Riverwurst Vs. G.W. Bush 2004

Posted: Tuesday, December 7, 2004
By: Darren Schroeder

Cover of Riverwurst Vs. G.W. Bush 2004 Creator(s): Tea Krulos
Publishers: Self Published
From: USA
Price: $3 ($4 outside of US)

Well the dust has truly settled on the elections, some of the people are happy, some of the people are sad. Did this comic make a difference to the result? Probably not, but it sure is amusing to see what some of the contributors think of the elected leader of the USA. But don't worry if you''ve had it up to here with politics, the majority of contributions here are on other topics.

The political strips are hit and miss. The more thoughtful pieces, such as Brandon Bauer's simple and direct musing on the absurdity of war, get their ideas across. Brandon's is the one that stuck in my mind cause it mixed doodle depictions of scenes from the war with a sobering list of what some nations spend on war and a picture of GW Bush as an angel of death. Matt Scholtes Gets close to the truth of things with his two- page center spread about Why is the World So Screwed Up? The range of reasons show just how many and varied are the reasons, and cover an interesting range of people. His artwork feels personal and depicts the group of people fairly and look like a bunch of everyday folks who wonder about things.

The prolific Zlatko has some of his surreal work here as well - he must be the most published creator in the world of small press. That's the power of DIY comics for you. There are some quite polished contributions in this issue, with the like of Jen Sorensen and Dan Hernandez proving stories. Still we can find real gems by those less artistically endowed. Coth provides some hilarious strips that juxtapose mundane relationship issues with world destruction or alien attack.

For any fan of small press this anthology offers a great buy. Packed with a variety of material from the USA and a few overseas contributions it has an eye on the alternative storytelling that really only survives on the pages of comics such as this. You won't see wild creativity like this on your television or at the mall. I give my Vote to Riverwurst!

In a Word: Essential.



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