Seth Tobocman

Silent comics are always interesting. This highly political one has a Trumpian demagogue stealing and perverting the anger of a populist uprising, twisting it into his hellish vision of America. Despite this, the author doesn't lose faith in the people, validated in the real world by the election results of 2020.

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: Introduction. Louder Than Words / Peter Kuper -- Prologue -- The Face of Struggle -- How This Book Came About -- [Illustration Gallery]

All of Seth Tobocman's squatter-related stories from World War Three Illustrated and elsewhere. Great as a political polemic, a piece of New York history, a graphic tour de force, and especially a many-angled study of some real people who couldn't quite live together because no one wanted them to, and because no one really knows how to, yet. I don't know whether to be in awe of Tobocman's achievement, or to conclude that this is what any very good artist should have done after observing show more those events. show less

Another well-done compilation of highly political graphic essays that are certain to enrage and depress.

Highlights include histories of recent Brazilian and Peruvian presidential politics. There are also accounts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine as well as the October 7 attacks on Israel and subsequent retribution upon Gaza. This thick edition also has room to examine climate change, water protectors, the Stop Cop City movement, and much more.

In the end, I think what I will most remember show more though is the dedication. It mentions that recently deceased illustrator Klee Benally was also in a band called Blackfire, so on impulse I pulled up the album One Nation Under on Spotify and, man, does it rock.

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents:
• My City Was Gone / Orange, illustrator
• Title Page / Mohammad Sabaaneh, illustrator
• Editorial / Jordan Worley, Nicole Schulman, Seth Tobocman, and Sue Simensky Bietila, editors; Mac Mcgill, illustrator
• Contents / Nidal, illustrator
• Dedication / Klee Benally, illustrator
• Apocalypse Now or Never / Gord Hill
• [Untitled] / Shalom Neuman, illustrator
• The Historically Foul Marco Temporal / Nico Donatti
• Any Way You Paint It Capitalism Is Not Compatible with Liberation / 3 the 3rd [Theo Thirdaye]
• They Got Money for War But Can’t Feed the Poor / 3 the 3rd [Theo Thirdaye]
• Defiende Lo Tuyo / Larimar Lora
• Doomsday Clock / Sue Coe
• The Bicentennial Generation / Carlo Quispe and Nadia Rondon
• The WE STAND Mural / [Ashland, Wisconsin, community project]
• The Vision of Tayseer Barakat / Tayseer Barakat, writer and illustrator; Fady Joudah, translator
• Our Blood Is the Same Color / Steve Brodner
• Jafra / Sara Shehadeh, writer and illustrator; Sara Naba, writer
• A Different Morning / Dania, scenes and story; Sara, script
• Love as Fierce as Death / Ethan Heitner
• Words of an Anonymous Survivor of October 7th / Frances Jetter, illustrator
• [Untitled] / Maisara Baroud, illustrator
• Hind Rajab’s Story / Shahd Alshamaly
• 30 Seconds in Gaza / Mohammad Sabaaneh
• March of Return / Seth Tobocman
• Bring Them Home Now / Michael "Mysh" Rozanov
• Olive Tree / Peter Kuper
• Leaving Kyiv / Volodymyr Bilyk, writer; Stephen Kroninger, illustrator
• It Is the Rotting of the Corpse / Yuriy Tarnawsky, writer; Nicole Schulman, illustrator
• Why Did Putin Invade Ukraine? / Bill Weinberg, writer; Seth Tobocman and Tamara Tornado, illustrators
• Parable of Two Men on a Bridge / Yuriy Tarnawsky and Maryna Novohorodska
• [Untitled] / Antony Reznik
• India Traffic / Seth Tobocman
• A Spirit of Hope / Edmund Trueman
• CHARAS Revisited / Sabrina Jones
• Memorial Tattoos / Terry Tapp
• Elephant Stampede in Milwaukee / Susan Simensky Bietila
• We Are Still Here / Elettra Stammboulis and Gianluca Costantini
• Bienvenida / Bianca and Annabelle Heckler
• Rainbow Railroad / Samuel and Annabelle Heckler
• Defend the Forest / Harbin Lostutter
• Stop Cop City / Priscilla Grim
• Two Poems / Constance Norgren, writer; Tom Keough, illustrator
• Memorial for Constance Norgren and Luke Norgren Keough
• Handala / Peter Kuper
• [Untitled Cartoons] / Isabella Bannerman
• What to Do? / p.tits.a
• The Apocalypse: What’s in It for You? / Jordan Worley
• [JBS Climate Butcher] / Sue Coe
• Wasteland / Kevin C. Pyle
• [Untitled] / Sue Coe
• Grief & Hope / Peter Odum
• The Beautiful Idea / N.O. Bonzo
• Stargazing in the Occupied Lands / Haneen Nazzal show less

A fine profile of civil liberties lawyer Leonard Weinglass and some of the major court cases in which he was involved, including the Chicago 7 and the Pentagon Papers. Occasionally the implications of the court decisions are traced well beyond Weinglass' involvement to give a broader context.

The balance between biography and courtroom drama was off though, with Weinglass' personal life disappearing amidst all the testimony, objections, and investigation. For instance, a puny income and a show more marriage and divorce are only mentioned in passing. Between these covers, Weinglass is more an icon than a fully-realized person.

Still, I enjoyed the history, especially the chapter on the murder trial of Jimi Simmons, a Native American accused of killing a prison guard. show less