The Presidential election is weeks away and it’s one of the most important in our nation’s history. It’s democracy vs. fascism, progress vs. regression.
Some of the discussion this election season is about Project 2025, the “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise.” The document is a roadmap for a second Donald Trump presidency prepared by some of the most conservative individuals and organizations out there including the Heritage Foundation and former Trump staffers.
The document is a “day one” plan that would get a second Trump term off the ground running and would not just reshape the federal government, it’d gut it as well as shred the social contract between citizens and the government. It takes decades of tradition and safeguards and destroys them.
But, it’s a massive document, so a group of comic creators have come together to better help explain it with stopproject2025comic.org.
Though it doesn’t happen often, you once in a while get to see Court Justices have fun in their opinions. There’s times pop culture references are used and in a recent opinion, the Nebraska Supreme Court did exactly that.
In a recent ruling regarding people who have completed sentences for felony convictions and voter registration, they made a Simpsons reference even those they’re scolding should understand.
In decision, they wrote:
For a statue to be declared unconstitutional, the Nebraska Constitution requires the vote of five justices of the Nebraska Supreme Court. Neb. Const. art. V, 2. Only the Nebraska Supreme Court declares statues unconstitutional. The super-majority requirement is well known. Patty and Selma at the Department of Motor Vehicles may not be constitutional scholars, but they know that they are expected to follow the law. We recently reiterated that everyone is presumed to know this law and is bound to take notice of it…
At the heart of the case is the ability of those who have completed their sentences getting their right to vote back. The Nebraska Secretary of State and Attorney General declared that they couldn’t and a law regarding that unconstitutional without any court ruling it as such. That decision would have disenfranchised thousands of individuals, individuals likely to have voted Democrat. It’s decision that could have major implications on the 2024 election.
More people voting is a good thing… court decisions that reference the Simpsons, also a good thing.
“These are scary times,” says Tananarive Due, the American Book Award-winning author of The Reformatory and the driving force behindScareUpTheVote, an effort to bring the all-stars of horror fiction and film together in support of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Scare Up the Vote brings together voices across generations, diverse backgrounds and beliefs to unite the horror community for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
In scary times, people need to pull together in strength and hope, to fight the darkness. Horror writers and filmmakers spend a lot of time contemplating monstrosity and thinking about fear. When I realized we had to speak out as a community, and began to invite others to participate, I wasn’t at all surprised by the massive response. We know what the stakes are in this election because we’ve imagined the worst possible outcomes. –Tananarive Due
On October 15th, at 8pm Eastern time, Due and the rest of the Scare Up The Vote committee will host a massive online event to drive voter turnout and to raise money for the Harris/Walz campaign. Stephen King, Joe Hill, Rachel Harrison, Victor LaValle, Stephen Graham Jones, and many other authors will be joined by filmmakers including Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep), Scott Derrickson (Doctor Strange, The Black Phone), Kevin Williamson (Scream), Don Mancini (Chucky), and Bryan Fuller (Hannibal, Star Trek: Discovery), along with actor David Dastmachlian (Late Night with the Devil).
The two-hour-plus event will include the guests talking about their love of horror stories alongside their thoughts about why the upcoming election is important to them and will stream live on October 15th.
Due’s co-hosts and fellow committee members are authors and poets Linda A. Addison, Maxwell I. Gold, Christopher Golden, and Cynthia Pelayo with production managed by Robb Olson.
Election Day is getting closer and Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris has been hitting up lots of different media to get her message out (we should put in our pitch for her to take on our questions).
She recently appeared on the Howard Stern Show where the radio host made the shocking declaration that Prince‘s best work was the soundtrack to 1989’s Batman!
Did the Vice President agree? Watch and find out! The discussion takes place at the opening of the video.
It’s not every day you see a comic book open with a quote from Hannah Arendt, the famous American-German political thinker and author of The Origins of Totalitarianism. That last tidbit of information about Arendt is important to understand the type of satire Jimmie Robinson goes for in Bomb Queen: Trump Card #1. It’s biting and completely uninterested in criticizing anything in a politically correct way. But criticism is the goal and it doesn’t lose sight of it. In a sense, it’s a kind of book we’re seeing less and less of today.
This new limited series follows the titular supervillain, Bomb Queen, as she joins the 2024 presidential campaign against Donald Trump. Taking a page from Nixon in Watchmen, Trump is flirting with the idea of making the presidency a life-long term and that quite simply does not fly with New Port City’s superhero community. Bomb Queen is forcefully recruited by one particular superhero to run against Trump and then, once she’s won, resign to the position so that the superhero that recruited her becomes president instead.
This first issue is quite accessible and easy enough to follow, but there are a ton of callbacks to the previous limited series and one-shots as well (the comic was first published in 2006). Bomb Queen was the leader of New Port City and basically acted as a dictator that was reckless but reliable. No one ever doubted she would continue being a super villain and so people trusted her to be just that all the time.
In other words, Bomb Queen was the Trump of New Port City, a point the comic literally argues in one sequence. The superhero community’s plan is to fight fire with fire and then course correct. It’s basically a look at Totalitarianism and how it works, albeit with a more fast-paced, bloody, and sexed up mindset.
The basis for the satire is clear and quite ‘in your face.’ What transpires is a smart but often crude way of broaching the idea people want to view their leaders as superheroes or super villains, expecting them to act accordingly. It can remind one of Garth Ennis’ The Boys, specifically in terms of how power creates irresponsible God-like beings that want nothing more than to flaunt their abilities publicly, shamelessly, and without restraint.
Bomb Queen: Trump Card #1, Image
What sets Bomb Queen apart from The Boys is that Jimmie Robinson’s satire is more down to Earth. While The Boys looks more closely at the nature of super people and plays around with comic tropes more intently, Bomb Queen takes it down to the streets without room for subtlety (much less than in Ennis’ book and even that one can’t be said to have much regard for it either).
As is the case in earlier Bomb Queen books, this new story features random New Port citizens sounding off on Bomb Queen’s candidacy. Opinions vary among them, with some saying things along the lines of “if Trump can insult people, then why can’t Bomb Queen do so as well?” or “we already have a villain in the White House. What’s wrong with having a super villain instead?”
Bomb Queen: Trump Card Part One
The exchanges are absurd, fun, rough, but smartly presented and come off as not so far fetched as those found in the real world. In Bomb Queen’s America, satire is the status quo, an inside joke everyone’s in on. That American society has taken such a turn for the ridiculous that we’ve managed to actually put a super villain in the White House is perhaps the bigger point Robinson wants to make here.
And yet, Bomb Queen isn’t for everyone. The character’s barely-there outfit is also part of the satire, but it alludes to other things explored previously in the series. Some may find the design exploitative and out of touch, but it’s not without its purpose. Again, political correctness is not a concern for Robinson, and sometimes it feels as if he actively attempts to get under the reader’s skin. Having said that, an update for the purposes of discourse could’ve made the comic even more accessible.
Robinson seems to like to turn his villainess into a mirror for our own inadequacies and inconsistencies. Expect 90’s era style jokes and visual gags that aren’t looked favorably upon today, but also expect them to be in response to something specific and not just for the sake of gratuity. What lands in Robinson’s crosshairs tends to be worthy of the criticism Bomb Queen provides.
Bomb Queen’s Trump-like behavior in past events makes her an interesting example of villainy to bounce off of. The idea of making a Trump-like villain run against the actual Trump is a fascinating one and merits discussion. Give it a read and if it’s not your thing, that’s okay. If you end up liking it, then you have a lot more satire to look forward to, along with the added sting of pure unpolitical correctness.
Story: Jimmie Robinson Art: Jimmie Robinson Story: 8 .0Art: 9.0 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Read Bomb Queen and then register to vote
Image Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
From Amazon Prime Video, All In: The Fight for Democracy examines voter suppression in the United States. The film is directed by Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning filmmaker Liz Garbusand Oscar-nominated filmmaker Lisa Cortés and produced by Liz Garbus, Lisa Cortés, Dan Cogan, and Stacey Abrams.
The film examines personal experiences, current activism, and the history surrounding the problem that has corrupted our democracy.
The film is coming to theaters on September 9, on Prime Video September 18.
New York City Upper East Side Democratic City Council Member Ben Kallos is an admitted geek. Back in 2013, he built a website for a Battlestar Galactica themed Passover seder.
Today, his campaign for Manhattan Borough President sent out an email “Superhero Alert.” The fundraising pitch has a Captain America theme even quoting the iconic superhero stating “he can do this all day!” in the subject line. The quote comes from Captain America (or Steve Rogers) standing up to “bullies” numerous times in the film showing he’s a fighter no matter the odds.
It’s always fun to see politicians weave in comic culture into their campaign and fantastic to see many more wearing their fandom on their sleeves.
Check out the full email below (with email addresses removed):
From: Superhero Alert via Team Kallos Date: November 15, 2019 at 8:35:27 AM EST To: Subject: he can do this all day! Reply-To: Superhero Alert via Team Kallos
Team,
Yeah, sure, we could have said “not all heroes wear capes” but we thought it was important to get straight to the point.
In all seriousness, while Captain America was pretty busy fighting Hydra, sleeper agents, Loki, Ultron, and Thanos, Ben’s been fighting for everyday New Yorkers.
He’s taken on corruption by forcing politicians to give up outside income, won campaign finance reforms, and stood up to billionaires building supertalls for other billionaires that would leave the rest of us in their shadow. He’s been fighting for New Yorkers, making sure that everyone has equal opportunities to succeed all while opening more school seats and affordable housing, and improving commutes.
And while the real Captain America has super strength, Ben’s power comes from us.
This campaign won’t be funded by real-estate developers or corporations. That’s why we’re hoping we can count on you (and a few hundred boots on the ground!) so we have what it takes to shield him from whatever comes his way.
And like Captain America, he can do this all day, but we’ve got to make sure he’s got the resources to keep fighting.
Why rock the vote, when you can draw it? Oni Press has launched Draw Out the Vote, a free state by state comics voting guide to view, download, print, and share, available now! Join creators Kiku Hughes (ELEMENTS: Fire – A Comic Anthology by Creators of Color), Jarrett Williams (Super Pro K.O.!), Bianca Xunise (The Nib), Shamus Beyale (Ghetto Klown), Melanie Gillman (As The Crow Files), Christina “Steenz” Stewart (Archival Quality), Natalie Riess (Space Battle Lunchtime), Arigon Starr (Super Indian), Terry Blas (Dead Weight: Murder at Camp Bloom), Rashad Doucet (Alabaster Shadows), and more, discussing a variety of topics centered around the act of voting.
Fifty-two different artists explore what voting, politics, and living in American mean to them in this collection of black-and-white comics. Cartoonists from each state (plus Washington, DC and Puerto Rico) were invited to contribute to the project, which Oni hopes will increase voter awareness and encourage comics readers to vote in the November midterm elections. Included with each comic are instructions on how to register to vote in each state—as well as what to do to actually vote, and other things to note that may affect your ability to vote. (Can you wear a campaign shirt to the polls? Can you vote if you have a felony conviction?) Voting is our civic duty, and Oni Press wants to make it as easy as possible for people to register and vote in 2018.
While we don’t regularly cover wrestling, we do have a political bent, so we bring the news that the Big Red Machine is heading to the Mayor’s office. Glenn Jacobs, who is better known as the WWE wrestler Kane, won his bid for Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee.
Jacobs beat his opponent by a wide margin garnering 51,804 versus the Democratic nominee Linda Haney’s 26,224. Jacobs won the Republican primary by just 23 votes over fellow Republican Brad Anders.
Knox County is the home to Knoxville and the third-most populous count in Tennessee.
Jacobs originally wanted to play pro footbally but a knee injury ended those dreams. Instead, he focused on wrestling and spent years in local promotions before joining the WWE in 1995. He debuted “Kane” two years later.
Jacob’s new position isn’t a strange turn for a wrestler. Jesse Ventura was elected governor of Minnesota on the third-party Reform Party ticket in 1998 and served as mayor of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota from 1991 to 1995. B. Brian Blair was elected Couty Commissioner in 2004 for Hillsborough, Florida. Rick Steiner won for school board for the Cherokee County School District in 2006. Ludvig Borga spent seven years on the Finnish Parliament. The recently deceased Nikolai Volkoff ran in 2006 for Maryland State Delegate but was unsuccessful. Jerry “The King” Lawler ran for Mayor of Mepmphis and garnered 11.7% of the votes coming in third. Bob Backlund ran for Congress in Connecticut in 2000 as a Republican and lost. Linda McMahon, the CEO of the WWE ran for U.S. Senator in Connectict losing with 43% of the vote. She’s currently a member of the Trump Administration heading the Small Bussiness Administration. Antonio Inoki was an extremely successful politician whose career began while he still competed in the ring. He was elected to the Japanese House of Councillors in 1989 and even led a one-man mission to Iraq in 1990 to negotiate the release of Japanese hostages with Saddam Hussein.
In March we covered the elected office run of Cara Nicole Trujillo who was running for State Representative in the 26th District in Arizona. Known as the AZ Powergirl, Trujillo was running as a member of the Green Party.
Unfortunately Trujillo couldn’t pull it off and came in fourth garnering 11.59% of the vote. Not bad for a newcomer!
Arizona has a system where two individuals are elected to each House district and currently both seats for this district are held by Democrats.
Beyond cosplaying, Cara has created books, appeared on national television, radio and print ads, was the model for the Magic: The Gathering’s Emmara Tandris card, and travels internationally to conventions where she not only tables but also teaches panels on Cosplay Safety, The Business of Cosplay, as well as mentors many newer costumers to grow in the business as well is the co-founder and co-owner of 183 Degree Studio.
While we don’t regularly cover wrestling, we do have a political bent, so we bring the news that the Big Red Machine is heading to the Mayor’s office. Glenn Jacobs, who is better known as the WWE wrestler Kane, won his bid for Mayor of Knox County, Tennessee.
