The common links with most of the standard dystopian literature gracing high school syllabi seems to be that these visions are all set in the distant future. Orwell’s 1984 was published a good 35 years before the year in which he predicted the government’s hyper surveillance measures and monopoly on truth would take place. With Brave New World, Aldous Huxley didn’t predict that the world would become sterile, joyless and bound by a state sanctioned caste system until 2540. Sure, these men didn’t give us a flattering vision of the future, but they did give us the luxury of a little time to at least try to alter these dismal courses. In the graphic novel Shooting War, written by Anthony Lappé and illustrated by Dan Goldman, originally an ongoing serial comic at Smithmag.net, we’re given a war-torn future riddled with a continuing Iraq situation (under President John McCain, no less), nuked U.S. call centers on Indian soil and warring Muslim extremist groups. What the duo doesn’t give us is a safe and comfortable cushion of time. This would seem kind of kind of cruel on their part if current events didn’t make it so damn believable.
The story revolves around fictional video-blogger Jimmy Burns, an artfully tousled Williamsburg resident who looks like the Justin Long character of “I’m a Mac” commercials fame committed to pen and ink. It seems fitting since images of Burns’ MacBook make their way into so many panels, and the book almost seems, at times, like a portable Apple commercial.
Anthony Lappé is the artfully tousled executive editor of the Guerilla News Network, his leftist independent news site. Lappé also produced the Iraq war documentary, BattleGround: 21 Days on the Empire’s Edge, so he’s familiar with the source material firsthand.
As his alter ego, Burns coincidentally films a “homicide bombing” at a fictional Starbucks on Williamsburg’s Grand Street and, after uploading the footage to the net, becomes an overnight media sensation, New York magazine cover boy and sex symbol for the kind of spring break denizens who might wake up on Joe Francis’ hotel floor. With his apartment burnt down and at a loss for what to do next, upstart Global News Network, a 24-hour terror news channel that makes Fox Network look subtle and well-reasoned by comparison, sends Jimmy off to Baghdad as a correspondent. That’s where his troubles really begin, but at least his hotel accommodations are nice.
Since Shooting War is set in 2011, just four years into the future, it’s predictably certain things haven’t changed: Corporate overlords such as Starbucks and American Apparel are still gobbling up properties in trendy Brooklyn neighborhoods, TV news network anchors are still vapid repositories for porcelain veneers the size of tombstones and the quagmire in Iraq rages on. If it’s any consolation to anyone, Dan Rather is mercifully still kicking and retains his affinity for colorful metaphor as he drags his crypt- keeper ass around Baghdad and trades gruff fatherly witticisms with the rookie Burns.
Prior to Shooting War, the political cartoon concerning foreign policy that hit the most nerves was David Rees’ Get Your War On. Shrouded in clip art of cubicle-dwellers, off the wall profanity and the occasional Voltron cameo, it was easy to absorb because it’s undeniably funny and because the characters are so far removed from the targets of their wit. With Shooting War, artist Dan Goldman employs his own multi-medium approach to the subject material, combining photography and illustration to create both visceral and moody renderings—giving it a realistic intensity.
Although Lappé certainly injects much-needed dark humor and satire into the story, he doesn’t offer much for consolation. Given that there’s no clear and neat resolution for the conflict in Iraq, rising tensions with Iran and global terrorism as a whole, maybe offering consolation would be a bit disingenuous, even if it is something that is desperately needed.
Anthony Lappé & Dan Goldman will be at a signing Nov. 28 at Bottlerocket Wine & Spirit’s Eclectic Salon, 5 W. 19th St. (at 5th Ave.), 212-929-2323; 6, free.
The story revolves around fictional video-blogger Jimmy Burns, an artfully tousled Williamsburg resident who looks like the Justin Long character of “I’m a Mac” commercials fame committed to pen and ink. It seems fitting since images of Burns’ MacBook make their way into so many panels, and the book almost seems, at times, like a portable Apple commercial.
Anthony Lappé is the artfully tousled executive editor of the Guerilla News Network, his leftist independent news site. Lappé also produced the Iraq war documentary, BattleGround: 21 Days on the Empire’s Edge, so he’s familiar with the source material firsthand.
As his alter ego, Burns coincidentally films a “homicide bombing” at a fictional Starbucks on Williamsburg’s Grand Street and, after uploading the footage to the net, becomes an overnight media sensation, New York magazine cover boy and sex symbol for the kind of spring break denizens who might wake up on Joe Francis’ hotel floor. With his apartment burnt down and at a loss for what to do next, upstart Global News Network, a 24-hour terror news channel that makes Fox Network look subtle and well-reasoned by comparison, sends Jimmy off to Baghdad as a correspondent. That’s where his troubles really begin, but at least his hotel accommodations are nice.
Since Shooting War is set in 2011, just four years into the future, it’s predictably certain things haven’t changed: Corporate overlords such as Starbucks and American Apparel are still gobbling up properties in trendy Brooklyn neighborhoods, TV news network anchors are still vapid repositories for porcelain veneers the size of tombstones and the quagmire in Iraq rages on. If it’s any consolation to anyone, Dan Rather is mercifully still kicking and retains his affinity for colorful metaphor as he drags his crypt- keeper ass around Baghdad and trades gruff fatherly witticisms with the rookie Burns.
Prior to Shooting War, the political cartoon concerning foreign policy that hit the most nerves was David Rees’ Get Your War On. Shrouded in clip art of cubicle-dwellers, off the wall profanity and the occasional Voltron cameo, it was easy to absorb because it’s undeniably funny and because the characters are so far removed from the targets of their wit. With Shooting War, artist Dan Goldman employs his own multi-medium approach to the subject material, combining photography and illustration to create both visceral and moody renderings—giving it a realistic intensity.
Although Lappé certainly injects much-needed dark humor and satire into the story, he doesn’t offer much for consolation. Given that there’s no clear and neat resolution for the conflict in Iraq, rising tensions with Iran and global terrorism as a whole, maybe offering consolation would be a bit disingenuous, even if it is something that is desperately needed.
Anthony Lappé & Dan Goldman will be at a signing Nov. 28 at Bottlerocket Wine & Spirit’s Eclectic Salon, 5 W. 19th St. (at 5th Ave.), 212-929-2323; 6, free.
