Shooting War by Anthony Lappe
A Dystopian Graphic Novel Set in the Very Near Future
This engaging, beautifully illustrated political satire delivers a chilling vision of a frightening, highly likely picture of what our future may hold.
Shooting War is a graphic novel written by Anthony Lappe, a freelance reporter and executive editor of GNN.tv, the Web site for the Guerilla News Network; with artwork by Dan Goldman, a founding member of the online comics anthology ACT-I-VATE. Goldman complements the engaging story by delivering a vibrant collage of real photographs intertwined with digital artwork and vector illustration.
A Dystopian Future
The novel draws a stunning, frightening, and highly probable picture of the very near future. Set in 2011, it follows the exploits of protagonist Jimmy Burns, a 25-year old citizen journalist and left-wing blogger who skyrockets to stardom after videotaping the suicide bombing of a Brooklyn Starbucks. He is testing out a new camera with a live videoblogging function when the bombing occurs. This is the first occurrence of several throughout the book in which Burns displays his tendency to be “…in the right place when people are about to die.”
Burns quickly becomes the darling of various mainstream news organizations, who try to candy-coat the incident by focusing on the fact that he helped some of the survivors, and on the destruction of his apartment, which was located above the Starbucks. In an interview on a cable TV news show, for example, the ever-smiling blonde bombshell of a news anchor interrupts him any time he attempts to expound on the left-wing, anti-corporation viewpoints presented on his Web site.
Two weeks after his interview, he is asked by the network to become a full-fledged war correspondent. Despite his misgivings, and the fact that his fans may view this as a sell-out, he signs up for a three-year contract with the network.
“I did need the action. I couldn’t shake the rush. It was like nothing I had ever felt.”
Dan Rather is One Cool Dude
What follows is a fast-paced, action-packed, and beautifully illustrated joyride through an Iraq that has become completely fractured. Burns quickly realizes that his idealistic life as a young hotshot blogger commenting on the events of the world from afar is a remnant of the past. He is now as embroiled in the Iraq quagmire as the few US military troops that remain. A main character in the novel turns out to be none other than Dan Rather, who has chosen to remain in Iraq even though most of his colleagues have left. Rather is portrayed as a likeable, grandfatherly like character with a droll sense of humor. He and Burns quickly develop a rapport
“Yo Rather! What’s the frequency?” … “Courage, Burns. The frequency is courage.”
John McCain...President?
In War, John McCain is the president. There is little direct political comment on whether or not this is a good thing. However, McCain is presented as becoming more frazzled and depressed as the novel progresses; he comments via a live telecast on the “intractable quagmire” with which his predecessor left him. The core message seems to be that, no matter who becomes the next president, they’re in for one hell of a ride.
Despite its overt political overtones and a storyline that is frightening due to its high likelihood, War manages to maintain a sense of humor and drips with satire throughout. Smart, savvy and shockingly prescient, Shooting War is entertaining from beginning to end.
Shooting War is currently available in hardback, and can be viewed in its original Web comic form at www.shootingwar.com. The Web site also contains information regarding the novel, related projects, and the schedule for the current book tour.
