Q

Robert Sikoryak makes reading terms and conditions fun in new graphic novel

Robert Sikoryak discusses his latest graphic novel, Terms and Conditions, and his love of adapting texts in new and unexpected ways.
Bob Sikoryak's latest graphic novel, Terms and Conditions, came out on March 7, 2017. (Kriota Willberg, courtesy of Drawn and Quarterly)

Be honest: have you ever read all the terms and conditions of something before clicking "Accept"?

The long scroll of mundane agreements is something many people don't take the time to read but artist Robert Sikoryak has found a way to make it more palatable for our eyes: by turning it into a graphic novel. 

His latest book, Terms and Conditions, is just that: the text from a terms and conditions agreement form, illustrated into a comic book-style read using different characters and incarnations of Apple founder Steve Jobs as the protagonist of the non-narrative.

The cover of Robert Sikoryak's newest graphic novel, Terms and Conditions. (Courtesy of Drawn and Quarterly)

"There's nothing cinematic about the text, it doesn't beg for illustrations," Sikoryak admits. "They don't seem to impact our lives and yet, they're omnipresent and we also feel like there's something I should be paying attention to here." 

Web extra: Below are excerpts from Sikoryak's Terms and Conditions and, underneath that, some examples of his Donald Trump illustrations, as discussed in today's interview.

An excerpt from Robert Sikoryak's graphic novel, Terms and Conditions. (Courtesy of Drawn and Quarterly )
An excerpt from Robert Sikoryak's Terms and Conditions. (Courtesy of Drawn and Quarterly)
Robert Sikoryak's cartoon depiction of Donald Trump. (Courtesy of Drawn and Quarterly)
Robert Sikoryak's cartoon depiction of Donald Trump. (Courtesy of Drawn and Quarterly)

— Produced by Ben Jamieson