Shooting War

by Anthony Lappe

Book Overview

The global war on terror is raging out of control. The president is popping Prozac. And the #1 selling videogame in 2011 America is the terrorist-simulatorInfidel Massacre: Los Angeles. On the streets... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0446581208
• ISBN13: 9780446581202
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 8.9" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Shooting War kicks butt!!!

This savvy look at the all-too-proximate future couldn't be smarter or more gripping. It holds up a mirror to our own times and beams back an absurd apocalypse. It's a beautiful hardcover coffee table accoutrement. The pictures are amazingly vibrant. A great conversation starter.

Sign of the Times

Lappe & Goldman's "Shooting War" is a fast-paced, gorgeously illustrated rollercoaster ride through a predicted future of the state of war in the Middle East. The hypothesis is that the conflict won't be over by 2011 (of course, it has been going on, "with or without" the USA for decades) and a video-blogger, Jimmy Burns, gets his big break with a very "lucky" live feed of the explosive destruction of a local Starbucks. We follow Burns, a limelight-chasing media newbie, in his quick rise to fame to the warzone in the Middle East itself. His experiences prove that life doesn't just exist through the lens, but that it's happening all around him and TO him, but he is there to do a job, hence the only way he is permitted to survive in such a volatile place is by way of his camera. Lappe's story gets a little confusing at times, but moves very quickly and is chock-full of warning. But it's Goldman's illustrations that are the star of the show, mixing real photography and digital drawings on two-page spreads that make one look away due to the occasional gore. It's a beautifully executed book and well worth the small price.

Innovative and edgy - makes a great xmas gift!

Shiny, pretty, without too many words, Shooting War takes a look at the war, at our media, at the corporate take over of our country without taking itself too seriously. Hiding behind animation, Shooting War is able to face, head on, the brutality of the war without any danger of becoming a sensationalistic blood fest. Makes a great gift for any socially active person!

Political Satire & Very Human Coming of Age Story

Although the author and illustrator say their graphic novel is a political satire that extrapolates current events regarding the Iraqi War, the Mexican immigration issue, and emerging technology as well as a healthy dose of politics, SHOOTING WAR is also a wonderfully compelling read. I was blown away by the storyline, the art, and the voice that comes from the material. I was also completely surprised by the appearance of news anchor Dan Rather and his hefty part in the graphic novel's plot and action. Lappe and Goldman obviously know their material and believe in their message. They don't hold back and reach out viciously to grab the reader by the hair of the head and drag them through the harsh world they've created. I'd read a preview of the graphic novel almost three months ago, but even that failed to prepare me for the emotional and thought-provoking odyssey I was embarking on when I first began to turn pages. The book actually started out as an on-line comic. Lappe had written a nonfiction book, TRUE LIES, with Stephen Marshall that focused on the disservice they believe the media is doing to the American people. Lappe is also the executive editor of GNN (Guerilla News Network), has written for a number of magazines and other media, and was the producer of the Showtime documentary about Iraq: BATTLEGROUND: 21 DAYS ON THE EMPIRE'S EDGE. Goldman writes and draws the strip, KELLY, for www.act-i-vate.com and co-authored the graphic novel, EVERYMAN: BE THE PEOPLE. His art is the result of a mixed media effort. I liked the character of Jimmy Burns from the opening pages. He's just a big kid with a new toy, a wireless camera that allows him to video-blog from anywhere there's an internet connection. I liked his innocence, but I knew it was going to be blown out like a candle flame before the story ran its course. In just the first few pages, Jimmy happens to be on-hand in front of a Starbucks (and you have to love the way iconic features of today's popular culture are used and destroyed in the book) where a terrorist bomb explodes. The building, including Jimmy's apartment, is destroyed and several people are killed. Almost overcome by the horror around him, Jimmy keeps talking into the video camera. But I got the impression that it was because he was freaked and wanted to share what was going on with someone else more than just to present a breaking news story. Jimmy's transmission gets seized by a local network and pumped into an international grid where the world watches. In just a couple of pages, Jimmy gets hired by Global News, the television station that hijacked his video upload, as a troubleshooter, a reporter who's going to be in the middle of all the world's hotspots. Before Jimmy knows it, he's launched into the middle of the Iraqi War. Since, in the book, it's the year 2011, there are a lot of changes. Sadly, which is one of the messages of the book, many things remain the same. Goldman's art is beautiful.