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^0UT productions are partially funded by the ASUO
y | Request for accommodations related to disabilities
* should be made to the University Theatre Development
Office at least one week prior to performance.
arte
Scenes & Monologoues
from Shakespeare's Most
Famous Plays
Robinson Theatre
Fri & Sat
PM
UNIVERSITY
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THEATRE
■ Book Review
Cartoonist turns heads
with "Get Your War On II"
David Rees's newest
comic strip collection is
a scabrous look at politics
RYAN NYBURG
PULSE EDITOR
In some quarters it is suspected that
if George W. Bush loses the upcoming
election, the entire American book
publishing industry will collapse for
lack of anything to write about. I’m
not one to speculate about such
things, but I do hope that David Rees
manages to keep up to good work. Af
ter reading his latest collection of bit
terly funny comic strips, “Get Your
War On II,” I’m betting that he’s going
to be around for awhile.
A bit of background: Rees began
posting a red inked, clip-art based
comic strip called “Get Your War On”
less than a month after 9/11. Not so
much a comic strip as an illustrated
rant, “GYWO” took on modern
American politics from the point of
view of a righteously outraged citizen
speaking through the staccato images
of middle-management cubicle jock
eys. The strip isn’t simple partisan ide
ological exercise, but a wide range as
sault on loose corporate morals,
screwed-up government policy and
manipuladve media barrages. Rees is
n’t so much anti-Bush or anti-conser
vative as he is anti-stupidity. Such a big
target requires a strategic assault, and
that is exactly what this new collection
of “GYWO” strips provides.
The strip has a fixed set of images
with very little in the way of variation
between the frames. Most of the im
ages are of suited office workers
Courtesy
David Rees’s new collection, “Get Your War On II," is a bitter, cynical collection of visually
simple comic strips discussing modern issues.
speaking to each other over the
phone, discussing the news of the day.
The “characters” in the strip have lit
tle in the way of personality and no
events outside of political discussion
and commentary ever take place.
Through this deceptively simple
framework comes the voice of a man
filled to the brim with indignation
over the stupidity of the world around
him. The characters are like the un
leashed conscious of an average
American: a wreathing, dispossessed
id which has somehow gotten hold of
a Web-based comic strip.
The exchanges cover whatever has
been buried in the daily news during
any particular nanosecond of our cul
ture, with post-9/11 politics the most
common topic. The characters rant
over a wide range of viewpoints and
cover the different emotional
reactions felt by average Americans,
from disgust to the need for revenge
to simple befuddlement over what
has happened in the past few years,
all of it sprinkled with casual doses of
profanity. “I still can’t believe they
named the thing the fuckin’ USA Pa
triot Act. Grown-ups did that,” goes
one exchange. “You think once they
have Benjamin Franklin’s body spin
ning in his grave fast enough, they’ll
be able to power an internal combus
tion engine with it?”
One thing that shines through all the
vitriol is that Rees, unlike many who
criticize the Bush administration, actu
ally seems to be paying attention to
what is going on in the world. He is
aware to an almost painful extent, and
he takes every stupid, Hollywood
bravado-fed cliche as a personal insult
COMIC COLLECTION, page 9D
Community
Center tor the
Perfamvrai Arts
8th &
Lincoln
. Wednesday, Sept. 22.
The Matt Sharp
£ Golden Boy Show
Matt from Weezer
9:00 pm, $8 advance, $10 door
. Thursday, Sept. 23 ■
The Hot Buttered Rum
Stem? Band
Bluegrass
9:00 pm, $8 door
* Friday, Sept 24. •
Comedians of
Comedy Tour:
Patton Oswalt
Brian Posehn
Maria Bamford
Stand-Up
9:00 pm, $10 advance, $12 door
- Sunday, Sept. 26 .
Ro?erClyne
£ the Peacemakers
Rock
8:00 pm, $10 advance, $10 door
■ Tuesday, Sept. 28 .
Neil Hamburger,
Canned Ham
Comedy & Karaoke
8:00 pm, $7 door
All Ages Welcome
687-2746
It's the Year of
Fine Taste at
JADE PALACE
CHINESE
SEAFOOD
RESTAURANT
menu
Specializing in seafood
dishes as well as
extensive traditional
Great Vegetarian
Dishes
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Call 346-3712 to speak with a rep.
We have great University rates.
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