New ‘WW 3’ takes on Trump and other monsters
Satirical cartoons by Peter Kuper from the current issue of “World War 3 Illustrated.”
BY GABE HERMAN
The latest issue of “World War 3
Illustrated,” an annual countercultural
graphic novel, was released
in early December, continuing
its tradition of serious social commentary
from the left.
Titled “Now is the Time of Monsters:
A Graphic Discourse on Predatory
Capitalism,” the collection from
several artists looks at a number social
issues, including Trump, but beyond
him, as well.
“We wanted to talk about the morality
of the age of Trump without
necessarily talking all the time about
Trump,” said Seth Tobocman. Tobocman
co-edited this issue and co-founded
WW3 in 1979 as a magazine from
volunteer artists and activists based in
New York City.
He said that when the new issue’s
theme was coming together, the word
“predator” came up, which has often
been in the news but has a sexual
connotation. The comic’s issue, however,
was looking beyond only sexual
themes.
“So we thought of the term ‘monster,’
and we thought about how in Greek
mythology, monsters are symbolic of
the vices of humanity,” Tobocman said,
adding that in medieval times, monsters
represented human failings.
The economy is a big theme in the
issue.
“We wanted to attack this notion of
the wonderful robust Trump economy,”
Tobocman explained. He said that even
though the stock market and employment
numbers are up, wages are not
and many are underemployed.
Tobocman noted there are high suicide
rates among Uber and taxi drivers,
which parallel high suicide rates among
industrial workers in China. A piece in
the issue called “Don’t Be Conned By
Foxconn,” by Susan Simensky Bietila,
explores a deal that Trump made to
bring Foxconn, a Taiwanese electronics
company, to the U.S., despite the business’s
record of worker suicides and accusations
of treating employees poorly.
“The economy is becoming, in a lot
of ways, more desperate,” Tobocman
stated. “And people have less security,
even if they have greater employment
than they might’ve had 10 years ago.”
Another work in “WW 3” is “Good
Jobs,” by Terry Tapp. An industrial
worker most of his life, Tapp highlights
the dangers of manufacturing jobs,
which he says are only good jobs if
workers can unionize for rights.
Tobocman is a longtime East Villager
and teaches at the School of Visual
Arts. For this volume of “WW 3,”
he contributed a graphic comic called
“The Monster in Albany,” exploring
environmental issues and fracking in
New York State. “WW 3” co-founder
Peter Kuper contributed comic monster
illustrations of Trump, members of
his cabinet and Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell.
Tobocman noted the collection has
a section by Jenny Gonzalez Blitz that
looks at the situations of people with
mental illness in the workplace, and
another by artist and journalist Kevin
Pyle that focuses on border issues.
“I could go on about every single artist
because I love these folks,” Tobocman
said. “They do great work, and I’m
really happy to be able to present it to
the public.”
More information about the current
issue and “World War 3 Illustrated”
can be found at www.ww3.nyc .
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