Alex Hern

Dispatches from the front line of the internet

Beautiful comic illustrates ugliness of capitalism

John Riordan's "Capital City" reads like a child's fairytale, but looks like a fever dream.

By Alex Hern Published 26 October 2012 12:56

Artist (and, full disclosure, friend) John Riordan has produced a fantastic comic, inspired by Blake's Prophetic Books, which tackles the ugliness of modern capitalism.

John writes about the project (with some pictures of his process at the link) that:

In the same way as Blake explored the big issues of his day, eg the American Revolution, I decided to try to tackle the big, ugly mess of our current economic cock-up in a phantasmagorical, pseudo-mythological narrative. This involved reading and trying to understand some books on economics, writing poetry (bring me my flouncy blouse) and figuring out a new aesthetic, less indebted to my previous comicsy-style and more rooted in messy paint, pastels and ink.

I've wanted to see the finished work since I first saw the watercolour originals, and with his permission, I'm reposting the whole comic here. Click on each image to see it full size, and if you want to read it in print (John uses the physicality of the page very nicely) it's for sale here.

Special Offer: Get 12 issues of New Statesman magazine for just £12

More from Alex Hern

View the discussion thread.

7 comments

Thu, 2012-11-15 22:48 — Wilfred Ruffian (not verified)

A suitably childish medieum for unsuitable childish ideas

Mon, 2012-11-05 19:47 — whitenoise716

I think this is beautifully done, and I really enjoy the direction towards the legitimization of the graphic narrative form. However, I have a serious problem with the implications toward women in this comic. The mass of men with horn (the corporate tools/demons) are all men--women aren't present in the vision of business. There are no silhouettes of women in the office building, especially around the conference table. The only ways in which women are portrayed are as slaves to materiality/fashion, and though "a monster grows" on her back as well as the man's which is shown on the final page, he seems to be drawn sympathetically, while she is a grotesque caricature. So what does it mean that Riordan includes this view of women in his critique of capitalism? I don't really know. I mean, it's an easy fix, really, so I have to assume it's intentional or an unconscious bias. I only know that women have just as much of a problem with the system as men, and to purposefully exclude them or bind them into part of the problem he is addressing, he's saying that the roles of women (and the problems they have with the system) don't need to be taken into account.

Thu, 2012-11-01 14:21 — tgreenan

@SARGONARHES

Thanks for that.

Wed, 2012-10-31 02:03 — Sargonarhes (not verified)

The problem with socialism is you eventually run out of other people's money.

Wed, 2012-10-31 01:09 — Anne Funke (not verified)

If communism fared better against the greed of man, then Stalin wouldn't have lived in a palace; and the Detroit would be the new New York.

Instead, you have little socialist fiefdoms of failing infrastructure, failing industry spotted all across the US; and "they" point at capitalistic greed; when in reality it's a regulated competitive market splotched with boils of socialism, and human greed is to blame. Communism doesn't stamp it out, it just makes it a much smaller group of Haves; which, to me, makes it seem all the more hypocritical. And a less hopeful situation for the Have Nots.

Fri, 2012-11-02 14:31 — Jerry's Pacemaker (not verified)

I'm assuming you're American as you seem to be conflating communism and socialism. Capitalism needs to be regualted to be effective as demonstrated by the most powerful country the world has ever seen during the post war years until the late 70s-the United States of America. If even Richard Nixon can grasp that fact it says something about the level of understanding of current right wing thinkers. To put it in simple terms-unregualted capitlism leads to WWII-regulated capitalism leads to the boom years after WWII. I know which I'd prefer.

Sat, 2012-10-27 23:36 — Pirate Prentice (not verified)

Moloch! Moloch! Robot apartments! invisible suburbs!
skeleton treasuries! blind capitals! demonic
industries! spectral nations! invincible mad
houses! granite cocks! monstrous bombs!
They broke their backs lifting Moloch to Heaven! Pave-
ments, trees, radios, tons! lifting the city to
Heaven which exists and is everywhere about
us!