Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Comic books were made for Nazi punching, writes Mark Bray (Antifa: The Antifascist Handbook, 2017) in the foreword, acknowledging the political and often propagandistic history of comics. But Hill's encyclopedia of worldwide fascist movements and their antifascist opponents does much more than just advance an agenda. It tells a riveting and fact-based history that feels more important than ever. Hill uses the boldness of the graphic medium to venerate the struggle against bigotry, but despite this larger than life lionization, he grounds his story in truth and fact. Fascism has a visual history symbols that loom large as stand-ins for belief systems and Hill's visual representation of the uniforms, symbols, and flags of these movements serves as a reminder of the semiotics of oppression and resistance. Hill also works hard to showcase the invaluable contributions from women and people of color in resistance movements throughout the world, providing a nuanced, multifaceted look at the different voices rising up to fight fascism. The book would be remiss if it didn't address the recent reemergence of fascist ideology, and Hill doesn't disappoint, with a parallel deftly, organically drawn rather than forced. A passionately didactic comic book that will have ample appeal for readers interested in reinvigorating political engagement and the fight against oppression.--Ada Wolin Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this disappointing series of straightforward historical comics, indigenous Canadian artist and author Hill documents the often-overlooked stories of violent antifascist resistance, from the early-20th-century Italian Arditi to modern-day antifa. Nazi punching has a long history in comics (Captain America debuted by socking Hitler in the face), and Hill's drawings of movements around the world recall that tradition while highlighting a diverse array of underdogs who fight for equality. The comics are well-researched, but sprinting through a wide range of histories without any thesis, narrative, or central characters makes the book feel unfortunately like an illustrated Wikipedia entry. It's not clear why Hill includes these particular histories and not others, but in the text introduction, historian Mark Bray offers some glue to bind the collection together: People wrongly believe that fascism is "dead and gone," he writes, and that belief "hides the migrants, punks, Autonomen, football hooligans, unionists, skinheads, guerrillas, and others who have fought fascism since 1945 and still fight it today." Hill's clean, simple linework fills the full-color pages with detailed scenes that clearly show the depth of his historical research into not only the social movements but their preferred outfits and weaponry as well. In this collection, readers get a peek at many of these fascism fighters but are left without knowing any of them in depth. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A century of opposition to fascism as a comic-book street fight.Many readers associate the rise of fascism with World War II, and most Americans were unfamiliar with the term "Antifa" until the clashes with alt-right demonstrators in the wake of Donald Trump's victory. The context provided in this brightly colored, action-filled graphic narrative details a longer, deeper history of fascism and opposition to it. With a tone that is more matter-of-fact than inflammatory, Hill (The Anti-Capitalist Resistance Comic Book: From the WTO to the G20, 2012, etc.) traces the rise of fascism from the end of World War I, in response to the Russian Revolution and fear of communism, through a variety of contemporary eruptions. The author details Mussolini's rise in Italy through the early 1920s and the street-fighting backlash it ignited, suggesting that such resistance "could have potentially led to the defeat of Italian fascism before it gained power." Instead, the rise of Mussolini and his fascist Blackshirts anticipated greater horrors in Germany, where "the Nazis grew with increasing support among the middle class." Well after the defeat of Axis fascism in World War II, Hill documents consistent threats from the totalitarian right, from German Nazi revivalists to skinheads and punk rockers in the U.K. to the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Brotherhood, and other racist extremists who adopted a cloak of respectability as the "alt-right." This last gave rise to American Antifa, which would refuse to turn the other cheek to the threat of violence from the right. The soft-sell approach of the book sounds the warning that refusing to recognize the threat and failing to respond physically means failing to learn from history.Even those who oppose Antifa's tactics will find their perspective broadened by this graphic history. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
