Anthony Lappe

This graphic novel was originally a webcomic and made the jump to the printed format (with a few changes along the way) in 2007. It is set in 2011 (the near-future at the time it was written, though I guess it could be considered an alternate reality when read now). McCain is President, Iran has the bomb, the US is bankrupt and still embroiled in Iraq. The Great Wall of Texas has been built to keep out immigrants from Mexico, but this has only further pushed the United States into economic show more crisis. Terrorist attacks keep rocking the country. Liberal blogger Jimmy Burns happens to be V-blogging live from outside a Starbucks when it is bombed. His live footage and commentary propels him to brief media stardom and he is offered a job from mega-news corporation (and Lockheed Martin-owned) Global News Network to report as an journalist in Iraq. He jumps at the opportunity. Soon however he finds himself the conduit for disseminating propaganda from a new, dangerous Jihadi outfit called the Sword of Mohammad, while also being manipulated by occupation forces. He is out of his depth and unable to figure out how to report from the dangerous war-zone. As his ratings plummet, GNN pushes him to 'scoop' other news networks by embedding with a special forces unit led by a bible-thumping commander who believes he is the embarked on a holy crusade and who is tasked with hunting down the crazed, charismatic leader of Sword of Mohammad. The plot gets more and more convoluted and involves civilian massacres, militias disguised as Iranians attacking American forces (prompting calls for an invasion of Iran from a breakaway far-right Republican Caucus party), a terrorist nuclear attack in India, drone-tanks piloted from giant warehouses in the States using PS4 technology and unending sectarian warfare. And Dan Rather.

The story is meant to be a satire on journalism (particularly the reporting of the Iraq war), U.S. politics and a whole lot more. However the story becomes so convoluted and over-wrought that I feel that for the most part it doesn't connect. When the world has gone as mad as is depicted here, I don't know what kind of reasoned critique one is going to be able to offer. And I say this as someone generally sympathetic to their politics. What I don't understand is why the author didn't just set his story in the here and now. Why invent extra wars in the middle east and new terrorist groups and new atrocities when there was already so much fodder for an intelligent critique at the time? The story is not entirely successful either. Jimmy Burns' character doesn't really stand out. Its not clear what his struggles are. (Spoiler ahead:) Why he didn't release the video of the execution of a female prisoner by an American soldier earlier. And in the face of a world gone mad, what is that video going to accomplish anyway (a question made particularly pertinent given the real-life exoneration of a marine squad of murdering 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians, mostly women and children and including a man in a wheel-chair earlier this month)? If one of the author's targets is the naivete of cosy liberal bloggers in the U.S., then one can't help but feel that he lays himself open to the same charge.

One last (relatively minor) issue. The artist, Dan Goldman uses a technique that often combines photographic material (often backgrounds and interiors) with drawn illustrations. For the most part this is an effective technique and adds to the chaotic, phantasmagoric feel of the story, (though occasionally the mismatch in perspectives of different elements within a panel can look rather odd) however there is one place where this technique breaks down. Near the end of the book, the illustrator uses the exterior and interiors of Istanbul's famous Sultan Ahmed Mosque (or Blue Mosque) for a nameless neighbourhood mosque to which the terrorists retreat and hideout. The result ends up looking ridiculous - its as if someone used the pictures of St. Paul's Cathedral to represent a neighbourhood Church in Toronto or Big Ben to represent a local clock-tower in a New Jersey neighbourhood.

Overall, I think Shooting War is interesting, engaging and provocative, but it suffers from some significant drawbacks. show less

I thought the concept and main idea of this book was very interesting but I found the artistic execution and the writing to be a bit clunky and convoluted for a tight, effective narrative. Couldve used a good editor.

Anyone interested in politics and the war in Iraq: those agree and those who disagree with Lappe’s politics (of which he does not hide his anti-war bias), will find something to think about in this charged tale filled with black humor and daring illustrations by artist Dan Goldman.

Written as a commentary on the present and future of journalism, this near-future graphic novel explores a videoblogger's experiences in Iraq. The book began as a webcomic. It's interesting to compare the web-based version with the print version. Both combine some interesting visual elements combining ink drawings with digital photographs and other images. Intended for mature readers (ages 16+), the comic format is filled with violence and profanity to make its point.