World War 3 Illustrated #40

This is my first issue of World War 3 Illustrated, even though the magazine has been published for years. One of the things that I love about comics is that it's continuously possible to discover new titles and hidden gems. That's sort of how I feel about this book here.

It's a very left-leaning anthology of strips by a variety of artists who are new to me. In terms of its politics, reading this book is very much like reading the New Internationalist (which I love), but by Americans. And told only in comics form.

The theme for this issue is 'What We Want', and its short pieces can be collectively viewed as a manifesto for change in American society and economy. The expected topics are all here: health care reform, mortgage reform, education, New Orleans, Iraq, Israel/Palestine, environmental concerns, and community activism.

Some of the pieces are too crudely drawn or amateurish for my tastes (ie., the piece on BAAD), but some of it is fantastic.

I particularly liked Sandy Jimenez's memoir of teaching, and Sabrina Jones's piece on Jane Jacobs. What makes this book so endearing is the earnestness and hopefulness of its contributors. It's hard to maintain a level of optimism for long in the face of the 24-hour news cycle and constant discoveries of new forms of bad news, and therefore it's heartwarming to read work like this, which while fully cognizant of the difficulty of the path ahead of us, is assured of a positive outcome.