Tag Archives: Joe Biden

Review: ‘A Diary of the Plague Year: An Illustrated Chronicle of 2020’ by Elise Engler

A Diary of the Plague Year: An Illustrated Chronicle of 2020. Elise Engler. Macmillan. New York. 304pp. 2022. $34.

Just as we’re settling into 2022, there remains some of that deja vu all over again. We won’t shake off 2020 that easily and for good reason. Artist Elise Engler captures this monster of a year with her daily paintings of the news in this unique collection. What began as a more modest project, a daily painting routine begun in late 2015, took on a life of its own after Trump was elected president. At that point, Engler was compelled to follow the topsy-turvy trail of events all the way into 2020 and beyond. This book covers the first hint of Covid-19 in the news on January 20, 2020 all the way to January 21, 2021, the day after Joe Biden was sworn in as president.

Indeed, truth can be stranger than fiction. You just can’t make up some of the headlines from 2020. On May 19, 2020: “Despite FDA caution, Trump says he is taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventative, threatens to permanently end WHO funding.” And there you have the material for that day’s painting. Engler kept to a steady diet of WNYC radio, a credible news source with editorial positions that moderately favor the left. What’s interesting is the hybrid of sorts that Engler created with her work whether or not it includes an editorial slant. Part of it can function as an editorial cartoon or seem to. But, more to the point, you can see Engler mostly focused with just keeping up with the steady stream of news: a raging pandemic; racial tensions at a feverish level; and a most unusual presidential race.

At turns poetic, Engler’s dispatches can sometimes read as passages from a very compelling dystopian science fiction novel, albeit they’re all too real. Consider July 23, 2020, at random, but indicative of the whole: “House passes bill removing Confederate statues, other figures from Capitol; California surpasses New York in total COVID cases; Trump will send federal agents to Chicago.” All the elements in place, a perfect storm, a most frightening time to witness on any level. Page after page, Engler brings home the realities of our times in concise fashion.

Here’s the thing about the news, it’s hot one moment and then it can either heat up again or suddenly cool off. Bits and pieces, significant by themselves and part of a greater whole, are vulnerable to be trampled upon by the next freight train of even crazier and more explosive news. And heaven help those items of news with any hint of complexity from staying very long on the public’s radar, if at all. Consider November 28, 2020. Another day of news to be processed and lost: “Firing squad, poison gas could be allowed for federal executions under Justice Dept. rules; “Voters, not lawyers, choose the president,” judge writes in repudiation of Trump’s effort to halt PA election process; Iran top nuclear scientist assassinated.” Engler thoughtfully corrals these more elusive bits of data and pins them down in a compelling memorable manner.

Elise Engler proved to be at the right place at the right time having honed a means of production years in advance. To add to the urgency, Engler’s studio is in New York City, what became known as the epicenter of the pandemic, at least in the United States. From her drawing board, she was only a short walk away from a tent hospital set up in Central Park. As the violence and chaos unfolded throughout the year, the paintings became less formal, more open, more expressive. Some moments and images have become embedded in our collective memory. Smaller, more nuanced items, will recede into the background, but find a home in Engler’s book, a record from a seasoned artist who was there at her drawing board when it happened.

A Diary of the Plague Year: An Illustrated Chronicle of 2020 is available as of January 18, 2022 and his published by Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt and Co., Macmillan Publishing Group.

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Filed under Book Reviews, Comics, Political Cartoons

Interview: Ted Rall and THE STRINGER

War journalism ain’t what it used to be.

Ted Rall is a journalist, cartoonist, and columnist. Ted Rall’s new graphic novel, THE STRINGER, is a political thriller that will appeal to readers who enjoy a full-bodied story with twists and turns. Bringing in his own experience as a war correspondent, Rall’s book has a gripping authentic voice that takes the reader on a wild ride with food for thought.

After so much hard luck, Mark Scribner could really use a lucky break. Be careful what you wish for.

A movie version of The Stringer would be something like George Clooney in Three Kings or Jeremy Renner in Kill the Messenger. It’s a gritty vibe; a fable for our overly-disruptive times. Here is an interview with Ted Rall where we cover the creative process and discuss Rall’s collaboration with artist Pablo Callejo as well as tackle the media and political landscape. Today was a particularly interesting news day with President Biden’s first formal press conference. Rall has some observations on that too. This is a guy who takes on the left with as much gusto as he does the right. It depends upon the issue and who is in power. One way or another, you may disagree with him but you can’t say his thinking is sloppy and he’s just phoning it in.

Forget the old tropes. A younger woman and an older man who are just friends.

There’s a friendship that Mark strikes up with Margreet, a female reporter half his age. Running counter to the old romance tropes, they remain just friends. It’s not something that’s emphasized. It just is. And it’s nice to see. Rall is highly opinionated but that doesn’t mean his work is heavy-handed. Often, what I see in Rall is someone who is simply daring to talk about a better world–and that can run against various interests; and a lot of people’s tendency to leave well enough alone. Rall’s attitude is “don’t settle for the lesser of two evils.” Don’t settle on corporate lies. Just don’t settle. That approach is what fuels the best of Rall’s work and that’s what you’ll find in The Stringer.

Visit Ted Rall at his website. For more information on The Stringer, visit NBM Publishing.

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Filed under Afghanistan, Interviews, Ted Rall

Comics Portrait: President-elect Joe Biden by Nick Thorkelson

President-elect Joe Biden

We are entering a new era, even if a certain someone is in denial. Here is a comics portrait by Nick Thorkelson, who is one of the most astute of cartoonists!

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Filed under Comics, Illustration, Joe Biden, Nick Thorkelson, Portraits

Election 2020: Houston, We Have a Problem. The infamous Greg Abbott Order to Suppress the Vote!

Texas Governor Greg Abbott knows how to suppress the vote! The infamous Greg Abbott Order. Will it Stand?

Republicans have a long history of voter suppression. It is devious and totally in Trump’s wheelhouse, the sort of horrid activity done in plain view. You remember, during the debate, how Trump encouraged his supporters to intimidate voters at the polls, right? Well, that’s one form of voter suppression. That brings us to today’s editorial cartoon: Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who recently ordered that each county in Texas be limited to only one drop-off box for mail-in ballots. This is an abrupt decision made with only three weeks before the election.

Democratic members of Congress, all chairs of prominent committees, have called Abbott’s order an apparent “last-ditch effort to suppress Texans’ ability to vote.” Consider the fact that mail-in drop-off sites are relied upon just like mail boxes and each county is suppose to have what it needs. Harris County, a county with a population of 4.7 million, which includes Houston, has relied upon a dozen drop-off sites. Harris County is around the size of Rhode Island. Abbott now has Harris County with only ONE drop-off box! This is the opposite of making voting accessible for everyone. At this writing, Abbott’s order is being challenged but it may stand as is.

Houston, and the rest of Battleground America, we have a problem. Where are you experiencing voter suppression? In about three weeks, November 3, 2020, it will be Election Day in the United States of America. What are you doing to help promote a fair and honest election? Well, it has nothing to do with suddenly showing up in MAGA gear as a self-proclaimed poll watcher. For many Americans, it will mean voting like your life depends upon it. In the end, all of us in the USA must find a way to come together. We will continue to do this one step at a time. The Abbott order is now a moment in time right up there with another infamous moment in time, George Wallace standing in front of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama on June 11, 1963, in order to stop the enrollment of African-American students. Don’t be hesitant, afraid and silent. Speak up. And vote.

The following is from the Texan Tribune, 6 October 2020. Read the entire article here.

The Democratic chairs of three high-profile congressional committees urged Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday to rescind his order limiting counties to one drop-off location each for absentee ballots, saying it “appears to be a last-ditch effort to suppress Texans’ ability to vote.”

In a letter to the Texas governor, U.S. House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., and U.S. Reps. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., and Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., said they are investigating Abbott’s order because it “may interfere with the administration of free, fair, and safe federal elections in Texas during the coronavirus pandemic.” The chairs also asked Abbott to provide documents regarding his decision.

Clyburn leads the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, Lofgren chairs the Committee on House Administration, and Maloney presides over the Committee on Oversight and Reform.

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Filed under Comics, Democracy, Editorial Cartoons, Election 2020, Vote