October 21, 2004

{ Get Your War On II - by David Rees }

Utilizing a handful of clip-art images and some of the most intelligent and humorous writing to have ever graced a comic strip, David Rees has managed to capture the utter tragedy, irony and absurdity of post 9/11 American existence with his Get Your War On series. It's funnier than a bag full of G.W. Bush soundbites, and frighteningly incisive. I noticed a dull ache in my gut after reading this latest published collection, and I had trouble deciding if it was because I'd just been laughing so hard throughout or whether this was the onset of a wave of naseua induced by the failings of our government so hilariously discussed therein. I came to the conclusion that it was an equal measure of both. Rees' characters vacillate between being completely petrified by a sense of federally-sponsored terror and bombastically swallowing the latest line of governmental dogma with a cocksure level of confidence. They are strangely confessional in their everday-office-oriented chit-chat about world affairs, allowing Rees to expound upon the profound insanity of the current administration's approach to war, foreign policy and Constitutional rights. These aren't conversations you'd necessarily have in real life- they're amalgamations of prevailing assumptions, propaganda and harsh reality delivered off-the-hip, inevitably pointing the reader to some larger truth or fault. It's the laugh I needed and the honesty I've been looking for all at once. There's little point in recounting the content when you can just as easily sample some for yourself via purchase of the book (at an amazingly cheap $9.60) and on Rees' website, linked below. I recently purchased a copy of GYWO II for my brother-in-law from the local bookstore, and there was something unsettling about finding it in the Humor section, nestled between Garfield and Family Circus, like a land-mine of political truths laid upon the field of American disillusionment. I bought the last copy and made sure they ordered more. This is the second Get Your War On collection, and one of several projects David Rees has masterminded. Read about it all, and grab some exclusive GYWO t-shirts and a limited edition print from his site, and look for more reviews to come on Crown Dozen. We may even sit down and ask David a few questions at one of his current book-tour stops....

» Buy it!
» Official website

By Adam in Reading | Comments: