Brought to Light: Shadowplay - The Secret Team / Flashpoint - The La Penca Bombing

by Alan Moore, Joyce Brabner, Bill Sienkiewicz

Brought to Thirty Years of Drug Smuggling, Arms Deals, and Covert Action is an anthology of two political graphic novels, published originally by Eclipse Comics in 1988, with a Hardcover version published in 1989. Both stories are based on material from lawsuits filed by the Christic Institute against the US Government. The two stories are The Secret Team by Alan Moore and Bill Sienkiewicz, and The LA Penca Bombing documented by Martha Honey and Tony Avirgan and adapted by Joyce Brabner and Tom Yeates. Brought to Light was edited overall by Joyce Brabner, Catherine Yronwode acted as executive editor, and Eclipse publisher Dean Mullaney was the publication designer.

Genres: Comics, History, Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, Politics, Comic Book, Journalism

Hardcover

First published November 1, 1988

About the author

Alan Moore is an English writer most famous for his influential work in comics, including the acclaimed graphic novels Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell. He has also written a novel, Voice of the Fire, and performs "workings" (one-off performance art/spoken word pieces) with The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels, some of which have been released on CD.

As a comics writer, Moore is notable for being one of the first writers to apply literary and formalist sensibilities to the mainstream of the medium. As well as including challenging subject matter and adult themes, he brings a wide range of influences to his work, from the literary–authors such as William S. Burroughs, Thomas Pynchon, Robert Anton Wilson and Iain Sinclair; New Wave science fiction writers such as Michael Moorcock; horror writers such as Clive Barker; to the cinematic–filmmakers such as Nicolas Roeg. Influences within comics include Will Eisner, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Kirby and Bryan Talbot.

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one I have read and re-read many times since buying it on its release (i'm currently on my 3rd copy, having lent it out many times) It never fails to make me angry at how America has interfered in world politics and caused the death of so many people through its fear of true democratic government. The use of swimming pools of blood to show the death toll is truly imaginative, and at the same time very scary. anyone who thinks that America is the 'land of the free' needs to read this and open their eyes!

[Larry Ggggggggggggggggggggggggg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Closer to 3 and a half stars. The cartoonishly oversized vulgar bald eagle snorting a bunch of contra coke was cool

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing.

https://archive.org/details/BroughtTo...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brought_...

[Desire Manara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esta obra maestra maravillosa y aterradora necesita una reedición ya para que podamos leerla como corresponde.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I laughed when reading the reviews on this book saying it would never be available to the U.S. or Canada, fact of the matter is, you can easily find a cheap copy on ebay or an expensive one on amazon... let that be our little secret, though and don't let the conspiracy theorists in on it ;-)

Brought to Light: Thirty Years of Drug Smuggling, Arms Deals, and Covert Action is an anthology of two political graphic novels, published originally by Eclipse Comics in 1988. Both are based on material from lawsuits filed by the Christic Institute against the US Government. The two stories are Shadowplay: The Secret Team by Alan Moore and Bill Sienkiewicz, and Flashpoint: The LA Penca Bombing documented by Martha Honey and Tony Avirgan and adapted by Joyce Brabner and Tom Yeates. Brought to Light was edited overall by Joyce Brabner, Catherine Yronwode acted as executive editor, and Eclipse publisher Dean Mullaney was the publication designer.

Shadowplay: The Secret Team written by Alan Moore and drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz with an introduction by Daniel Sheehan (general counsel of TCI). It covers the history of the Central Intelligence Agency and its controversial involvement in the Vietnam War, the Iran-Contra affair, and its relationship with figures like Augusto Pinochet and Manuel Noriega. The narrator of Shadowplay is an aging anthropomorphic American Eagle, a bellicose retired CIA agent.

It was Moore's first major work which was not superhero oriented, it was highly praised for its storytelling and Sienkiewicz's sometimes brutal art. Moore received praise especially for blending the sometimes overwhelming mass of details into a coherent and effective story. Over the years there have been rumours that Moore was unable to travel to America due to the CIA being annoyed at his story in Brought to Light. However this was proved to be no more than a rumour and the real reason was due to Moore not renewing his passport.

The story of "Shadowplay" is of an unseen character (presumably representing the oblivious American public in first-person view of the reader) in a bar, where he is approached by a man-sized, walking, talking eagle. The eagle, from the emblem of the CIA, proceeds to drink alcohol and, in a drunken stupor, divulge all the bloody details of The Agency's sordid past. Early on a reference is made to the number of gallons an olympic swimming pool can hold, and the fact that an adult human body has one gallon of blood; from then on, the victims of CIA activities (directly or indirectly) are quantified in swimming pools filled with blood, each pool representing 20,000 dead. Sienkiewicz's dark, erratic, and blurry images keep the mood of Moore's narration (through the boozing eagle) unnerving, and hazily nightmarish.

Flashpoint: The LA Penca Bombing is written by Joyce Brabner, as told to her by Christic Institute clients Martha Honey and Tony Avirgan. It deals with the La Penca bombing which happened during the civil war in Nicaragua in 1984.

Credits for “Flashpoint” list Jonathan Marshall on the introduction, Joyce Brabner writing, and Thomas Yeates illustrating, with letters by Bill Pearson and painting by Sam Parsons. Martha Honey and Tony Avirgan are credited with having told the story to Joyce Brabner.

In the center is a two-page feature by Paul Mavrides, "World Map of 30 Years of Covert Action" detailing election tampering, drug trafficking, assassination, and other "known" crimes committed by the CIA.

[Davidgiglio · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to laugh when people call this "typical conspiracy nut" view of CIA actions. Of course all of the history is well documented: the drug dealing uncovered by the late San Jose Mercury News reporter, Gary Webb. The bloody history of the CIA run Phoenix Program in Vietnam. The secret war against Cuba exposed by the US Senate's Church Committee on Intelligence. The only thing fake in this account is the talking eagle.

People can choose to ignore the history of their own country I guess. Then be shocked! shocked! the next time we find out we're being spied on or get involved in a gruesome war that kills our family members and drains our national treasury.

[Adam · Rating 1 out of 5]

As much as I love many of Alan Moore's more complex narrative works, this paranoid Cliffs Notes "secret annals" of the CIA is typical conspiracy-nut junk history. It's the sort of cynical-fantasy work we've come to expect the far Left to crank out in its Intrigue Factories. Fingers are pointed at the usual targets (Nixon, George Bush Sr, etc) while JFK (in truth aggressively anti-communist, but also a liberal icon) is given a free pass.

[Alicedewonder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was not or ever will be for sale in the US & Canada. It is censored indirectly by the CIA and is the reason that The Christic Institution was squashed like a bug in the woven carpet of espionage lies, crimes, and drug dealings. The ISBN is 1-85286-154-1. It cannot be purchased on the internet either - so now ask yourself - "What other things are being restricted via the so called omniscient internet?"

[Andrew Pixton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A politically infuriating read if ever there was one. The dark secrets of my country, and these are only what we know about.

[Mahatma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Why bother making a comic, when form doesn’t fit the content. This was literally words with pictures. I’d rather read a novel instead.

[Hogfather · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are two comics included in this book: Flashpoint: The La Penca Bombing by Joyce Brabner and Thomas Yeates, which is about the investigation into the La Penca Bombing, and Shadowplay: The Secret Team by Alan Moore and Bill Sienkiewicz, an expressionist dive into the post-WWII history of parapolitics. In the middle, there's a map containing details of the U.S. government's illicit involvement in international intrigue by Paul Mavrides and Joyce Brabener and an editorial cartoon called Ailing Constitution by Mavrides. The editorial cartoon is probably the worst of the bunch. It's not bad, but no editorial cartoon is ever particularly good. It feels unduly optimistic, especially given everything else in the book. The map and Flashpoint are much better. They're both informative, well-made chronicles of American misdeeds abroad. But the real star of the book, of course, is Moore and Sienkiewicz's contribution. It's a harrowing, overpowering witness to the evil that men do and yet another testament to both artists' mastery of their craft.

[Charles Parke · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the end of the cold war many of CIAs activities became known thanks in part to the Christic Institute who worked thru independent media and legal actions while mainstream newspapers and television missed almost every detail. Brought to Light attempts to boil down much of these discoveries into a comic book format to make the information easier for the public to understand and share. Brought to Light seems to have also been an attempt to raise funds for the Christic Institute to bring a lawsuit against many of those they believed to be involved in murder/injury of several journalists-the suit was prevented from being heard by a Miami Judge who instead fined the institute $1.05 million, lost an appeal and was denied being heard by the supreme court.

[Holowka · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book to listen through coming from a leftist perspective. It was really interesting to learn what the CIA did that isn't well known to the public, and the eagle really sold it for me with the way he talks with his patriotic and nationlist personality and Moore did a great job voice acting him

[SBW · Rating 5 out of 5]

spooky, meticulously researched, be good to see it back in print.

[David Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two different delivery modes for the same information - one built for effect, one for clarity.

You may be free to ignore such details. As is generally the case, this privilege is not universal.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe 4.5

[David Michael Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's important (f)or yo(u) to see this sho(ck)ing material

[Aliyu · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Marc · Rating 5 out of 5]

If it isn't obvious enough in his fictional work, Alan Moore is deeply political. And by political, I refer to the truest sense of the word, one that is concerned with human beings and the moral / spiritual value each one holds, and how the state and other forms of power try and control them. Here we see an early glimpse into Moore's desire to expose the horrors of war.

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of this is well drawn. The Sienkiewicz is painted as nicely and insanely as he is capable. But there are so many political and historical details to mull over that it is difficult not to get lost.

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

FYI: this is a comic book. I hope the CIA won't hunt me down for owning this book. It is about how (supposedly) crooked and bad they are.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Devastating and revealing expose of rogue CIA operations in South America and the Middle East.

[Variaciones Enrojo]

¿Edición de Brought to Light publicada por Warner?