There’s an important new graphic novel coming out next week.
Back in 2003 when filmmaker Jack Baxter first visited Mike’s Place, a beachfront blues bar in Tel Aviv, he envisioned making a documentary about a venue where Jews, Muslims, tourists and expats could gather in peace and leave their differences at the door.
The bar had a rule — no discussing politics or religion — that appealed to the region’s young people who just wanted to let loose and enjoy themselves.
But Baxter couldn’t have predicted that a few weeks into filming, Mike’s Place would be attacked by a suicide bomber. The blast killed three people and left 50 injured, including Baxter. Baxter and Israeli filmmaker Joshua Faudem finished the documentary, “Blues by the Beach,” about the lead-up to the bombing and the bar’s rebirth after the tragedy.
More than a decade later, the filmmakers teamed up with Israeli-born illustrator Koren Shadmi to adapt their experience into a graphic novel. The result is “Mike’s Place: A True Story of Love, Blues and Terror in Tel Aviv,” out Tuesday from First Second Books.
Read more here, including an interview with Jack Baxter.
Meanwhile, here is a trailer to the film Blues By The Beach.
