Politics « The Comics Journal

Politics posts

“Cool Japan” is no longer enough

Posted by Roland Kelts on July 5th, 2010 at 12:01 AM

“Cool Japan” was an apt brand for the early days of manga/anime fandom. But now it’s an impediment.

All Right, This Cartoon Is Stupid

Posted by Tom Crippen on April 28th, 2010 at 12:01 AM

Mr. Oliphant, what’s the deal with that banana?

Does Race Count in Anime/Live-Action Casting?

Posted by Roland Kelts on April 6th, 2010 at 12:01 AM

Do you care if the lead in a Hollywood remake of anime is actually Asian?

What races are these drawings?

Manga, Anime and Trans-cultural Censorship

Posted by Roland Kelts on March 23rd, 2010 at 12:01 AM

The sentencing last month of American Chris Handley for possession of ‘obscene manga’ in Iowa and this month’s proposal by the Tokyo Govt. to censor ‘virtual porn’ (read: manga and anime) in Japan have too much in common for comfort.

The Photographer by Emmanuel Guibert, Didier Lefèvre and Frédéric Lemercier

Posted by Robert Martin on March 1st, 2010 at 10:00 AM

Emmanuel Guibert and Didier Lefèvre’s The Photographer is an outstanding book in many respects. Based on Lefèvre’s experiences as a photographer accompanying a Doctors Without Borders mission in Afghanistan in 1986, it is a fine memoir that doubles as a compelling adventure story.

Painted on the Walls by Ian Burns

Posted by admin on February 5th, 2010 at 9:00 AM

Tobocman’s ability to subvert common symbols reinvigorates You Don’t Have to Fuck People Over to Survive in each new printing, allowing new readers to intelligently asses their own assumptions about their culture, nation, or even their sense of patriotism.

Why Ebony White Isn’t Sassy

Posted by Tom Crippen on February 5th, 2010 at 12:01 AM

The quote is a beautiful linguistic specimen because it shows what words can do when no thought is present. Hit on race and the brain gets shut off. That’s not the only reflex we have, but it’s common, especially when entertainment professionals are talking in public about what to do with a given property.

Those Bob Gill Covers

Posted by Kent Worcester on February 4th, 2010 at 9:14 AM

If the phrase “left Shachtmanite” rings a bell, then you have probably heard of a magazine called New Politics. Currently published twice a year by an all-volunteer editorial collective, the journal was launched in 1961 by Phyllis and Julius…

Border Horror, Part Two of Two: 30 Days of Night: Juarez

Posted by Kristian Williams on February 4th, 2010 at 12:01 AM

Vampires symbolically represent our fear and hatred of the aristocracy — the undying, hereditary, parasitic elite. They view the rest of us as a separate, inferior species, like cattle. They feed on us as a natural right. Serial killers, on the other hand, embody the logical extension of capitalist individualism — selfish, cruel, driven by the lust for power.