Alissa and Eddie shared not just an American love story, but a
New York one, a story that didn’t receive the happy ending it
deserved. They met in a downtown club, and as they left to take a
walk and get to know each other better, they emerged into the
shadow of the World Trade Center. At least this is how Alissa
remembers it in the pages of AMERICAN WIDOW, an emotionally
wrenching but never sentimental work that manages to whittle this
epic tragedy down to the intensely personal.

Alissa and her new beau, Luis Eduardo “Eddie”
Torres, enjoyed a whirlwind romance. They met in August 1998, just
a week before Eddie was scheduled to face a possible deportation
back to Colombia if his work visa expired. He stayed, and Alissa
stayed with him. Seven months later they were married.

In September 2001, Alissa was seven months pregnant and Eddie
was unemployed. His desperate search for work brought him to Cantor
Fitzgerald, who hired him to start on September 10th in their
offices in the World Trade Center. The next day, he died along with
all the other employees in the office that day.

AMERICAN WIDOW doesn’t wallow in self-pity, but it does
clearly evoke the emotions --- still so raw --- that we all felt
seven years ago. Alissa Torres reportedly decided to tell her own
9/11 story in graphic novel form after she remarked to a friend
that all the pitfalls she faced in dealing with its aftermath made
her think that her life was like a comic book. Perhaps, although it
can definitely be said that the medium lends itself awfully well to
the story she is telling. In a way, this blending of unadulterated
passionate feelings, coupled with cold hard facts, is perfect for
the graphic medium. Torres and her artist, Sungyoon Choi, use it to
their advantage, mixing real events with imagination and jumbling
the timeline in a way that drives the story home even more.

With sheer frustration, we follow Alissa as she attempts not
only to navigate the final days of her pregnancy but also to sort
through the incredible volume of paperwork, bureaucracy and
pigheadedness that followed 9/11. With a media chomping at the bit
to show the personal tragedy of pregnant widows, Alissa and others
similar to her draw attention, but the outpouring of support lasts
only so long. Months later, with no money coming in and extensive
bills racking up, frustrations mount and sympathy has seemingly
dissipated, to be replaced by accusations of greed and
celebrity-seeking.

It’s a sad turn of events, and watching it all unfold from
the relative safety of being seven years removed from that day
makes it somewhat surreal to witness. We sense Alissa’s
ongoing frustration and feel it firsthand. We ache for what she
lost (she never loses focus of the love story at the heart of this
book). We mourn, and we feel bad for the child that will never know
his father. We feel lost and strive desperately for answers in the
text. Some answers come. Some don’t. That’s the legacy
of 9/11. Alissa Torres probably realizes that as well as
anyone.