world war 3 illustrated #43 expression! repression! revolution!

Edited by Seth Tobocman, Carlo Quispe, Hilary Allison and Rebecca Migdal.

Cover art by Sue Coe; back cover by Ganzeer

Contributors: Mike Diana, Magdy El Shafee, Dario Margante, Gianluca Costantini, Sandy Jimenez, Hilary Allison, Seth Tobocman, Jordan Worley, Kenly Dillard, Rebecca Migdal, Susan Wilmarth, Carnell Hunnicutt, Peter Kuper, Jessica Wehrle, Bill Weinberg, Marina Naprushkina, Isabella Bannerman, Jenny Gonzalez-Blitz, Carlo Quispe, Scott Cunningham, Kevin Pyle, Tom Keough, Oreet Ashery, Larrissa Snsour, Ethan Heitner, Steve Brodner, Adrian James, Nidal El-Khairy, Frances Jetter, Blu, Rabi’a, Diablo, Ganzeer, Sue Coe

 

This issue of World War 3 was inspired first by the Smithsonian’s censorship of the work of David Wojnarowicz, then the destruction of graffiti artist Blu’s anti-war mural, then by the persecution of Wikileaks. Our concerns about growing state repression were confirmed on November 15th when simultaneous attacks were launched against Occupy camps worldwide.

As advances in communications allow people greater opportunity to speak out, the state reacts with violence. In attempting to silence their critics, regimes demonstrate their moral bankruptcy and hasten their demise.

A censorship issue begs the question: What are the limits of free speech at this magazine? To be sure, this magazine is not a chat room with open posting. It is edited. World War 3 Illustrated has always been anti-war and anti-capitalist. But under that umbrella we practice left pluralism. In this issue you will find pieces for and against Obama.

Our tolerance was put to the test when Bill Weinberg asked us to publish an article criticizing Wikileaks. Was the pursuit of total accountability worth damaging that valuable organization? We decided that our readers were intelligent enough to draw their own conclusions.

Accusations of nonconsensual sex should be taken seriously. But the sex charges leveled against Assange, be they true or false, serve a sinister state agenda. This contradiction is hard to resolve.

And what about situations where the Left engages in censorship? Is it right to destroy a work of art if the content is oppressive? Do Nazis deserve tolerance? Several artists explore these questions.

No idea should be unspeakable. No emotion can be forever repressed. No one is above criticism. But critique, speech, and expression, are only meaningful in relation to the goals of liberating humanity and preserving nature.

world war 3 illustrated #42 tahrir : liberation from the mideast to the midwest

Edited by Seth Tobocman, Ethan Heitner and Jordan Worley.

Cover art by Magdy El Shafee

World War 3 Illustrated, the independent political comix magazine, presents its new issue, dedicated to the Arab Spring and the spirit of world-wide revolt it has inspired, at a gallery opening exhibiting original art and new work made in conjunction with the Occupy Everywhere movement.

“Tahrir : Liberation from the Mideast to the Midwest,” issue #42 of World War 3 Illustrated, features new stories by cartoonists from Egypt, Lebanon, Kashmir, and Palestine as well as the United Kingdom and across the United States. The editors, Seth Tobocman, Jordan Worley, and Ethan Heitner proudly present new work about the revolution in Egypt by Egyptian cartoonist Magdy El Shafee, whose graphic novel Metro was banned by the previous Egyptian regime and will be published by MacMillan in 2012 in English.

The new issue also features work from artists present at the massive protests in Madison, Wisconsin, including Mike Konopacki, Nick Thorkelson, Paul Buhle and Sue Simensky. Other featured artists include Eric Drooker, Peter Kuper, Seth Tobocman, Sabrina Jones, Jordan Worley, Sandy Jimenez, Ahmad Nady, Malik Sajad, Mazen Kerbaj, Tayseer Barakat, Ethan Heitner, Edd Baldry, and many others.

The opening and release party will feature live performances of pieces from the new issue and a planned live video conference with international artists. The Sixth Street Community Center will also be hosting a month-long exhibit of original art from issue #42 and new work made in response to this fall’s iteration of the global protest movement, with work by: Tayseer Barakat, Jennifer Camper, Sue Coe, Marguerite Dabaie, Molly Fair, Ganzeer, Ethan Heitner, Sabrina Jones, Tom Keough, Peter Kuper, Carlo Quispe, Malik Sajad, Sue Simensky, David Solnit, Nick Thorkelson, Seth Tobocman, Tamara Tornado, and Jordan Worley.

world war 3 illustrated #44 the other issue

Edited by Hilary Allison and Ethan Heitner.

Cover art by ICY and SOT; back cover by Barrack Rima

Download a preview of WW3#44 in pdf format

Contributors: Ganzeer,Sandy Jimenez, Sabrina Jones, Joel Schechter, Hilary Allison, Jesse Staniforth, Dan Buller, Clément de Gaulejac, Leila Abdul Razzaq, Tom Keough, Carlo Quispe, Peter Kuper, Pat Perry, Seth Tobocman, Crystal Clarity, Barrack Rima; translations by Eman Morsi and Gretchen Virkler

“To approach the Other in conversation is to welcome his expression. The relation with the Other, or conversation, brings me more than I contain. . . .
If one could possess, grasp, and know the Other, it would not be Other.” 
—Emmanuel Levinas

This issue began for us when Barrack Rima shared his comic-in-progress, “Nap Before Noon” with World War 3 Illustrated, saying we could print it if we wanted but demurring that his work “wasn’t political.” We were quite insistent that we wanted to share it. When Sandy Jimenez pitched his most ambitious piece for our magazine to date, we discovered we had a theme and began building an issue around it:

“Being the Other.”

We knew Ganzeer’s comic “Alien Europe” fit our theme perfectly as soon as we saw it on his website. For the past two issues we’ve run illustrations from the Egyptian artist, and for the first time we are pleased to able to print one of his comics, which originally appeared in a publication from the European Culture Congress. Making her debut in World War 3 Illustrated is Leila Abdul Razzaq, who has been serializing stories from her father on her website. She says: “I don’t draw Baddawi because this story is unique. I draw it because it is a common story that is not frequently told . . . Baddawi is not a tribute to my father, it is a tribute to the Palestinian refugee child.”

We are very grateful to Danielle Frank for putting us in touch with a crew of artists and writers in Quebec to explain how questions of identity impacted the massive street actions there last summer. Sabrina Jones, Hilary Allison, Carlo Quispe and Tom Keough bring a diversity of stories about how we are defined and define others as Other, and how we resist those definitions.

This issue also contains a short section of art we are including in response to the impact Hurricane Sandy made on our friends and families, including illustrations by Pat Perry and Crystal Clarity and stories by WW3I founders Peter Kuper and Seth Tobocman.

We are fiercely proud of Issue #44 and hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

world war 3 illustrated #43 expression! repression! revolution!

Edited by Seth Tobocman, Carlo Quispe, Hilary Allison and Rebecca Migdal.

Cover art by Sue Coe; back cover by Ganzeer

Contributors: Mike Diana, Magdy El Shafee, Dario Margante, Gianluca Costantini, Sandy Jimenez, Hilary Allison, Seth Tobocman, Jordan Worley, Kenly Dillard, Rebecca Migdal, Susan Wilmarth, Carnell Hunnicutt, Peter Kuper, Jessica Wehrle, Bill Weinberg, Marina Naprushkina, Isabella Bannerman, Jenny Gonzalez-Blitz, Carlo Quispe, Scott Cunningham, Kevin Pyle, Tom Keough, Oreet Ashery, Larrissa Snsour, Ethan Heitner, Steve Brodner, Adrian James, Nidal El-Khairy, Frances Jetter, Blu, Rabi’a, Diablo, Ganzeer, Sue Coe

 

This issue of World War 3 was inspired first by the Smithsonian’s censorship of the work of David Wojnarowicz, then the destruction of graffiti artist Blu’s anti-war mural, then by the persecution of Wikileaks. Our concerns about growing state repression were confirmed on November 15th when simultaneous attacks were launched against Occupy camps worldwide.

As advances in communications allow people greater opportunity to speak out, the state reacts with violence. In attempting to silence their critics, regimes demonstrate their moral bankruptcy and hasten their demise.

A censorship issue begs the question: What are the limits of free speech at this magazine? To be sure, this magazine is not a chat room with open posting. It is edited. World War 3 Illustrated has always been anti-war and anti-capitalist. But under that umbrella we practice left pluralism. In this issue you will find pieces for and against Obama.

Our tolerance was put to the test when Bill Weinberg asked us to publish an article criticizing Wikileaks. Was the pursuit of total accountability worth damaging that valuable organization? We decided that our readers were intelligent enough to draw their own conclusions.

Accusations of nonconsensual sex should be taken seriously. But the sex charges leveled against Assange, be they true or false, serve a sinister state agenda. This contradiction is hard to resolve.

And what about situations where the Left engages in censorship? Is it right to destroy a work of art if the content is oppressive? Do Nazis deserve tolerance? Several artists explore these questions.

No idea should be unspeakable. No emotion can be forever repressed. No one is above criticism. But critique, speech, and expression, are only meaningful in relation to the goals of liberating humanity and preserving nature.