Review of World War 3 Illustrated: Facts on the Ground

Review of World War 3 Illustrated: Facts on the Ground

(panel from Seth Tobocman's Disaster and Resistance)

The Indypendent printed Hueso Taveras' review of the World War 3 Illustrated Collective's latest anthology.

Here's an excerpt:

While most comics anthologies like Mome and Drawn and Quarterly aim for diverse and multicultural content, World War 3 Illustrated has consistently provided a breadth unmatched even by contemporary publishers. For their latest anthology, Facts on the Ground, the collective culled stories from around the world, including Baghdad, Johannesburg and El Salvador. As the title suggests, most are first-hand accounts, featuring everyday folks up against institutionalized corruption.

The first comic, by writer and Voices in the Wilderness activist Cathy Breen with artist Edowyn Vazkez, illustrates a letter by an Iraqi woman and the daily perils she faces in occupied Baghdad. Peter Kuper captures the complicated and sordid story of last year’s Oaxaca teachers’ strike and their battle with the state’s murderous, corrupt governor — which ended with the death of numerous people, including journalist Brad Will — in his firsthand mixed-media account “Oaxaca.”

Other comics take a look at familiar locales. Standouts include Seth Tobocman’s excerpt from his new book Disaster and Resistance (AK Press), about the struggle of residents of a NOLA housing project to return home after the devastation of Katrina and authorities. Mac McGill’s “Hurricane Katrina” is a meticulously rendered expressionist pantomime about life, loss and hope of New Orleans residents. Fly’s interview with Bill DiPaola serves as the basis for her rollicking, illustrated history of radical environmentalist group Times Up! “NYC Cyclists Memorial” is Christopher Cardinale’s lyrical and poignant mixed-media comic about the bicyclists killed by motorists and the city’s inhospitability to bicyclists.


Read the full review.