Get Your War On
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Get Your War On is a series of satirical comic strips by David Rees about political events, at first the effects of the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York but quickly switching focus to more recent events, in particular the War on Terrorism. They achieved cult status on the Internet, and in particular on discussion forums and weblogs, in a very short time after the debut ([1] (http://www.mnftiu.cc/mnftiu.cc/war.html)) on October 9, 2001.
From a technical standpoint, the strips are very crude. Almost all of the images are assembled from a dozen or so simple clip-art pictures (with a few exceptions, most notably Voltron) that recur constantly. Due to an extremely heavy emphasis on dialogue, there is practically no action. Virtually all are in red on a white background. What has made Get Your War On such a hit is the dialogue, depicting things from the viewpoint of average Americans. Highly disillusioned and cynical, it is remarkably apposite and outspoken, emphasized by a strong dose of expletives (discussed in the strips of December 9, 2003 (http://www.mnftiu.cc/mnftiu.cc/war28.html)).
Get Your War On has been published in book form, with the author's royalties (as well as part of the publisher's income for the first book) donated to landmine clearing efforts. It has also been published in Rolling Stone.
Quotes
- "Yes! Operation: Enduring Our Freedom To Bomb The Living Fuck Out Of You is in the house!!!" (October 9, 2001 strip (http://www.mnftiu.cc/mnftiu.cc/war.html))
- "this War on Terrorism is gonna rule! I can't wait till the war is over and there's no more terrorism!" (October 9, 2001 strip (http://www.mnftiu.cc/mnftiu.cc/war.html))
- "Did you have a good vacation, under God?" (July 11, 2002 strip (http://www.mnftiu.cc/mnftiu.cc/war12.html))
- "When John Ashcroft reviews your credit card records, does he award triple Bonus Miles for Bible purchases?" (November 26, 2002 strip (http://www.mnftiu.cc/mnftiu.cc/war17.html))
- "Bush was so tired he kept repeating the phrase 'September 11th' no matter what the question was - I wonder if he was aware of that?" (March 10, 2003 (http://www.mnftiu.cc/mnftiu.cc/war21.html))
- "I don't even drink Coke. It tastes like robot sweat." (August 12, 2003)
- "You know, when you put it like that, I start to think my society is evil not to do more to help. So could you please not put it like that?" (October 16, 2003 (http://www.mnftiu.cc/mnftiu.cc/war27.html))
- "[Bush's] mind is like one of those spinning cages where you pull out the winning lottery numbers - but there's only four fuckin' little balls in his cage: 'Freedom,' 'Democracy,' 'Terror,' and 'Stay the Course.' He opens his mouth, one of the balls drops out." (April 16, 2004 strip (http://www.mnftiu.cc/mnftiu.cc/war34.html), on the April 13 press conference (http://www.presidentialrhetoric.com/speeches/04.13.04.html))
In book form
- Get Your War On. Brooklyn: Soft Skull, 2002. ISBN 1-887128-76-X
- Get Your War On II. New York: Riverhead, 2004. ISBN 1-59448-048-6
External link
- Get Your War On (http://www.mnftiu.cc/mnftiu.cc/war.html) - Official Website