Brought to Light


Brought to Light: Thirty Years of Drug Smuggling, Arms Deals, and Covert Action is an anthology of two political graphic novels, published originally by Eclipse Comics in 1988.
The two stories are Shadowplay: The Secret Team by Alan Moore and Bill Sienkiewicz, and Flashpoint: The LA Penca Bombing documented by Martha Honey and Tony Avirgan and adapted by Joyce Brabner and Tom Yeates. Brought to Light was edited overall by Joyce Brabner, Catherine Yronwode acted as executive editor, and Eclipse publisher Dean Mullaney was the publication designer. Both stories were based upon research by the Christic Institute, who initiated the work.

''Shadowplay: The Secret Team''

Shadowplay: The Secret Team was written by Alan Moore and drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz, with an introduction by Daniel Sheehan. It covers the history of the Central Intelligence Agency and its involvement in the Vietnam War, the Iran-Contra affair, and its relationship with figures like Augusto Pinochet and Manuel Noriega. The narrator of Shadowplay is an aging anthropomorphic American Eagle, a bellicose, retired CIA agent.
There were rumors that Moore was unable to travel to America due to the CIA being annoyed at his story in Brought to Light. However, the real reason was Moore not renewing his passport.
The story of "Shadowplay" is of an unseen character in a bar, where he is approached by a man-sized, walking, talking eagle. The eagle, from the emblem of the CIA, proceeds to drink alcohol and, in a drunken stupor, divulge all the details of The Agency's past. Early on a reference is made to the number of gallons an Olympic swimming pool can hold, and the fact that an adult human body has one gallon of blood; from then on, the victims of CIA activities are quantified in swimming pools filled with blood, with each pool representing 20,000 dead.

''Shadowplay'' spoken word

Shadowplay was made into a spoken word performance with Alan Moore and released on an audio compact disc by Codex Books in 1998. The narrative for the production is performed by Moore himself, in character, set to music by the composer Gary Lloyd who also collaborated on a similar narrative/music performance piece with Scottish author Iain Banks.

''Flashpoint: The LA Penca Bombing''

Flashpoint: The LA Penca Bombing is written by Joyce Brabner, as told to her by Christic Institute clients Martha Honey and Tony Avirgan. It deals with the La Penca bombing which happened during the civil war in Nicaragua in 1984.
Credits for “Flashpoint” list Jonathan Marshall on the introduction, Joyce Brabner writing, and Thomas Yeates illustrating, with letters by Bill Pearson and painting by Sam Parsons. Martha Honey and Tony Avirgan are credited with having told the story to Joyce Brabner.

Thirty Years of Covert War

In the center is a two-page feature by Paul Mavrides, "World Map of 30 Years of Covert Action" detailing election tampering, drug trafficking, assassination, and other crimes committed by the CIA.