In Spring 2020, Vera Camden and Valentino Zullo, American editors of the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics sat down with Derf Backderf to discuss his new book, Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio. Highlighting how important this work is as a graphic monument to the 50 th anniversary of the May 4 shootings, they spoke with Derf about his journalistic training, his development as a cartoonist, and his interest in depicting regional events that sustain global interest. Primarily featuring his new book, the conversation focuses on the power of the comics form to witness historical trauma and unbury victims through the drawn image, including those murdered on the Kent State University campus in 1970.