Benghazi 9/11/12: The Graphic Novel

The Pivotal Scandal that Media Ignored

Nov 30, 2025

∙ Paid

March 28, 2012

The outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Libya Gene Cretz sends a cable to Secretary Hillary Clinton requesting additional security assets at the consulate in Benghazi, Libya. He’s concerned about the growing number of Islamic terror attacks aimed at Western diplomats.

Jack Kirbystyle comic book panel: LOW ANGLE SHOT looking up at Ambassador Gene Cretz in heroic proportions, standing at a massive diplomatic desk in his Tripoli embassy office. He's hunched forward intensely over a glowing computer terminal, fingers dramatically poised over keyboard, face cast in stark shadows with dramatic highlights carving out determined features. His expression shows grave concern and urgency. Behind him, TOWERING windows reveal the Tripoli cityscape at dusk with ominous storm clouds gathering, backlit by crimson and orange sunset creating strong silhouette contrast. KIRBY KRACKLE energy dots surround the computer screen and radiate outward, symbolizing the critical importance of the urgent cable message. Diagonal speed lines streak across the composition suggesting movement and tension. In the FOREGROUND, extreme perspective shows official State Department documents scattered across the desk with 'SECURITY REQUEST' visible in bold letters. DRAMATIC LIGHTING: harsh spotlight from above creates deep shadows, rim lighting on Cretz's shoulders. The monitor casts an eerie blue glow on his face. Composition uses sharp angular panel borders tilted at dynamic angle. Background includes American flag in shadow, symbolic of duty. Overall mood: desperate urgency, heroic determination, impending crisis. Heavy blacks and whites with minimal grays for maximum contrast. Epic, monumental scale despite intimate office setting. Jack Kirby comic book art style, dynamic composition, bold inking, dramatic angles, high contrast black and white with color accents, 1960s Marvel Comics aesthetic, Kirby dots energy effects.png

April 6, 2012

Al Qaeda-aligned terrorists throw an IED over the Benghazi consulate wall. No one is harmed but the message is clear.

April 19, 2012

A cable from the State Department to Ambassador Gene Cretz, signed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, refuses the request for additional security.

A dramatic Jack Kirbystyle comic book panel depicting a tense governmental moment: EXTREME LOW ANGLE shot looking up at a massive ornate desk in the State Department, creating heroic scale and power dynamics. Behind the desk, a silhouetted authority figure's hand dramatically stamps or signs a document, with KIRBY CRACKLE energy effects radiating from the point of contact between pen and paper. The cable document itself is prominently displayed in the foreground, taking up the lower third of the panel at a bold diagonal angle, with official State Department letterhead visible and stark BLACK INK contrasting against WHITE PAPER. Deep shadows cast across the desk surface, broken by sharp beams of light from a window creating STRONG CHIAROSCURO effect. In the background, barely visible through venetian blind slats, the silhouette of a distant embassy or compound. KIRBY DOTS swirl around the edges of the frame suggesting cosmic significance and weight of decision. The lighting is DRAMATIC and NOIRINFLUENCED with heavy shadows and sharp highlights. The composition uses EXTREME PERSPECTIVE with the desk and document creating powerful diagonal lines leading the eye. The mood is FOREBODING and FATEFUL, emphasizing the gravity of bureaucratic decisions. Style: bold inking, exaggerated proportions, dynamic energy effects, cinematic framing, epic scale despite mundane subject matter, heavy contrast between pure blacks and whites. Jack Kirby comic book art style, dynamic composition, bold inking, dramatic angles, high contrast black and white with color accents, 1960s Marvel Comics aesthetic, Kirby dots energy effects.png

June 6, 2012

Terrorists blow a large hole through the Benghazi consulate gate.

JACK KIRBY STYLE COMIC PANEL: Extreme lowangle shot looking up at the massive U.S. consulate gate in Benghazi as it EXPLODES in a catastrophic blast. The gate is torn apart by violent force, with jagged metal fragments and concrete chunks suspended in midair, frozen at the peak moment of destruction. KIRBY CRACKLE energy emanates from the explosion epicenter those iconic black dots radiating outward in cosmic patterns. Thick plumes of smoke billow upward in bold, geometric shapes with hard edges and dramatic curves. The blast creates intense chiaroscuro lighting brilliant orange and white flames contrasting against deep black shadows and dark night sky. Debris field spreads outward in dynamic diagonal compositions. The destroyed gate section shows a gaping hole with twisted rebar and shattered masonry rendered in Kirby's characteristic bold, chunky linework. Speed lines and motion blur suggest violent kinetic energy. Dramatic perspective distortion makes the explosion feel massive and overwhelming. Heavy black inking creates powerful shadows. The scene conveys epic scale and devastating force through exaggerated proportions and theatrical staging, capturing the terrifying moment of the June 6, 2012 attack with Kirby's signature bombastic visual language heroic scale applied to a tragic realworld event, emphasizing the raw power and danger of the explosion while maintaining documentary authenticity of the gate breach incident. Jack Kirby comic book art style, dynamic composition, bold inking, dramatic angles, high contrast black and white with color accents, 1960s Marvel Comics aesthetic, Kirby dots energy effects.png

June 15, 2012

State Dept. official Charlene Lamb tells the Ambassador’s office that the consulate’s security team contract would not be renewed.

Not only would no additional security be allowed — the current diplomatic security team would be recalled.

Jack Kirbystyle dramatic comic book panel: Lowangle shot looking up at a stark government office with harsh fluorescent lighting creating dramatic shadows. In the foreground, ERIC NORDSTROM, depicted in heroic proportions with strong facial features etched in concern and frustration, grips a phone receiver with white knuckles, his face partially shadowed. Kirby crackle energy radiates from the phone like electric tension. Across the composition, visualized through a splitscreen effect with bold diagonal dividing line, C. LAMB sits at a desk surrounded by bureaucratic papers and documents, rendered in cold blues and grays, face stoic and shadowed, hand gesturing dismissively. Between them, explosive Kirby dots burst outward symbolizing the impact of the words 'CONTRACT NOT RENEWED' which appear in bold, angular lettering. The background shows fragmented images of a distant compound and security personnel fading like ghosts, emphasized with BenDay dots and heavy ink work. Deep shadows cut across both figures at dramatic angles. The overall composition uses extreme perspective with converging lines creating tension, dominated by stark blacks and limited color palette of grays, blues, and strategic red highlights. Dense crosshatching emphasizes the weight of the moment. June 15, 2012 date stamp in corner in bold Kirbystyle lettering. Jack Kirby comic book art style, dynamic composition, bold inking, dramatic angles, high contrast black and white with color accents, 1960s Marvel Comics aesthetic, Kirby dots energy effects.png

August 2, 2012

Incoming Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens sends an urgent cable to Clinton’s office requesting an emergency protective detail.

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