But man, it was a SLOG reading through those interviews. I love Aaron McGruder's point of view, and I find him insightful in both his strips and his interviews. I was not politically engaged at the time when the strips were first being published, and though I still have a long way to go to understanding politics (both domestic and foreign), I'm at an age now where I can read these strips and understand what they "meant" in the broader cultural landscape, as well as the risks McGruder took in expanding what political cartoons (and the comics page in general) were capable of. For me, the humor still holds up, and the socio-political commentary is still eerily relevant to our current political climate. The strips, as I've stated, are excellent. That way, I don't as easily lose my place.Īll the Rage is broken up into three sections: a collection of strips, a collection of interviews and a collection of controversial strips, including some that have appeared in previous anthologies. And these days, I tend to only read comic strip anthologies on my breaks at work, in 15-minute increments. Not ideal for the way I like to read.Įven with books that encourage you to flip around and read sections out of order, my preference is to read books in order from cover to cover. But with The Boondocks, what else is there to expect?įormat: Eh.
Holy crap The Boondocks is fucking great.Ĭontent: Fantastic, as always. Apparently the last section of the book is all the strips that were banned (or got the strip canceled) from various newspapers, but I read books from start to finish and haven't gotten there yet. In addition to tons and tons of strips, All the Rage has a collection of interviews, articles, and other stuff by and about Aaron, and he is just as articulate, furious, passionate, and humble as you would hope. Ok, this is totally not me cheating on Pynchon - I am still firmly ensconced in Against the Day - but sometimes a girl needs a break, you know?Īnd ok, though I was kinda sorta trying to deny it, I have to admit that I have a really serious crush on Aaron McGruder. Clearly why don't you have this book in your bathroom yet? It's amazing.
Anything else please? Like who were his influences and what his friends are like and what kind of socks he wears and whether he will go on a date with me perhaps? (Obvs I'm not a journalist either, but still.)Īnyway, no matter.
RELATABLE RAGE COMICS TV
Hello? Originality maybe? We all know how and why he's angry, we've heard about the scandal with the post-September 11th strips, and we're tired of hearing him obfuscate and hedge about all the fallen-through TV deals that preceded The Boondocks being picked up by Adult Swim. The other thing is that, by putting all the interviews and articles one right after the other like this, you kind of start to hate the interviewers a little, because you see that everyone asks the same goddamn questions. But here's the thing, Andrews McMeel: why bother? Aaron McGruder is a genius ( Birth of a Nation notwithstanding) and he doesn't need your bullshit trickery to make people buy anything his beautiful hands have touched. Clearly a publisher's gimmick to make people buy the book. Well I do have to admit that the whole 'banned strips' section at the back was a bit of a letdown, with mostly nothing you haven't seen before.
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