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Comics as Social Activism: An Inconvenient Truth

By Anonymous
Climate change is real. Somehow, that's still a controversial position to take. Every day we're growing closer to destruction, if we haven't already sprinted past the point of no return, and every day we have more people insisting that the planet isn't in any danger. Being a filthy millennial, I can't say I'm thrilled to have been born into this mess. It's difficult for me to remain hopeful in the face of all the ignorance and greed that drives this controversy, and despite trying my best to limit my carbon footprint, I often feel like it's all pointless so long as green policies are considered unprofitable. As the World Burns, a cartoonishly cynical take on this crisis, reflects my thoughts well. Let's dive in.

Graphic novels aren't often thought of as an effective tool for social activism. No matter what, we're always going to have people who think all comics are Mickey Mouse and cheesy Superman serials--not that there's anything wrong with enjoying either, of course. Derrick Jensen and Stephanie McMillan openly defy this notion in their brutal satirization of modern ecological policies As the World Burns: 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Stay in Denial, and as you can probably tell from the title, they pull no punches in their fight for climate change awareness. What's the point of lowering our individual carbon footprints, the two argue, so long as corporations continue to mass pollute in the name of profit? Why put the blame for climate change on the consumer when companies are so eager to cut costs at the planet's expense? Scott McCloud once said that "By stripping down an image to its essential 'meaning,' an artist can amplify that meaning in a way that realistic art can’t," and As the World Burns remains a prime example of how so much can be relayed with so few lines.

Source: Jensen, Derrick and Stephanie McMillan. As the World Burns: 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Stay in Denial. Seven Stories Press, 2007.

As the World Burns has a noticeably crude artstyle. That's fine. The comic is more concerned with putting out its message than offering a treat for the eyes, and I can't say that the artist had much motivation to show the beauty of our planet when their entire argument is based around all the creative ways we've destroyed it. As the World Burns isn't terribly concerned with subtlety, either, but who said satire always has to be? We've ignored climate change for years, and there isn't much room to be quiet with such a massive problem barreling down on us. I imagine the message wouldn't be nearly so effective in other mediums, as the scores of books and essays have gone ignored for so long, and people have a habit of shutting out the documentaries if they see too many animals dying. So how does As the World Burns work? Simple: graphic novels ask that readers collaborate with the artist. A book or essay can carry us through the numbers, a documentary can show all the ways climate change has crippled us, but combining the two in a deceptively simple comic takes the best of both worlds and forces the crisis to the forefront of the reader's mind. Graphic novels may not be taken seriously as a medium, but since so many refuse to take climate change seriously, perhaps the two are a perfect match.

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