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p_r_a_x_i_s's review against another edition
2.0
This book is just a brief overview of the decline and fall of the SDS. If you really want something that goes into depth, this is not it.
indeedithappens's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Racial slurs, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Racism, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, Sexual harassment, and Slavery
carolynf's review against another edition
2.0
The story of the SDS is told (poorly) in a series of comics by various artists. The problems is that most comics are primarily a narration script at the top, limited dialogue, and some not really very interesting pictures. As a result, the history is lost. It would have been better as a straight textual book, or as a more vivid graphic history. Maybe I'm just spoiled by manga, but it shouldn't have been so easy to make an exciting era look so boring.
lauren_endnotes's review against another edition
2.0
Strong premise but poor execution - the first third of the book read like the scattered meeting minutes of the SDS in the early years. The style abruptly changed to individual oral histories. I actually enjoyed the personal stories much more, but they still felt disjointed, and at times it was unclear when and where events were taking place.
And only a cursory mention of the Weathermen? That seems off. Sure, I get that they were fringe splinter group, but a dismissive mention of them in the beginning of the book hardly seems representative.
I learned more about the SDS from film documentaries and Wikipedia than I did from this book.
And only a cursory mention of the Weathermen? That seems off. Sure, I get that they were fringe splinter group, but a dismissive mention of them in the beginning of the book hardly seems representative.
I learned more about the SDS from film documentaries and Wikipedia than I did from this book.
meepelous's review against another edition
And today we are tackling another interesting but slow political read, namely Students For A Democratic Society A Graphic History Written by Harvey Pekar, Art by Gary Dumm and Edited by Paul Buhle. And while Harvey Pecar's name was the primarily reason that I picked this volume up, I feel like the packaging design of this book does a huge disservice to the wide selection of stories it contains written by a variety of people, some of them autobiographical.
While I had never heard of the SDS before reading this, it did tie into a somewhat recent (at that point) episode of Rev Left Radio entitled Heavy Radicals: The FBI's Secret War on America's Maoists that covered the ideology of the SDS (which had Maoists members) from a more Maoist perspective, unlike this graphic novel which was generally anti Maoist.
Overall I thought the artwork was really good and the work was likely as accessible as it really could be. I feel like I will return to this book in a few years, like many heavier reads I've tackled in the past, and have no problems thanks to my ever-growing brain knowledge. I do feel like knowing more about activist history is only become more important, so I'm glad this exists, I just (again) wish that other people could have been credited more obviously.
While I had never heard of the SDS before reading this, it did tie into a somewhat recent (at that point) episode of Rev Left Radio entitled Heavy Radicals: The FBI's Secret War on America's Maoists that covered the ideology of the SDS (which had Maoists members) from a more Maoist perspective, unlike this graphic novel which was generally anti Maoist.
Overall I thought the artwork was really good and the work was likely as accessible as it really could be. I feel like I will return to this book in a few years, like many heavier reads I've tackled in the past, and have no problems thanks to my ever-growing brain knowledge. I do feel like knowing more about activist history is only become more important, so I'm glad this exists, I just (again) wish that other people could have been credited more obviously.
blkmymorris's review against another edition
2.0
comicbookresources listed this as one of two of Harvey Pekar's works to avoid. I wish I had read that article before I read this book. it's overly verbose and Gary Dumm's artwork is very static. He doesn't draw women or black people well. It was a great relief when other illustrator told their story.
I need to find a nice non-graphic novel version of this historical group.
I need to find a nice non-graphic novel version of this historical group.
iangilman's review against another edition
2.0
I found it interesting to know more of this history, especially with the Ferguson stuff going on right now. That said, this comic as horribly disjointed, and doesn't really take advantage of the comic medium anyway; felt like I dry history text with some pictures added to make it more palatable.
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