection of these lands is one thing that's really working well in our country right now.

Herndon: There's not much to get excited about federal government, but that's the one thing. You're like, "But, guys, that's the one thing they did right!"

What sort of state is the book in?

Herndon: Complete research. It's not like we would even have an ending yet.

Shapiro: Since all the proceedings are now happening here in Portland, it makes it very convenient for us to go and watch. You're not allowed to photograph, but you're allowed to draw.

Herndon: They're a lot of fun to draw. At first I was worried, like, a courtroom setting can be so stuffy. It was not at all stuffy. If you went to central casting and cast each one of those people, they'd say, "Too on the nose, pal." It's just remarkable.

This story has gone on for about a month. At which point were you like, "I'm going to write a graphic novel about this?"

Herndon: When it started to happen, we chatted about it a little. But it got so ridiculous. Like it just turned into this circus.

Shapiro: It just got weirder and weirder.

WW: Yeah, I was thinking about the video where [John Ritzheimer] gets all the sex toy mail—

Herndon: Yeah, and shoves it off the table! Everything's so dramatic.

Shapiro: Or the video of the big guy, sumo wrestle challenging Chris Christie! My daughter saw that and was like, what is this? So bizarre!

WW: I'm going to guess this book is not going to be geared toward a younger audience.

Herndon: Well, we already mentioned the sex toys, so it could already get a little racy.

Shapiro: And the language in the courtroom. There's no way to really present it for children.

Herndon: But we're not going to go out of our way to dig up the really seedy stuff. Because you don't have to! In court they played this transcript of [Santilli] saying, "Shoot Hillary [Clinton] in the vagina."

DS: We don't have to write anything. We just have to record it.

See more of Shapiro and Herndon's work here and here.

Willamette Week