Get Your War On

David Rees and Colson Whitehead

"I read Get Your War On because I was a fan of the online comic strip and was really excited for the author whenever he got the comic strip published in this book format.

Get Your War On was, as I mentioned, this online comic strip that the author started after September 11. Kind of the genius of the book, I think, is he uses clip art, which he — so he's showing kind of this generic person — like it could be anyone. He has this set of characters who are trying to deal with kind of the — their emotional fallout from September 11, the reality of what's going on around them. Not all of the characters hate the war. When kind of America knew we had to have some kind of response but were left with the question of, "Is this the right response?"

I think sometimes the use of street vernacular was kind of overplayed as even the title of the book, Get Your War On, shows that it's trying to take culture as it was in that moment of time. So there's a lot of references to hip hop or just slang that's used that you wouldn't see these men in their suits and ties at their office actually saying. I think that this book would be great for anyone who actually kind of likes the political cartoons. I would give this book four out of five stars."

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