The GB Pull List – #NTYCBD Activism 3rd June 2020

The Geeky Brummie Pull List with #NTYCBD Activism Edition.

Hello and welcome to another Pull List. In this edition I’ll be looking back at some comics I loved that may be new to you for New To You Comic Book Day – #NTYCBD. Where possible I’d like people to reach out to their local comic book store – a list of the big UK ones are at the bottom this post – and make a purchase from them. I will include a link to the books on Comixology/Amazon as an option where possible. Some books may be more difficult to track down but it’ll be worth having a look on eBay for those.

This week I wanted to highlight some comics that feature political themes and political activism. In the current climate it is more important than ever we understand our place in this world and how we can help our fellow humans. These are just a few of the great graphic novels that are out there. Try to seek out some more and read them.

Title: March Trilogy

Publisher: Top Shelf Productions

Page Count : 564 Pages

Comixology Link – March Trilogy

From the Publisher:

Before he became a respected Congressman, John Lewis was clubbed, gassed, arrested over 40 times, and nearly killed by angry mobs and state police, all while nonviolently protesting racial discrimination. He marched side-by-side with Martin Luther King as the youngest leader of the Civil Rights Movement that would change a nation forever. Now, experience John Lewis’ incredible story first-hand, brought to life in a stunning graphic novel trilogy. With co-writer Andrew Aydin and Eisner Award-winning artist Nate Powell, John Lewis’ MARCH tells the story of how a poor sharecropper’s son helped transform America, from a segregated schoolhouse to the 1963 March on Washington and beyond.

This extraordinary trilogy of books tells the story of civil rights activist John Lewis. This series of graphic novels sheds light and understanding on Lewis’ entry into the civil rights movement. This trilogy could be used as a historical documentary but it goes way beyond that. It recognises a man who was an essential part of the civil rights movement. It honours all of those activists that paved the way for integration and for the advancement of African-Americans. It’s real American history. This trilogy is a must read for those who do not know who John Lewis is but want to understand him and how important the civil rights movement was and still is.

 

Title: The Scar: Graphic Reportage from the US-Mexico Border

Publisher: Fantagraphics

Page Count : 38 Pages

Comixology Link – The Scar: Graphic Reportage from the US-Mexico Border

From the Publisher:

In the summer of 2017, cartoonist Andrea Ferraris and director Renato Chiocca traveled to southern Arizona to witness the tense situation along the US-Mexico border firsthand. Drawing from frank interviews with volunteers at local humanitarian organizations and treks through the Sonoran Desert to save migrants in distress, Ferraris and Chiocca present a compassionate account of how the border wall has changed the lives of those on both sides.

This comic contains two brief pieces of comics reportage by artist Andrea Ferraris and documentary film director Renato Chiocca who traveled to Nogales in the summer of 2017 to witness and document what they saw and heard about US-Mexico border firsthand. They interviewed volunteers on both sides, including people from No More Deaths and other humanitarian organizations there. This isn’t a comic that has all the answers to the problems happening on the border. But it is a comic that finds moments of beauty amidst seemingly endless tragedy. Definitely worth reading.

 

Title: They Called Us Enemy

Publisher: Top Shelf Productions

Comixology Link – They Called Us Enemy

From the Publisher:

George Takei has captured hearts and minds worldwide with his captivating stage presence and outspoken commitment to equal rights. But long before he braved new frontiers in Star Trek, he woke up as a four-year-old boy to find his own birth country at war with his father’s—and their entire family forced from their home into an uncertain future. In a stunning graphic memoir, Takei revisits his haunting childhood in American concentration camps, as one of over 100,000 Japanese Americans imprisoned by the U.S. government during World War II. Experience the forces that shaped an American icon—and America itself—in this gripping tale of courage, country, loyalty, and love.

My final choice this week is a powerful and important book. George Takei, later to become famous as Sulu on Star Trek, tells the story of his childhood whilst imprisoned during World War II by the US government. After the attack on of Pearl Harbor, approximately 120,000 of people Japanese ancestry, who were living along the US west coast, regardless of their US citizenship or if they had never even been to Japan, were incarcerated in relocation centers. They were forced to abandon everything, their homes, jobs, and belongings. It was thought that they were loyal to the Japanese emperor simply because of their ancestry and that they could not be assimilated into the US.  This graphic memoir depicts George Takei’s family and the other detainees’ struggles and choices against this legalized racism. It is a stark reminder that injustices, whether legal or not, have and will continue to happen because of discrimination. Brilliant stuff.

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My Pulls

With no new comics to buy this week what can you do in the meantime? Let your local comic shop know you are here for them. Contact them and see if they are still open, continue to pre-order titles, and use this as an opportunity to purchase one of my #NTYCBD suggestions, a new collection or back issues from them. Use one of the apps or websites below to see what’s due to be coming out soon and pre-order the titles you’re interested in, since, as of now, publishers still intend to release the comics that are not currently able to get to stores.

Here are a few of the great comic shops in the UK so get in touch and see how you can order comics and continue to support their stores –

FORBIDDEN PLANET INTERNATIONAL (VARIOUS) – includes Worlds Apart Birmingham

Currently closed and home delivery / mail order services are also suspended until further notice. Follow the stores social media pages for updates!

Our Stores

FORBIDDEN PLANET (VARIOUS) – includes Birmingham Megastore

All stores are currently closed but their Web Store is still active. Check their website for more information –

https://forbiddenplanet.com/stores/

GOSH! COMICS (LONDON)

Store closed but mail order available. Check their website for more information –

https://www.goshlondon.com and https://twitter.com/GoshComics

OK COMICS (LEEDS)

Currently closed and mail order services are also suspended until further notice. Follow the stores social media pages and website for updates!

http://www.okcomics.co.uk/ and https://twitter.com/OKComics

PAGE 45 (NOTTINGHAM)

Store closed but mail order available. Check their website for more information –

http://www.page45.com/ and https://twitter.com/PageFortyFive

TRAVELLING MAN (VARIOUS)

All stores are currently closed but their Web Store is still active. Check their website and social media for more information –

https://travellingman.com/ and https://twitter.com/TravellingManUK

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