Opus wasn’t the only strip to come to a close with the Bush presidency. Webcomic Get Your War On by David Rees was a “hilarious and profane perspective on George W. Bush’s War on Terror.” His comic was printed in book collections and inspired a series of animated video adaptations. With the comic closure, Comic Book Resources talked with David about the origin of GYWO and what’s next.
CBR: How did you end up creating “Get Your War On?” The early ones, especially, really have a lot of pent up feelings in them.
David Rees: I started “Get Your War On” a couple days after we began bombing Afghanistan in October 2001. It was the means I used to figure out how I felt about the War on Terror — bombing Afghanistan, fighting a battle of good vs. evil, looking to Bush for leadership. All that stuff was emotionally fraught for me, so I tried expressing my feelings through the comic.
Why did you go from drawing cartoons to using clip art?
I grew up drawing cartoons, but eventually I got tired of the penciling and inking and smudging and white-outing, etc. I was more interested in dialogue and jokes. When I realized you could make comics with computer clip art, I never looked back.
Does a Democrat in the White House mean a Golden Age for conservative comic strips?
Tune in to Mallard Fillmore next week to find out!
No. Strident incompetency always produces a “Golden Age” for editorial cartooning, regardless of party. Competency means bad times for satirists.
You don’t think it was a little too easy over the past eight years? There were times when an AP story bore a striking resemblance to a bit from The Daily Show.
There was some fantastic work done in comics (some by yourself, Wiley!). But that didn’t stop me from rooting for Obama.