Tag Archives: Geopolitics

On Isaiah Berlin’s ‘The Hedgehog and the Fox’

Isaiah-Berlin-The-Hedgehog-and-the-Fox

Roy and I were just hanging out at the offices of Comics Grinder when we began to consider the current crisis in the Middle East. I had told Roy that Hillary Clinton was talking, actually warning, about the possibility of an Islamist state emerging from Syria and Iraq. This brought to Roy’s mind an essay by Isaiah Berlin, “The Hedgehog and the Fox.” The Hedgehog represents Plato and Big Ideas. The Fox represents Aristotle and Small Ideas. It is a classic that explains the virtues of knowing many small things as opposed to knowing, embracing, being blinded by, only one big thing.

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Essays, Geopolitics, politics

Review: ‘Beyond: Edward Snowden’

Beyond-Edward-Snowden-Bluewater

Bluewater Productions has launched the Beyond series that promises to reveal stories about subjects that some people would rather you did not know. For its debut, we have “Beyond: Edward Snowden.” Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor turned dissident, whistleblower and fugitive, now has his story unfold in this comic book. What you don’t know about the most wanted man on the planet will shock you.

Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Bluewater Productions, Comics, Comics Reviews, Edward Snowden, Surveillance

Interview: Antonin Baudry and ‘Weapons of Mass Diplomacy’

Arthur-Vlaminck-Abel-Lanzac-Antonin-Baudry

Antonin Baudry is the French government’s Cultural Counselor, based out of New York City. He is the author (pseudonym of Abel Lanzac), with cartoonist Christophe Blain, of the graphic novel, “Weapons of Mass Diplomacy.” This is a work of fiction that provides an insightful look at how, amid what can appear as utter chaos, great things can be accomplished. Baudry was part of the staff of French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin and helped in crafting speeches including the French position to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. As a work of fiction, this book provides a unique window in a similar spirit to “The West Wing” and goes it one better with its distinctive vision, timeless quality, and wry sense of humor.

Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under Antonin Baudry, Christophe Blain, Comics, European Comics, France, French Comics, graphic novels, Interviews, movies

Movie Review: The French Minister

The-French-Minister-Abel-Lanzac

If you are interested in an intriguing movie based on a work in comics besides “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” you will want to see “The French Minister.” This comedy could be your window to offbeat political satire and French comics all rolled into one.

Continue reading

4 Comments

Filed under Comics, France, French Comics, Movie Reviews, movies, Paris, politics

Review: ‘Weapons of Mass Diplomacy’ by Abel Lanzac and Christophe Blain

Weapons-of-Mass-Diplomacy-Lanzac-Blain

Speaking truth to power. That’s a good thing. Needless to say, it gets rather complicated when it is in the form of an official statement or formal speech. In fact, speaking truth to power is not something you expect to hear at the highest levels of government. However, from time to time, there are those in power who actually do try to make a difference. In “Weapons of Mass Diplomacy,” we have a graphic novel that is a hilarious political satire and gives us the heroic story of the French Foreign Minister attempting to prove the pen to be mightier than the sword.

Continue reading

2 Comments

Filed under Comics, European Comics, France, French Comics, Geopolitics, Graphic Novel Reviews, graphic novels