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﻿<title﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, It's Clobberin' Time

- Review﻿</title>﻿

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﻿<b﻿>﻿It's Clobberin' Time

﻿<br﻿>﻿</b>﻿</font>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿


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by Simo Punanen﻿<br﻿>﻿

﻿<i﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, November 1996﻿</i>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

﻿</center>﻿


﻿<font﻿ ﻿size="1"﻿>﻿Review of ﻿<i﻿>﻿Comic Book Socialism #4﻿</i>﻿ and ﻿<i﻿>﻿General Strike Comics #1﻿</i>﻿ by Ian Orenstein. Rosa Comics, 22 Montrose Ave., Toronto M6J 2T7, annual subscription $5 (4 issues)﻿</font>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿


Now I know this is just gonna sound like me talking about how rough it was in the old days, but, man, when I was growing up in the 70s, comic books were rubbish. Delightful rubbish sometimes, but rubbish all the same. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

You had your choice: Marvel (favoured by introverted socially-maladjusted weenies) or D.C. (favoured by extroverted socially-maladjusted weenies like me). Sure there were underground comix but in our town they were hard to come by and when we bought them in the Big City, their alleged political radicalism shriveled before their gonad-driven adolescent sexism. 


﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

In the 90s, readers have a staggering choice. Sure most of it's dreck, but that's true of TV, music, movies and the printed word as well. 


﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Ian Orenstein's Rosa Comics make wading through the dreck worthwhile. In ﻿<i﻿>﻿General Strike Comics﻿</i>﻿, Orenstein -- winking at comic book convention ("General Strike: Who Is She and How She Came To Be") -- leads his readers through a freeze-dried history of the general strike. To great boffo effect, labour's greatest weapon is portrayed as a superhero having enormous powers. Let's hope Ontario's labour leaders have the sense to summon her in the fight against the Harris Tories. 


﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

In ﻿<i﻿>﻿Comic Book Socialism #4﻿</i>﻿, Orenstein gently lampoons the sometimes cumbersome coalitions which are trying to fight the right-wing offensive, while saving the real venom for "Harass" and "The Nasties." You're left with the impression that, in the fight against Harass, Orenstein would like to see less talk and more action. And why not? We're talking comic books here. As Ben Grimm used to say in the Fantastic Four, "It's clobberin' time!" 


﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

The second part of this issue is "The Fundamentals of Opportunism," a merciless skewering of Bob Rae, former NDP premier of Ontario. Orenstein has promised another installment in response to Rae's just published memoirs. Take my word for it, this is going to be a lot more fun and a lot more illuminating than the already-started slagging match between Rae and his erstwhile allies in the trade union leadership, as both sides self-servingly try to justify their capitulation to the right-wing agenda. 


﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Rosa Comics show that serious political analysis need not be humorless and stiflingly dull and that political art need not be obscure to the point of unfathomability. A seamless welding together of the printed word and visual images. Hey, that's what comic books are all about. 


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