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A Drug War Carol
Attorney General John Ashcroft will probably hate this book. John Walters, Director of National Drug Control Policy, almost certainly will hate this book.
BigHead Press is therefore pleased to announce the upcoming release of its first trade paperback book: A Drug War Carol, a full-color graphic novel detailing the long and sordid history of the politics behind America's "War on Drugs." The book will be available from on-line booksellers in November and should appear on comic-book store shelves by early December.
In this story, Scrooge McCzar (who looks sort of like a cross between John Walters and his predecessor, Gen. Barry McCaffrey), is running the Office of National Drug Control Policy. He is confronted at a press conference by Mary Jane Cratchet, a wheelchair-bound medical-marijuana user and activist , whom McCzar promptly arrests for possession of the banned weed.
Upon returning to his Alexandria town-home, McCzar is confronted first by the ghost of Harry Anslinger, the first "drug czar," and then by three more ghosts, who show McCzar -- and readers -- an eye-opening history of how and why the "War on Drugs" began and what it's doing to Americans.
The 80-page trade paperback contains 64 pages of art, plus an extensive notes and bibliography section directing readers to the wealth of information backing up the story.
80 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 9, 2019
This is about as severe as you'll find on my new STOPP-WINTER ratio.
That stands for Statistics To Observe Per Page-With Index Needing Thorough Examination Regularly until I come up with a better acronym.
At 80 pages it's as burdensome of a narrative as you'll find on top of sequential art. You will be introduced to endless people and given even more statistics to ponder.
The "Drug Czar" on the cover gets the "ghosts versus Scrooge" treatment throughout tediously leading him through the drug history, resultant legislation and after-effects that have occurred in the U.S.A. from the beginning.
I don't feel like opining BUT anyone who is capable of thinking and reasoning objectively will agree with it most of the time and go either way on the rest depending on how much you know about drugs and politics. For those who prefer the black and white explanation- this is a layup for the liberals and a plea to the conservatives.
UGGGH! You do have to reference the back constantly for elaboration to fully understand the narrative which makes it a slow tedious read.
The art does an excellent job making people and situations look silly/funny and sneaks extra, but appropriate, laughs in regularly.
YOU WANT HONESTY
I'D SKIP THIS IF YOU'VE ALREADY BEEN SOAKED WITH THE RHETORIC AND MADE UP YOUR MIND BASED ON INFORMATION INSTEAD OF OPINION.
THE REST OF YOU READ THIS TO KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT SO YOU DON'T COME ACROSS LIKE AN ASS WHEN IT COMES UP.
OFF TOPIC EXTRAPOLATION:
I'll never understand how significantly more than half of the people I have arguments with, ABOUT LITERALLY ANYTHING, have nothing to back up their opinions- being too ignorant to consider the other side and have rhetorical ammo loaded.
"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO AN OPINION UNLESS YOU CAN CONVINCINGLY ARGUE THE OTHER SIDE."
Who knows where I got that but it's common sense born of logic that's been elaborated and serves as a credo to live by it if you want anybody intelligent to respect your opinions!
That stands for Statistics To Observe Per Page-With Index Needing Thorough Examination Regularly until I come up with a better acronym.
At 80 pages it's as burdensome of a narrative as you'll find on top of sequential art. You will be introduced to endless people and given even more statistics to ponder.
The "Drug Czar" on the cover gets the "ghosts versus Scrooge" treatment throughout tediously leading him through the drug history, resultant legislation and after-effects that have occurred in the U.S.A. from the beginning.
I don't feel like opining BUT anyone who is capable of thinking and reasoning objectively will agree with it most of the time and go either way on the rest depending on how much you know about drugs and politics. For those who prefer the black and white explanation- this is a layup for the liberals and a plea to the conservatives.
UGGGH! You do have to reference the back constantly for elaboration to fully understand the narrative which makes it a slow tedious read.
The art does an excellent job making people and situations look silly/funny and sneaks extra, but appropriate, laughs in regularly.
YOU WANT HONESTY
I'D SKIP THIS IF YOU'VE ALREADY BEEN SOAKED WITH THE RHETORIC AND MADE UP YOUR MIND BASED ON INFORMATION INSTEAD OF OPINION.
THE REST OF YOU READ THIS TO KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT SO YOU DON'T COME ACROSS LIKE AN ASS WHEN IT COMES UP.
OFF TOPIC EXTRAPOLATION:
I'll never understand how significantly more than half of the people I have arguments with, ABOUT LITERALLY ANYTHING, have nothing to back up their opinions- being too ignorant to consider the other side and have rhetorical ammo loaded.
"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO AN OPINION UNLESS YOU CAN CONVINCINGLY ARGUE THE OTHER SIDE."
Who knows where I got that but it's common sense born of logic that's been elaborated and serves as a credo to live by it if you want anybody intelligent to respect your opinions!
September 17, 2014
Informative graphic history of the "war on drugs". But it is so vehement in telling us that the other side is Bad, Bad, BAD, that I can not help wondering what they are NOT telling us. I see that nearly all the references are to a single book, Drug Crazy: How We Got into This Mess and How We Can Get Out. And more disturbing, often value judgements are footnoted, while factual points are not.
August 30, 2016
Obviously this is very much a propaganda piece but I loved every bit. It's was funny, informative, and a very cool rendition of A Christmas Carol.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews