Justice Warriors

Justice Warriors is a series set in a near future where citizens live in a "perfect," domed city called "The Bubble" and are surrounded by the "Uninhabited Zone," which is populated by mutants who live in squalor. The Justice Warriors are police who enforce the laws of The Bubble in the UZ, one officer a monster with a goldfish head named Swamp, the other a walking poop emoji named Cadet Schitt. Swamp is not a great officer, and in the course of the first few pages, his partner is killed in action while he waits for his breakfast burrito to be cooked. Those in charge are perhaps even worse: The mayor is a musician who is more interested in album sales than governing, the chief of police a robot obsessed with social media and not justice. And overall, the entire system promotes capitalism over any sense of morality.

Exhibit A.

This future comments on our present day in darkly funny ways, parodying our contemporary consumption as vapid and in service of maintaining a power structure of media and soft drink companies while shilling cheap goods at the general populace. It is a darkly funny book, full of extreme, slapstick violence and a Judge Dredd-level of social commentary where it is way too easy to find yourself rooting for the wrong side (if there is one). The adversary in this book is a band of Zodiac-driven terrorists, they are Libras, who are exacting justice by taking over social medial popularity and invading the Bubble. They wreak havoc and disturb album sales, but what is disturbing is how most folks are easily swayed to their side and a "new" social order where the new boss will be just like the old one. 

This book is biting and weirdly fun, pointing out many of the foibles of ourselves and our current times. And perhaps best of all, it features phenomenally good artwork. The wide variety of mutants are cartoonish, highly detailed, and quite distinct from each other. There are intricate backgrounds that belay a vast amount of world-building. And the action sequences and comedic timing are both on point. I found myself poring over this book, reading and rereading sections to drink in all the mayhem, hilarity, and detail.

Justice Warriors is a collaboration between writer Matt Bors and artist Ben Clarkson. Bors is a long time political cartoonist who also founded and edited The Nib. He has won multiple Eisner Awards, was twice nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and also writes the recent Toxic Avenger series. Clarkson works in animation, illustration, fine art, theater and comics, and his work has appeared internationally in many venues. Bors and Clarkson both speak more about their work on this book in this interview.

All of the reviews I have read of this book have been positive. Zack Quaintance called it "a dense, surprising, and often-hilarious read." Ryan Zickgraf wrote, "Part of what makes Justice Warriors feel fresh is that it finds new ways to depict totalitarian regimes. Instead of the predictable censorship-focused Big Brother of the endless 1984 knockoffs, everyone in Bubble City is free to speak their mind online — but the algorithm is tweaked to favor the rich and powerful and ads promoting conspicuous consumption."

Justice Warriors was published by Ahoy Comics, and they offer more information about the series here. It features violence, gore, and profanity, and is advised for readers mature enough to handle those things. For those who enjoyed this book, a second volume, Vote Harder, has also been published.

The Toxic Avenger

When I was growing up, there was a theater right next door to my dad's pizzeria, and I saw many a movie there. One of my formative experiences was watching the original Toxic Avenger movie, which warped my prepubescent brain with all its gore, violence, and "special effects." It led me to other films from Troma, and probably deranged me (in what I feel are mostly positive ways). I was not as big a fan of the 1990s cartoon revival of the franchise, though I was glad for the popularity and profits for the upstart parent company. A re-imagined version of the monster hero starring Peter Dinklage will debut in theaters this year, but before it arrived there was this five-issue comic book series collected here. 

This version of the Toxic Avenger operates independently of any of the movies, and new readers really do not need to know anything about them. Here, Tromaville, NJ is beset by a huge environmental disaster, and aliens and/or a shady corporation may or not be involved (I'm not going to spoil it). The entire area is quarantined, and a good number of the populace are exposed to something that radically transforms them into monstrous beings. Furthermore, there is a huge amount of misinformation coming from the government over both traditional and social media that obscures what is really happening. 

As you can see from this excerpt, this book follows the exploits of Melvin, once a scrawny weakling but now a strapping, grotesque hulk. Over the course of the narrative, he has to deal with physical battles from his former bullies who are also now monstrous, as well as the ethical dilemma of possibly becoming the public face of the huge cover-up fabricated to lie to the public about what happened in Tromaville. Among all of this action, horror, and intrigue, there is also a good dose of ridicule aimed at public and business institutions as well as some good old fashioned physical humor. I found this book highly entertaining, and luckily for those reading this trade paperback, they don't have to wait a month to see what happens in each subsequent chapter.

This book is the product of writer Matt Bors and artists Fred Harper and Lee Loughridge. Bors is a long time political cartoonist who also founded and edited The Nib. He has won multiple Eisner Awards and also writes the Justice Warriors series. Harper has a huge list of past clients, both comics and corporate. Loughridge is one of the most in-demand colorists in contemporary comic books. You can read more about these Toxic Avenger comics in this interview.

The reviews I have read about this book have been positive. Steven W. Alloway called it " weird, funny, sarcastic, satirical, sometimes violent, often gross, extremely campy, but ultimately good-hearted." Chris Coplan, who is a long-time Toxie fan like me, wrote that it "isn’t just a damn good comic, but it very much exceeds my kooky, totally awkward expectations."

The Toxic Avenger was published by Ahoy Comics, and they provide more information about it here. This book features body horror, gore, violence, and profanity, so I suggest it for readers mature enough to deal with those things.

And for those are enjoy this book, good news: there is more on the way.

The Nib, Issue 5: Animals

The latest issue of The Nib magazine came out a few weeks ago, and its theme was animals. Not only was I treated to a variety of art styles and tones, I learned a lot from reading this book, including the fact that in the 1930s there was a supposed talking mongoose(!), most fur for clothing comes from a raccoon dog(!!), and Mickey Mouse wearing gloves comes from a minstrel tradition(!!!). I also got to see lots of other interesting information, including distances and migration patterns of various creatures and drawings of a series of endlings, the last known individuals of a species.

Among the more lengthy feature articles, two particularly stood out to me. Arwen Donahue wrote and drew an thought-provoking piece about raising, milking, and butchering goats and how that squares up with her views of vegetarianism, environmentalism, and community. It is not a very cut-and-dried issue, and I appreciated just how much she elucidated a debate about the ethics of farming and raising various sorts of livestock.

Writer Dorian Alexander, journalist Sarah Mirk, and artist Levi Hastings collaborated on an article about the economic and ethical dilemmas regarding smuggling and selling parrots from tropical locales. It is a big business for some, with an impact on local ecologies as well as the people looking to profit from these birds. Not to mention that the birds themselves also suffer because of these practices. What I loved about both of these works was how they mingled personal experiences with research and journalism to make some very impactful writing.

And just to remind people that not everything in this magazine is so heady and complex, there are also a series of gag strips as well as illustrated letters to the editor that round out this collection. I truly feel that the contributors at The Nib are making some of the best comics right now. Herblock Prize-winning, Pulitzer Prize-nominated editor Matt Bors has assembled another murderers' row of creators here.

The reviews I have read of this volume have been positive. Zack Quaintance noted "that that reading experience was quite good, adding that journalism done via this medium is so rare that whenever I come across some of this quality, it tends to linger with me for days (and days...and days)." You can see a bunch of other reviews at Goodreads, where it has a 4.40 stars (out of 5) rating as of this blog.

Content for The Nib is published regularly online, though the print version features exclusive content and comes out about three times a year. You should consider becoming a member and supporting their high quality, independent artistic and journalistic endeavor.

The Nib Magazine Issue 4: Scams

I just read the fourth issue of The Nib print magazine, and it is a top notch collection of political cartoons, tales, and reports by excellent writers and cartoonists. I am a huge fan of The Nib, as a magazine and as a website that updates fairly regularly (practically daily). As of July, the entire enterprise is independent and reliant on the support of its readers, and I am glad to take this time to highlight what I feel is an excellent source of comics goodness.

This particular issue focuses on Scams, and it covers multiple topics, including the classic Nigerian Prince email swindle, ways that refugees are robbed by supposed help agencies, various Ponzi schemes, seemingly criminal real estate practices, good-old-fashioned counterfeiting, and electronic fraud. The stories are current, topical, and fascinating. Also, many also feature a good dose of humor. I love nonfiction comics, and this book is full of them.

Stand-out stories in this book include:

Emi Gennis's account of John Romulus Brinkley, "The Goat Gland Doctor" who was an infamous huckster with a huge radio signal.

"My Heart Burns" by Yazan al-Saadi and Tracy Chahwan, about smugglers and how they fleece Syrian refugees who are most vulnerable and desperate.

Josh Carter and Liz Enright's "Secret Agent Man," about one father's search for a big online score and its aftermath on his family's lives.

These stories are profoundly moving as well as eye-opening. These are the best kinds of comics: educational, informative, funny, and emotional. There is something here for everyone.

The Nib's website, where original work is regularly published, is here. Memberships to The Nib are available here. Rates start at $2/month, and the print copy costs $4/month. It's well worth it!

They are also currently running a summer fundraiser, if you are just inclined to make a donation, I say it's for a great bunch of folks.

The Nib Magazine Issue 2: Family

I reviewed the first issue of The Nib here, and there I wrote, "The contents of this magazine are first rate, well drawn, thoughtfully composed, and diverse in terms of scope and tone. This magazine offers much food for thought as well as entertainment, and I hope that it runs for a long, long time." Reading this second issue, I echo thoughts thoughts and wishes. This anthology continues to be excellent, full of entertaining and thought provoking works.

The focus of the second issue was on the topic of Family, and it features a wide variety of nonfiction and political stories that include:

Sarah Glidden speaking about her struggles with fertility.

Twin comics creators Matthew and Jake New reporting about a twins festival they attended in Twinsburg, Ohio.

The Intercept's Ryan Devereaux reporting on a Brazilian father and son who were separated at the US border, illustrated by Katie Wheeler.

And an interview with Fun Home's Alison Bechdel about the aftermath of writing an autobiography. There are many more interesting pieces in this magazine, which runs about 120 pages and is more like anthology book. Some are shorter one-pagers, gag strips, or even one panel comics, but they are all quality reading.

The Nib #2 was published by First Look Media, and they offer more info about it here. The Nib publishes multiple comics pretty much everyday, and the web version is available here. Future print issues of the magazine can be purchased here by becoming a member of the Inkwell Society. They plan to continue publishing on a quarterly schedule.

The Nib Magazine Issue 1: Death

I read a lot of comics, and some of my favorite webcomics are published by The Nib, which runs political cartoons or nonfiction works. When they ran a Kickstarter campaign recently to start a print magazine, I was all too happy to sign up. This issue is their first, and it's more like a book, 110 pages in length. It offers plenty of content, divided into four sections, and the variety of works contained here is exemplary. 

The first section is Departments, which consists of items like Letters to the Editor (illustrated, naturally), an interview with Barbara Ehrenreich, and the Response feature, which here is four artists responding to the question of what they want to happen to their bodies after they die.

Comic by Emi Gennis

The second section is Dispatches, which consists of sundry strips about how the Day of the Dead compares to Halloween, a history of representations of death, and a few different takes on how funeral services are being practiced.

Excerpt of comic by Josh Neufeld

The third section is Features, which consists of larger comics. Here, there is an exploration of how tech millionaires are funding research into longevity; a fascinating look at the history of lethal injection in the US, and a memoir about losing a baby during birth.

Excerpt of comic by Andy Warner

The final section is a hodgepodge of strips, some funny and others more sober, that comment on death and how people deal with it.

The contents of this magazine are first rate, well drawn, thoughtfully composed, and diverse in terms of scope and tone. This magazine offers much food for thought as well as entertainment, and I hope that it runs for a long, long time.

I had a hard time finding reviews of this magazine, but the one I did read was very positive. Matt Keeley called it "a triumph." 

The Nib publishes multiple comics pretty much everyday, and the web version is available here. Future print issues of the magazine can be purchased here by becoming a member of the Inkwell Society. They plan to publish on a quarterly schedule.

War is Boring

Chad, Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, Afghanistan, and East Timor might not be ideal travel spots for many but David Axe is a "war tourist" and journalist who is working to depict the victims and conditions from world conflicts. He publishes his work in a number of forums, including the War is Boring blog, columns at World Politics Review, and Wired's Danger Room. He does not have an official page, but he has served as a war correspondent for numerous outlets, including C-Span and BBC Radio, and his bio can be found by scrolling down this info page.

War is Boring gives us short chapters on his visits to these global hot spots, interspersed with stories from the US, with Axe trying to maintain personal relationships with his friends and family while being absent for long periods of time. We get snapshots of each place, not the extended or multiple viewpoints found in Joe Sacco's work, for example. The effect is a series of vignettes that tend to run together as well as a view into Axe's seemingly pathological and self-destructive tendencies to place himself in danger. I got as small sense of political situations but a larger sense of the personality of a war correspondent. Conveying such a personal portrait in the context of these global conflicts makes for an interesting, provocative juxtaposition.

War is Boring is the combined effort of two political activists. David Axe's views about his work here are explored in this interview with Noah Shacthman. Matt Bors, who provided the art, is a nationally syndicated editorial cartoonist who creates the webcomic Idiot Box and comments on his work via his blog. His style is realistic with a cartoon edge, and he is adept at capturing people's emotions through facial expressions. This interview with Tom Spurgeon casts more light on Bors's work on this book and beyond.

Reviews of this graphic memoir have been mostly positive, pointing out the effectiveness of the personal spin on world issues. Publishers Weekly (free registration needed to access reviews) noted that the book "suffers a bit from Axe's ambivalence toward his calling, but his honesty sets it apart from other war narratives." Kirkus Reviews called it "powerful" and "elliptical," highlighting the questions it raised about whether war is a constant state of humanity. Brett Schenker called it a "great read."

A video preview and more information about the book and creators can be found here from the publisher New American Library.