Occupy Comics #2 Review

Occupy Comics #2 is an explosion of information, great talent, and awesome stories. Sure, some may say it could have been released when the Occupy movement was more “relevant”. However, the Occupy movement will always be relevant, and since I got the last copy of this issue at the Comic Book store today, I guess it’s still fairly relevant. There’s a great quote in the first issue’ that reads “So many voices. So many points of view. But to me, that’s the beauty of this thing. One mind – but a parade of thoughts, streaming out in an infinite number of directions.” And that’s what’s at the core of this comic. The same is true of the first issue, but the comic really does showcase the many faces of the Occupy movement.

You see, this isn’t really a comic book. It’s a mix of political cartoons, informative essays, as well as some traditional comics, that are done as a series of vignettes. Really, I’m surprised that the cover price on this issue was only $3.50. I mean, it’s a big comic, and none of it is advertisements. Every single part of this issue is extremely well done. There are a couple full page spreads of political cartoons that are illustrated beautifully, and the coloring only adds to the drawings. The short vignettes that are done in comic book form in this book are touching stories about the little guy. This isn’t a superhero book. It’s a book about the everyday struggles of people across the US – dealing with issues on a variety of scales. You’ll find vignettes about issues ranging from Hurricane Sandy to a family being foreclosed. They’re both real world issues, and, in each, they come back down to the every day struggles of ordinary people.

But the best parts of this issue are the ones that don’t have any pictures, at least in my opinion. Alan Moore (the author of The Watchmen and V For Vendetta) delivers part two of an excellent essay on the evolution of comics, as well as comics as a form of protest. His writing is skillful, and extraordinarily well done, as it always is. Plus, it’s extremely informative. But even more informative is Part 2 of Casino Nation: A Deck of Playing Cards. What this does is select a group of wealthy politicians and businessmen and then assign them a playing card that shows the role they played in the economic collapse. Each is accompanied by an informative, and entertaining, paragraph describing their multiple evils. Honestly, between everything in this book, I can’t find a single issue with it. I could complain about the different viewpoints at times, but that’s the point of this book. And it’s all just so very good.

Rating: 10/10