Would you be surprised if our misadventure in Iraq is still a quagmire in five years? Me neither. So what will it look like? How will the media cover it? Thatís half the fun, and lots of the horror, of Shooting War, SMITH Magazine's weekly webcomic set in Iraq, circa 2011.
At home, gas has hit $10 a gallon. Abroad, the Arab peacekeepers have been massacred. All around, societyís coming apart at the seams. No, the world is not a pretty picture, as Global News' Brianna Harrington reports throughout our story. (Global News--motto: "Your home for 24-hour terror coverage"--becomes the first American network to show beheadings.)
In Chapter Two, "Mad as Hell," Anthony Lappé and artist Dan Goldman offer the story's creation myth: Superman had Krypton and foster parents; Jimmy Burns watched the terrorists blow his local Starbucks to bits and squash his dog. As Jimmy unfurls his backstory, we also get a salacious taste of how he became an overnight media sensation. No shock, then, that The New York Post, New York Magazine and even Gawker flock to the "hipster who's going to save the world" like fleas to a dog (or maybe moths to a fire? you decide). Which begs the question: wonder what Nick Denton will be doing in 2011?
Who else wants a piece of Jimmy Burns? Seems like everybody these days. Check it out for yourself here.
