Vigorous and dedicated, World War 3 has frequently been ahead of the political curve, but its many dismal portrayals of political subjects and us-versus-them narratives often work to its detriment. read more »

With Dove soap pandering to plus-sized women, Americans obsessed with Oprah’s weight fluctuations and an ever-expanding industry looking to profit from this market, this graphic memoir is a humane expression. Emphasizing Jude’s gender and working-class background in a conversational style that makes the story immediate, Fat Free is the sane voice that’s missing from all the yelling. read more »

read more »

Floundering in grammar school and facing parental restrictions on his TV watching, Dean retreats further from stifling suburban life and into his military fantasies, seeing every confrontation with authorities as another combat operation. The pressures of reality mount as the boys’ play leads them to destroy a homeless man’s handmade shack and to a stash of porn magazines. read more »

Little David grew up fixated on the televised broadcasts of the Persian Gulf War. Twelve years later, as a young journalist covering local government in a nameless town in the United States, he asks his editor to send him to Iraq to cover the upcoming elections. read more »

Ferociously honest texts that change our perception of the world and ourselves are rare. Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath and Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle are but two examples that create unforgettable worlds focused on the people behind the stories. In The Fixer: A Story from Sarajevo, Joe Sacco continues this tradition in the medium of a graphic novel. read more »

In the graphic novel Johnny Jihad, respected political artist Ryan Inzana turns his artistic skill to a controversial figure in the “war on terror” John Walker Lindh. In this work of speculative fiction, Inzana explores what it might have been like to be Johnny Sendel, an American-born, white jihadist. read more »

World War 3 Illustrated Unnatural Disasters (2006) In Unnatural Disasters, comic writers dissect and analyze the pressing theme of a world overrun with environmental catastrophes rooted in business dealings and government policies. The 19 stories offer a varied catalogue of belligerent and systematic destruction including the U.S. military’s use of depleted uranium in the Middle East, the eradication of coral reefs by dumping toxic waste and the rapidly declining numbers of India’s vultures. Most of the content addresses the growing threat of global warming and its base in our addiction to oil. read more »