Comics Review: Ground Zero Comics: Move Beyond Nuclear Weapons

art by Pat Moriarty

reviewed by James Willetts

Leonard Rifas, et.al. Ground Zero Comics: Move Beyond Nuclear Weapons. Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2024. https://www.fantagraphics.com/products/ground-zero-comics-move-beyond-nuclear-weapons

 

Leonard Rifas is comics’ most enduring anti-nuclear activist, a tireless advocate for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. For over fifty years Rifas has been producing educational comics on the dangers of atomic weapons and nuclear power, as well as an array of other causes (such as food production, energy policy, motherhood, and corporate crime). Ground Zero Comics sees Rifas return to anti-nuclear comic books, with his new one serving as both a history of the anti-nuclear movement and a call to action. Arguing that we are in a new nuclear arms race, Rifas calls on ordinary people to challenge US policy through protest and activism. As Rifas puts it, “If we’re going to make it through the crises … a lot of things will have to change. If we have no voice, we’re not going to survive.” (32) Ground Zero Comics, a continuation of Rifas’ commitment to independently-produced educational comics, combines traditional cartoons and sequential comic strips with maps, graphs, charts, and scientific diagrams. Rifas combines his alternative comix sensibilities with the publishing power of Fantagraphics to create a slick and professional product.

While Rifas is the driving force behind Ground Zero Comics, he divides artistic duties with three other interior artists: David Lasky, Max Clotfelter, and Kelly Froh. Each is responsible for one of the comic’s four sections, with colors overall by Lasky. The first section introduces the central narrative, as a crow and a squirrel teach an unnamed protagonist about nuclear weapons. These pages feature Lasky’s illustrations over street maps and satellite imagery, covering the history of nuclear weapons in Washington state. Rifas, who resides in Seattle, concentrates much of his attention on the Pacific Northwest and its nuclear industry and anti-nuclear movement. Because of this, Ground Zero Comics can, at times, feel geographically isolated. The Space Needle, the Columbia Center, and the University of Washington function to illustrate scale, but provide a narrow point of reference for non-Washingtonians (or, indeed, non-Americans).

In the second part, Clotfelter covers the science behind, and destructive consequences of, nuclear weapons. His loose art style is the most reminiscent of the 1970s comix tradition that Rifas emerged from, and his illustrations of burned, irradiated, and mangled bomb-victims carries a commensurate sense of horror. One illustration on page 9, blending his style with that of Barefoot Gen’s Keiji Nakazawa, is particularly effective. Here Lasky leans into vibrant greens and pinks for a psychedelic style that accentuates the uneasiness of Clotfelter’s art.

Rifas provides art for the third section of Ground Zero Comics. This, along with the final section illustrated by Froh, feature the most traditional form of illustrated comic strip, with fewer infographics and maps. In Froh’s section the protagonist’s grandfather tells her about his personal history of anti-nuclear activism. This comes across as the most personal to Rifas. I was left wondering how much of the grandfather’s account was autobiographical, with a call to action motivated by the knowledge that “if dying old anti-bomb activists are not replaced by young activists, the anti-bomb movement dies with them.” (30) Ground Zero Comics argues that demonstration and protest have been successful in the past and can be again: “Much of the credit for stopping the drift towards nuclear war belongs to the millions of ordinary people around the world who joined or supported movements to demand peace and nuclear disarmament.” (29)

The choice to utilize multiple artists can lead to a jarring and incongruous mixture of text and art. It’s most successful in the sections illustrated by Clotfelter and Rifas, where the fusion of cartoons, satellite imagery and google maps, enhance the text. Unfortunately, the text of the final section fits uncomfortably alongside Frohs’ art, which is missing the same data-led imagery of earlier sections. The visualizations of scientific and geographic data in earlier sections enhance the illustrations, and this final section suffers for their absence. Lasky’s coloring lacks the same depth here, as talking heads opine against flat colored background panels.

It should also be noted that not all of the graphs and charts included are successful. A graph showing the potential impact of nuclear war shows population growth since the year zero (17). While it adequately shows that a nuclear war would see a massive drop in global population, there is no way for this graph to demonstrate that while hundreds of millions might die in the war, the majority of the population loss would come in the following years (seemingly recognizing this the comic adds in the fact that the “number of people who would starve to death after two years: over five billion”). A shorter time span, showing only the world population today and deaths over the years after an atomic war would help to demonstrate this.

Ground Zero Comics is clearly designed to be used in a classroom setting, and some of these issues could be mitigated by discussion. This is, ultimately, where Ground Zero Comics shines. Throughout, Rifas provides activities for readers, from drawing “a picture, image, cartoon, illustration, or graphic that represents “nuclear weapons”” (7) to opportunities for readers to think about their own stance on whether the US should dismantle her atomic arsenal, the scale of American military spending, and the utility of protest against nuclear policy (21). Each section could be isolated and given to high school or university students (although the text seemingly assumes an older audience, as one activity includes calculating how much of the readers taxes go to nuclear weapons).

Perhaps the most telling evaluation of Ground Zero Comics then is not about the comic itself, but how it can be used. If the audience is unclear, and the materials relevance outside Washington is more limited, it does provide an obvious and replicable model for educators to adapt. Rifas’ infographics and activities provide excellent starting points for discussion or teaching, even if student don’t end up reading the entire comic.

To supplement this, Rifas and the Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action also provide a substantial online resource pack, containing “a hundred pages of solid documentation, lesson plans, further thoughts, and fun facts,” available at https://www.gzcenter.org/comic_book_sources. This is ultimately best considered (in conjunction with the online resources) as an academic aid for anyone looking to teach on the history and morality of the bomb. In this respect, Ground Zero Comics is an invaluable introduction that comprehensively and thoughtfully discusses the arguments around nuclear weapons.