“The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation” by Johnathan Hennessey and Aaron McConnell is an excerpt from a graphic novel that retells the first lines of the Preamble with pictures to help identify what it means, as well as, the contrast between the present and the past when the Constitution was made. The US Constitution was written in 1787 and only resonated with certain people; rich, white, property owning men. It excluded many different types of people back then. However, it is very important to a wide range of people today. The authors make it clear by using tiers three and four, panels one and two on the second page, as well as, the importance of changing of colors to help know the distinctions of the Constitution meant in the past with everything that occurred back then, to what it means in today’s society.

On the second page of the excerpt, there are four different tiers that can be seen. In each tier, a new idea is introduced and contrasted in each image. Each tier mentioned helps round the idea of what the Constitution was about in the past and in the present. Tiers two and three have a change in color from red to purple. This change in rainbow order of color helps signify the past, in red to blue, and the present, which is depicted by green and purple. As the order of people range from Father Time with Native Americans, women, old people, and other races and the men of the Constitution in tier two with tier three that represented the many different people of the country that the US Constitution now resonates with. In the past, there were many people and minorities left out when it came to realizing that the US Constitution was only meant for some people. However, in tier three you can see a unique mix of people, races, and religions that now the country and Constitution holds meaning for. The use of changing colors in rainbow order helped made it more obvious and organized to help illustrate the importance between what the US Constitution meant back then to what it means today.

Hennessey and McConnell also made it apparent of showing the differences with by exhibiting separate panels. On page two on tier one, there are two panels separated with a gutter that show the physical difference of back when the Constitution was made to the present. On the left panel, there is a compass. However, on the right panel there was a compass, but it was inside the GPS. This reference and technique made it significant to emphasize the drastic needs and events that were occurring during the Constitution and present day. By using panels, it was relevant and easy to understand how the background of present day differed from when the US Constitution was made.

In most of the panels and tiers that the authors had used, a wide shot angle was displayed in each of their drawings. In tier two, you can see Father Time holding an hour glass to a bunch of rich white men. He is holding an hour glass in front of them to signify that time is the essence of change that will occur despite people trying to prevent it. The people standing behind Father Time were women, men of different races, and skin color and ages which differed from the property owning, wealthy, white men.  In the next tier down, you can see that the flag is being held, and many different kinds of people are standing and paying respects to it. The new age of the Constitution shows that women, older people, new religions and races were saluting the flag. We are able to understand the contrast of time and change through the use of the wide shot to help ensure that before when the Constitution was being made, it only resonated with a small and certain group, while today it represents a much larger population and holds a new meaning.

Hennessey and McConnell emphasized the importance of color, contrasting panels and tiers to help show what the Constitution why written for, to what the importance it holds in today’s society. Contrasting panels that represented different ways of using a map (a compass and GPS) helps set the scene on the beginning of the second page to help the readers understand that the Constitution was written back in a time that is not similar to todays. Also, in the third and fourth tier, the rainbow order of changing colors helps signify that time has passed along with the  difference between the people in tiers three and four. These techniques helped define the understanding of what the US Constitution meant when it was made, to what it means today.

