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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Terrible in almost every way., 5 Mar 2008
There have been a slew of great graphic novels about the war on terror and the current war in Iraq. Shooting War is not one of them. Every single aspect of this graphic novel has been done before, and done better, by somebody else. You want to read about a journalist going to Iraq and being humbled by what he finds there? Try David Axe & Steven Alexa's Warfix. You want a full-colour, worm's-eye-view of the horror of the Iraq war? Try Brian K. Vaughan & Nico Henrichon's Pride of Baghdad. You want a satirical vision of a near-future USA enmeshed in a seemingly endless war? Try Brian Wood's DMZ. You want a glimpse of Islamist extremists and their conspiracies and self-justifications? Try Ryan Inzana's Johnny Jihad.
All of these works are well worth your attention and your time. Shooting War is not.
It's not just that Shooting War has nothing positive to add to these prior works' accomplishments. It's not even that Shooting War is burdened with ugly, amateurish art, banal and cliché-ridden dialogue, an entirely predictable plot, characterization thinner than the paper it's printed on, and numerous glaring factual errors that undermine Lappé's pretentions to relevance. All of that makes the book bad, to be sure, but that's not the worst of it.
No, the worst thing about Shooting War is that Lappé seems to care more about promoting citizen journalism and asserting its superiority over the journalism of corporate-owned media than about the suffering of the Iraqi people. He has no problem with providing gory images of murdered children, but the children's deaths are not allowed to distract from his main point, which is: Citizen Journalism Is Totally Awesome! It's tasteless and exploitative, and it made me very angry. The Iraqis are real people, and they are really suffering and dying. That doesn't mean you can't depict their plight in fiction, but it does require a modicum of respect and care, which Lappé has signally failed to apply.
I would have given this book no stars if that were possible. Utterly atrocious: avoid at all costs.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting and largely unique., 12 Jan 2008
Shooting War is an appreciable text on several levels. Firstly, as a pop culture artifact in and of itself it tells an intesting, if patchy, story about a naive/enlightened (political views pertaining) blogger cum journo in "near future" Iraq, or whats left of it. In this sense it works well, its interesting, well paced and the art work feels like a reward for some unknown good deed. However, it feels very much like a product of its time as opposed to the prescient piece it is perhaps meant to be (the satire of the political right is overt, viewed from the right its left wing characters can seem clunky. Physician, know thyself), taking as its launch pad the pre-surge situation. Regardless, an interesting, occasionally highly amusing graphic novel.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perhaps the Most Important Graphic Novel Ever, 30 Nov 2007
"Shooting War" is the most innovative and important graphic novel I've ever encountered. While it's a captivating read, and the art is gorgeous throughout, it's also a penetrating perspective on American politics. Buy the book, and prepare to be inspired.
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