Invisible Empire Chronicles Madge Oberholtzer’s Fight Against The Ku Klux Klan
by James Ferguson
In the world of comics, it’s easy to point to villains and monsters like Doctor Doom and The Joker, but often times the real bad guys are pulled from our own history. Such is the case with The Invisible Empire, a new graphic novel coming in September from Insight Comics. The book takes us back to Indiana in 1925 where the Ku Klux Klan is rising to power with an agenda of hate, violence, and corruption. All that changed when one woman, Madge Oberholtzer, testified against the Grand Dragon of Indiana, D.C. Stephenson with her dying breaths, exposing the true face of the Klan and changing the way Americans would see it forever.
The Invisible Empire is written by Micky Neilson and Todd A. Warger, with contributions from Samwise Didier and illustrations by Marc Borstel. It features a foreword by Karen Green.
Madge’s tale is a tragic one. She was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by Stephenson before attempting suicide while still in brutal captivity. After she died of complications, the trial that followed garnered national attention led by prosecutor William Remy.
The Invisible Empire: Madge Oberholtzer and the Unmasking of the Ku Klux Klan is set for release on September 17th, 2019.
