Ian Rosenberg and Mike Cavallaro return with a new edition of their visual examination of the history and complex nature of the First Amendment in the Free Speech Handbook: A Practical Framework for Understanding Our Free Speech Protections.
The duo’s graphic novel traces the history of free speech by looking at ten seminal Supreme Court cases, while at the same time drawing parallels with more recent controversies.
We spoke to Rosenberg and Cavallaro all about their graphic novel and why it is more topical than ever in this exclusive interview.
Where did the idea to create a graphic novel free speech handbook originate?
Ian Rosenberg: The genesis of Free Speech Handbook for me came after the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. I was talking to my family at the dinner table about the news report I was reviewing, as part of my job as a media lawyer, on the student survivors turned activists. My children became very serious about what would happen if they left school during the day to join the National School Walkout protests. Could they be punished? What were their rights? Americans of all ages are confronted with increasing frequency by a barrage of free speech questions like these, and yet there hasn’t been a general interest book explaining our First Amendment rights published in more than a decade.
Meanwhile, the conversations I had been having with my kids and media law students made me realize that it’s not only vital but possible for everyone to have a practical working knowledge of free speech law. I think the trick is to ditch jargon and academic theory, and make an effort to describe how First Amendment law applies to the controversies of today. I believe that wisdom can be condensed without being dumbed down. So that led me to write Free Speech Handbook— and then my cocreator, Mike Cavallaro, really took the text to another level with his amazingly engaging art. Together these fascinating stories and captivating drawings create a practical and accessible framework for understanding where our free speech protections originated and how they can evolve in the future.
How did both of you begin work on the Free Speech Handbook?
Rosenberg: Free Speech Handbook is a graphic novel adaptation of my book The Fight for Free Speech. So we began with a 200 page manuscript that was all text and Mike transformed it into a 200 page graphic novel that is mostly pictures. Mike began the process by taking Chapter 1, doing a number of drafts on his own, and then sending an essentially fully realized version of that Chapter to me. From there, we were able to really hit the ground running, and we would go back and forth with edits, but the credit really should go to Mike for solving the puzzle of how to transform my words about free speech law into a compelling graphic novel.
Mike Cavallaro: I had done several books with Mark Siegel, the Editorial Director at First Second Books. When Mark announced the creation of World Citizen Comics, essentially a line of civics graphic novels, I sent him a personal message to congratulate him on what I thought was a much needed effort and to say I’d love to participate in some way if an opportunity arose. In response, Mark asked if I was interested in checking out a book proposal he’d just received from a guy named Ian Rosenberg. When I volunteered my services, I’m not sure what I was looking for besides a chance to use what I do to contribute something worthwhile to the political conversations going on around me at the time. If you’d asked me then, I would not have said, “a book about the First Amendment.” But I was exhilarated by Ian’s presentation and the book it posited. It didn’t hurt that he quoted The Clash, one of my favorite bands, in his opening paragraph (KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!).
After that, as Ian describes, I set about looking for a visual style that would be an appropriate vehicle for expressing this particular story. It had to be buoyant, flexible, unfussy, and spontaneous. We hammered out a first chapter and then we were off to the races. I should mention, the hardcover version of this book was released as part of the World Citizen line, but this updated softcover version is out now as part of the new 23rd St Books imprint of adult graphic novels.
Mike-You have a ton of information to cover in the book. How did you approach all of the book in terms of your art and the medium, in combination with Ian’s writing?
Cavallaro: We went into it with a feeling that this book was timely and we needed to get it out soon. Mark Siegel has a talent for throwing down the gauntlet in subtle ways you barely notice at the time, but then end up being project defining suggestions. In this case he said, “Keep it lively and spontaneous, don’t do roughs, just go straight to final art.” I laughed, thinking “That’s impossible. I can’t do that…” But then it starts to nag at you, and you find yourself thinking, “…CAN I do that?…” I had to know. If you put all that together, the need to move quickly, no roughs, go straight to finished art, keep it lively and spontaneous, unlabored, unfussy, unfiltered, with artwork informed entirely by Ian’s text, you end up with a book that looks like this, or at least I did. I was working from the full text of Ian’s book, The Fight For Free Speech. It was necessary to cut text in order to make room for the art. But I’ve been saying I didn’t “remove” anything, I “transposed” it. If I could show something visually, that text was no longer needed. With other things, it was better to write it out. Ian and I went back and forth daily on this balancing act for the entire book.
The first edition was released in 2021. What are your thoughts on the need for the book in 2025?
Rosenberg: I think Free Speech Handbook is needed now more than ever. Battles over free speech are currently sweeping the country with an increasing intensity. Censorship efforts—particularly against graphic novels— plague our schools and libraries, attacks on the media continue unrelentingly, and protests on college campuses are prompting extreme efforts to suppress dissenting views in higher education. Given all of this turmoil, it is no surprise that it sometimes feels like the First Amendment legal ground beneath our feet is shifting in ways we cannot predict. Nevertheless, Free Speech Handbook provides a stabilizing framework for understanding our free speech rights even in unsettling times. Unless we truly know our rights as Americans, they are impossible to fully utilize and defend when threatened. This nonfiction graphic novel is a tool for fighting authoritarianism, protecting our democracy, and bringing an appreciation of free speech law to all Americans.
Cavallaro: We were ahead of the curve. The book is more important now than it was originally.
Which aspect or section are you most proud of in the book?
Rosenberg: I often say that I’m most proud of Mike’s art, which I have nothing to do with, and so I can feel free to be braggy about it. Mike not only compellingly illustrated what is being described, but he also was able to come up with a visual language for legal metaphors that does more than just explain what I’m describing about the law– he also gives us new insights and a fascinating approach to visually thinking about these concepts in a way that truly enriches these stories.
Cavallaro: I have my favorite parts, pages, characters, and those sorts of moments from the book but I don’t think that’s really what you’re asking here. Seriously, anyone who’s had an idea for a book, proposed it, made it, and successfully navigated the requisite minefield to have it come out? Be proud about ALL of that! I’m proud of Mark and Macmillan for seeing the need for books like this, and for continuing to make them at a time when books like this are under an unprecedented assault. Ian’s clear take on this decades spanning trip through U.S. history, and his ability to make it make sense to a layperson like me is something to be marveled at.
All together, the one thing I love most about this book came as a revelation to me after reading Ian’s manuscript the first time; the fact that at the core of each of these definitive Supreme Court cases is a regular human being just like you or me; a factory worker, a school kid, a comedian. They’re just regular people who got caught up in something they probably wished they hadn’t, and because they had the guts to see it through, they literally helped define our First Amendment rights. Our individual choices and actions? Rising to occasions we didn’t ask for? Turns out that stuff matters. That’s the part of this book that I dwell on and I hope it’s the part that sticks with readers.
Any upcoming projects that we should look out for?
Rosenberg: My next book is called Terrible Stuff Damaging Everybody: The True Story of Lies and Libel in Dominion v. Fox, and it comes out from NYU Press in the Fall of 2026. I see this story as a great courtroom drama that also reveals important truths about Fox News, election fraud lies, libel, and the future of democracy.
Cavallaro: For the last several years I’ve been working on two interlocking series of middle grade fantasy books, one called Nico Bravo, the other called Eowulf. A few are out, Eowulf: The Creature Connection is coming out this winter from First Second Books, and I hope to keep doing more of those as long as possible.
Free Speech Handbook: A Practical Framework for Understanding Our Free Speech Protections is currently available at finer bookstores everywhere.
