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WORLD WAR 3 ILLUSTRATED: TAKING LIBERTIES (#34)
Content by Various; Edited by Peter Kuper, Kevin Pyle & Susan Willmarth
($5.00 + post. from World War 3 Illustrated / PO Box 20777 / Tompkins Square Station / New York, NY / 10009 USA. Distributed by
Top Shelf Comics)
Review by Tim O'Neil
Although it may seem unlikely, it’s as good a time to be a liberal now as it has been in decades. Our current administration, once so unflappably invincible in the face of criticism, is rocked almost daily by scandal, betrayal and an almost never-ending stream of brickbats from both the left and the right. The left, just six months ago in disarray and panic, is looking more cogent and collected every day as their critique of the current administration gains increasing currency throughout the mainstream of American politics. For the first time in a long time the voice of disaffected liberal America is actually carrying.
So it’s the perfect time for a new edition of
World War 3 Illustrated, right? Well, yes – although I will admit I had my doubts. In the past although there have been many wonderful features and contributors to recommend the magazine, it has often strayed far too close to the realm of political agitprop for my tastes – and I say this as someone who situates himself firmly at the far left of the political spectrum. I am as uncomfortable with leftist propaganda as rightist propaganda, and for the same reasons: propaganda by its nature elicits the uncritical acceptance of a political dogma. I consider myself a leftist not because the left has the best and most convincing slogans but because of what I perceive to be a deep and abiding moral and intellectual bankruptcy on the part of the right. In the past
WW3I has veered frightfully close to the realms of mere sloganeering. But the stakes have never been higher and, thankfully, it seems as if the editors have risen to the challenge.
This is not to say that the issue is flawless – not by any means – but the ratio of meaningful dialogue to noisome, cathartic and ultimately jejune protest seems to have improved greatly. Unfortunately, the worst piece in the entire issue is probably the cover: a snarling camouflaged Doberman drooling over a dog bone with the legend “Iraq” writ across in bold letters while oil derricks loom large against an ominous orange sky. It’s a hideously maladroit sentiment by cover artist Mirko Ilic, considering the hundreds of thousands of American soldiers being put in harms way every day in Iraq, not to mention the thousands wounded and the hundreds who have died. If the US Military and the anti-war left could ever be considered to have a common ground, it’s now. Whatever happened to “Anti-War, Pro Veteran”?
Notwithstanding the cover, however, the issue succeeds in striking the difficult but potent balance between sober commentary and cutting satire. Although the Iraqi war is a constant presence in the background, the issue’s main focus is the erosion of civil freedoms in the United States since September 11th – hence the subtitle, “Taking Liberties”. In between humorous (though no less horrifying) strips by Tom Tomorrow, Keith Knight and Kuper himself, there are informative essays on the proliferation of security cameras in downtown Manhattan and the fiscal logic behind the current Administration’s foreign and domestic policies. Especially damning is an article placing the so-called “Patriot” act within the context of a long American tradition of harmfully restrictive legislation dating back to the Sedition Act of 1798.
I have to question their wisdom in printing excerpts from forthcoming works by both Art Spiegelman and Mike Diana. The Spiegelman piece, a page from his ‘In The Shadow of No Towers’ series, reads unsurprisingly flat when shorn from the context of its larger weekly continuity. Diana’s solitary page, an excerpt from a forthcoming work entitled ‘Go To Hell’, implies a greater mastery than we have seen in any of Diana’s previous, unformed strips. In both cases I was left scratching my head and wondering why they bothered including such frustratingly small passages.
Small quibbles aside, there’s still a great deal to recommend the latest issue of
WW3I. It goes without saying that if your politics don’t run left-of-center, you will find very little to like here. Otherwise, there’s more than enough righteous paranoia and frightening historical perspective herein to keep you angry and afraid for a long time to come.
[ Link to this review ]
