Debuting this week, The Faithful Spy, a middle-grade graphic novel by John Hendrix (MFA 2003 Illustration as Visual Essay), tells the true story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor and theologian who joined resistance efforts during World War II and took part in an undercover plot to assassinate Hitler. "It’s a book I've wanted to write for many years because I've known his story since college," says Hendrix, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis and author and illustrator of several best-selling children’s books.

In his first foray into a more extended format, Hendrix unpacks layers of Germany history alongside the story of Bonhoeffer’s life; the retellings are both carefully considered and genuinely suspenseful. Against the horrific crimes of the Third Reich, Bonhoeffer is forced to redefine his faith, his morality and his patriotism, confronting Nazi violence and oppression and his own ethical dilemmas.

Visually, the narrative unfolds "like a sketchbook that had come to life," with sections of comics, maps, splash pages and handwritten text interacting. "The original idea was that Dietrich was writing the book and drawing," notes Hendrix, whose illustrations have appeared in The New York Times, Sports Illustrated and Rolling Stone. The immediacy of the sketchbook experience adds to the urgency of Hendrix’s retelling.

Below, Hendrix delves further into the timing of the book’s release, the aptitude young audiences have for complex subject matter, and the newfound challenges of a big project—"It’s this killing your darlings process that happens over and over again."

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