Politics and comics: The NRA
I’ve long intended to start a series addressing the use of comics to promote political ideas. That never happened.
But at the very least, here’s an opportunity to at least share some links! Wonkette.com got ahold of a leaked copy of the NRA’s as-of-yet unreleased graphic novel, Freedom in Peril: Guarding the 2nd Amendment in the 21st Century.
It’s a beautifully illustrated, horribly simple-minded, attempt to frighten the card-carrying (and dues-paying) members into loyalty and recruitment. Apparently it’s so over-the-top, NRA allies at the California Concealed-Carry Weapons forum rushed to dismiss it as a hoax (which was later retracted in a very responsible manner). Poor boingboing.net has had to go back and forth on whether or not it’s real or a hoax.
According to rawstory.com, the early rumor is that the artwork duties were handled by Chris Gall, who has done illustrations for the NRA’s magazine America’s First Freedom.
Rawstory has made the full graphic novel available here.
Well, the art is pretty good.
This is the same NRA that is trying to make permanent a law that keeps the ATF gun-trace data from being available to the public. This information shows where guns used in crimes came from, and was previously used to show that a handful of gun stores had sold vast quantities of these guns. Of course, at least one owner of those stores is tightly tied to the NRA.
I don’t consider myself pro- or anti-gun, but the NRA is so thoughtlessly one-sided that I struggle to find the slightest piece of common ground with their cause.
I find it really funny that the evil, liberal media is demonized in this comic because they do nothing but spread fear…yet read the comic.
Exactly. Or, how it says these conspirators wait around for a tragedy to push their agenda. Then within pages, they say a few people having their guns confiscated during the terrible tragedy of Hurricane Katrina is a rallying point to restrict the government from impeding gun rights.