INDY WEEKLY: THE EPIC & TRUE* LIFE STORY OF CHE GUEVARA

[MattBrady]

by Ryan McLelland

The Epic & True* Life Story of Che Guevara
Triumvirate Press – 2005 - $3.00
Story and Art by: Ian Harker
Website: www.angelfire.com/comics2/ianharkercomics

RATING: 3 stars (out of 4)

Those of you who have never heard the name Ian Harker have no doubt never read his utterly brilliant The Ronthology book. While the art throughout that book never grows above what I think is a fourth grade level it’s the capturing of the utterly fantastic (and absolutely true) stories of one geeky shut-in named Ron. Now Harker is back with his follow-up The Epic & True* Life Story of Che Guevara – a look at the very famous Argentinian.

Famous for what? Who is Che Guevara? Sure we’ve all seen the posters of him and we see those guys in the mall wearing his t-shirt…but what the hell did he do to make himself important? Harker’s cartoon alter-ego, the big-sunglassed Adidas-laden Mr. Asshole, decides it is up to him to inform us all of how the man famous to a new generation for The Motorcycle Diaries came to be.

Off the story goes as we are introduced to the man who will become legend. Born in 1517 Guevara narrowly evades being killed as a child by the evil Vasco DeGama by being floated down the Amazon River on a reed raft. He was found by the mystical inhabitants of El Dorado (that magical lost city of gold) where Guevara would soon learn all about socialism…AND JUDO! Che learns everything he needs to know about the world from his masters and then is told to go out into the world and spread his vast knowledge. His transportation out into the world? A brand-new crotch-rocket motorcycle!!!

Doesn’t sound exactly right for a guy who was supposed to be riding the countryside in the fifties, does it? It’s all part of Mr. Asshole’s (and Ian Harker’s) charm. We watch as young Che drives about on his crotch-rocket, trying to teach the young field workers about the importance of self-worth, 401K’s, and 15 minute breaks. He talks bravely about revolution while popping wheelies on his motorcycle. And when the going gets tough, Guevara moves to violence to help his cause. Not Castro nor Kennedy nor Tony Montana can help stop the wrath of Che.



Sure Harker’s art style is very simplistic but he works that style well with his ferocious wit. Harker’s fictitious inanity of Guevara’s life reads something like Homer Simpson trying to tell the tale. It’s so unbelievable that it doesn’t matter if something is right or wrong. Surely Harker’s take on the Guevara legend is twenty times better than what really happened. The Epic & True* Life Story of Che Guevara rings in at 40 pages for just 3 dollars with the laughs coming furiously from nearly every page. Check your brain at the door and pick up Harker’s next classic book – it’s well worth the read.

Have an indy comic you’d like reviewed? Contact Ryan at rdmclelland@hotmail.com

[twoarmman]

Ah, a story about a communist. The best part of his life story is the end...

[DCON]

CHE is got to be the worst thing that ever happen south of the border, he is the reason many inocent people have been murdered for a backward COMMIE cause thats based on faliure and opression of the inocent, who ever glamourises or believes in che's movement does not have any idea of what comunism does to a region, what they do to the population, how children of native people are kidnap so they can increase their numbers.
i think is just poetic justice that che was snuffed out by one of his own and his remains never to be found.....

[twoarmman]

Originally posted by DCON
CHE is got to be the worst thing that ever happen south of the border, he is the reason many inocent people have been murdered for a backward COMMIE cause thats based on faliure and opression of the inocent, who ever glamourises or believes in che's movement does not have any idea of what comunism does to a region, what they do to the population, how children of native people are kidnap so they can increase their numbers.
i think is just poetic justice that che was snuffed out by one of his own and his remains never to be found.....

back off DCON. You know all those white hippies in Middle America who where the CHE t-shirts know what's best for South America.

It's funny how you rarely see a person who is from South America or who has family from there glorifying this "man". It's usually some smelly middle class hippie on a college campus who thinks they know what's best for the people "down there". Wonder why that is...

[DCON]

the only people that wear those shirts are lazy spoiled out of work ignorant people, i lived in south america for 8years...... commies are just people that are to lazy to work for a living, they want everything handed to them instead of erning it.
they want to impose their way of life on others so they can run their drugs trough the country with out fear of goverment, good thing that the mayority of people are sane and will never let it happen.
if any one wants to see the accomplishments of communism just look at the living conditions of the people of cuba, and ask yourself why do they risk their lives to come to America.....
the answear is easy....FREEDOM
why are people not flocking to cuba if communism is so good, why is it that no one risks their lives trying to sneak into cuba, china, north korea if life there is so good?.....

[Kolimar]

Wow, the replies so far on this thread are embarrassing to say the least. Let me say I'm very much against Communism and Socialism as they were put in practice by past and present political regimes but there's absolutely nothing wrong with the ideas behind them. That's what Che fought for and what he stupidly died for. He can't be blamed for what someone else did or keeps doing. He can only be blamed for the things he did do.

I don't know the details of his life but I have never heard of or read about anyone accusing him of anything. And from what I can see no one else here has.

Fidel may have represented some higher ideal some day but that's no longer the case. Instead, Che gave up being a politician and resigned in disagreement with Castro and the Soviet Union politics and procedures and went away to keep fighting for his ideals and died for them.

Getting himself killed may have been a blessing in disguise. He could have become corrupted like so many others.

That said, forget it all. Forget what he did or did not do. Like it or not he's a symbol of freedom and justice for many people, of defiance to the powerful and social-economical equality for all. I don't know about you but I think those are good things.

[HugoMF]

Shame on people for remembering (in any way) and wearing t-shirts of a comunist + murderer.
They should give it a go, and live in a comunist country, just to know what its like.

[bizarrolike]

My family is from Cuba and I have heard the stories of what happened during the revoloution. Especially how the soldiers came in threatning my mother when she was a kid and the rest of my family. THEY TOOK EVERYTHING,I also saw what happened to a friend of the family who was their during the bay of pigs and was arrested and taken in after many cuban defectors waged their own personal war against castro and did not get support from John F. Kennedy. Enough POW stories to fill a lifetime.

Understand this,I hate che and castro and any communist supporter because I know what it caused in terms of personal pain for alot of people in and out of my family. The Peter Pan project being another.

If I find anyone here supporting or defending what Che did. I am being dead serious in that I will take it very personally. Your opinion is your opinion. I do not want to see anyone rubbing it in anyone else's face.

[twoarmman]

Wow, the replies so far on this thread are embarrassing to say the least. Let me say I'm very much against Communism and Socialism as they were put in practice by past and present political regimes but there's absolutely nothing wrong with the ideas behind them.

yeah, it's only killed 100 million people. Let's give it another try.

It may look good on paper, but time and time again the real world has proven that it doesn't work in reality, unless you are OK will killing and breaking the people it claims to "help".

So what if Che presided over summary executions at La Cabana. He like to be the one to put the bullet in the back of the head.

So what if he had homosexuals captured and sent to labor-camps. Not to mention all the other inocent people who just dissagreed with him.

That said, forget it all. Forget what he did or did not do. Like it or not he's a symbol of freedom and justice for many people, of defiance to the powerful and social-economical equality for all. I don't know about you but I think those are good things.

And to many others he is a symbol of hatered and dictatorship that killed millions. A symbol of the government that killed family members and ran the Cuban Gullag. A symbo, that stod AGAINST freedom. Why don't you go ask a Cuban American who he is a symbol of.

He was fighting for the people... Sure he killed any of them who dared to disagree with him, but he's a good guy right?

I don't know the details of his life but I have never heard of or read about anyone accusing him of anything. And from what I can see no one else here has.

you really need to educate yourself then. I think the only embarasing post here was yours...

"A Cuban-American writer, Humberto Fontova, described Guevara as "a combination of Beria and Himmler." "

[al_capone]

I don't claim to know much about Che Guevara, but I do have a basic knowledge & understanding of Communism, and it seems to me that there's a huge misconception towards the system; one that's been brought about mainly due to corrupt rulers blemishing it's name. The original ideals created by Marx and Engels are not representitive of the Soviet Union, etc. Again, I don't know a great deal about Guevara, but from what I do know it does seem safe to assume that he and Castro originally had the same vision in mind before Castro became corrupt. This is definitely something I need to look into more in the near future, but it's really a shame to lump Marx & Engel's original, and indeed beautiful, vision into the same camp as what Fidel Castro and a few others perverted it into.

[Userama]

Dear idiots,

You are all debating communism under a review for a book that has nothing to do with communism. The book previewed above is not concerned with the life of Che Guevara one way or another. It is a satire. It is an independent comic. Read the ____ing preview images. Why don't you exert your energy debating the state of independent comics, or your opinions on Ian Harker. It would certainly be easier to read than all of your cliched goddamn political opinions.

-Userama

[HugoMF]

al capone: They're ideas were in no way noble.
They went against a basic necessity of humankind - the need to have and possess. How would you like it if from now on you had to share your house (wich you payed for) and all your belongings with 5 more families just because everything belongs to "the people" and theres no such things as personal belongings?

People should really beware of comunist and inform themselves, ignorance on this subject is a terrible terrible thing.
Even here in Portugal, people usually say goods things about our revolution of 74, always forgetting what came next...

Comunism is a BAD ideal, and also due to personal losses and firm beliefs and ideals i will in no way take lightly any "its not so bad" posts in this forum.

INFORM yourselves before posting on this.

[Johnny Smith]

Originally posted by Userama
Dear idiots,

Elitist much?

[DCON]

there is no misconception, communism just doesnt work and it opresses people .... i still want to see an example were communism actually has worked?....
the only system that works for the people is democracy and capitalism....
this is the only system that gives an indiviual a voice

just imagine you and your family living on 1 bag of rice and 1bag of beans a month, or that you have to wait up to a year for any type of medical help, rolling blackouts, no transportation other than probably a bike, no freedom of worship, and a limit on how many kids you are allowed to have........... damm .... communism must be great! ....

[HugoMF]

Dear idiots,

Grow up?

[MattBrady]

Originally posted by HugoMF
Grow up?

folks, while I don't condone the above poster's name-calling that earned him this response, the point is there - the book is clearly a satire, and in fact, takes as its starting point that people do popularize him withouit knowing a thing about him.

I'm thinking that no one read the pages as they were shown, or even the article, as that much was pretty clear.

If you want to go on and on about the evils of communism, feel free to do so, but start a thread in the Talk section, okay? If you want to discuss the book (after you've taken a look at the preview pages and seen what it's about) stick around.

I mean...this thread is like a Rockettes' line, what with all the knees jerking.

MattB

[Rocky_Howard]

LONG LIVE THE HEROES OF THE REVOLUTION!!!

Like some rappers or whatever usually say:

Don't hate the playa, hate the game.

[twoarmman]

I mean...this thread is like a Rockettes' line, what with all the knees jerking.

screw you dude. There is nothing knee jerks about what people have said and you sound like a jerk for saying that. Its people’s heart felt opinion. It's a book about a murderous commie so we are talking about him. I already looked through this book at SPX and to be honest I don't get it.

If there was a book about Superman I would expect people in the thread to talk about Superman. The book is about Che so people talk about Che and his life. Get over it.

You sound like a board Nazi just because this thread didn't go the way you intended.

It's funny how I've seen these posts go from a comic for the military to bashing Bush and you don't say a damn thing. Hypocrite.

You calling it knee jerk when people share how the “movement” Che was involved in had such a terrible impact the lives of their family and friends makes you a grade A A-hole

[reeds]

Yeah, of course, those puppet dictators put by the USA in countries all over the world like Chile, Nicaragua, Bolivia, half of Africa, etc never killed anybody of course. They were really sweet and gentle guys. At least Che Guevara tried to make a better world and had high ideals even if he was somewhat misguided. But he wasn't a fascist killer like all those people on charge put by the CIA. Go read "Brought to Light" by your worshipped Alan Moore. Ah no, I just forgot the US government never kills people, they are just the world piece keepers, is just the rest or the world who is evil or misguided. And by the way I AM NOT COMMUNIST. I just say things are they are. It seems that for American people there's only black and white.

[Solario]

*sigh* Where's Fanboy Rampage, when you need it?

twoarmman, what ever happened to civility? I mean, come on, not only are you name calling another person, but you also seem to have an uncanny ability concerning pick the wrong fights.

Numero Uno, if I go to a preview of a new Batman comic, I highly doubt that starting to rant about how Bill Finger was completely ripped off by Bob Kane (which for the record, he was) is not considered off-topic and would most likely be addressed as such.

Secondly, how smart do you think it is to pick a fight, verbal slam and all around act like an asshole towards the guy, who runs the site?



Anyway the book looks interesting, but I doubt I'm going to pick it up, not my taste I guess.

[Bakema NL]

It's damn funny to see a person ending up the exact opposite after his death, a commie who is extremely commercialized after his death........you can only laugh your guts out thinking about it. Sorry Che, ultimately your life was meaningless, you are not remembered for what you stood for, instead you have become a big part of the so-called pop-culture, people make loads of money off your ugly mug...not the way you wanted things to go I guess....too bad............I think it's hilarious.

[Aquajacket]

Originally posted by twoarmman
screw you dude. There is nothing knee jerks about what people have said and you sound like a jerk for saying that. Its people’s heart felt opinion. It's a book about a murderous commie so we are talking about him. I already looked through this book at SPX and to be honest I don't get it.

If there was a book about Superman I would expect people in the thread to talk about Superman. The book is about Che so people talk about Che and his life. Get over it.

You sound like a board Nazi just because this thread didn't go the way you intended.

It's funny how I've seen these posts go from a comic for the military to bashing Bush and you don't say a damn thing. Hypocrite.

You calling it knee jerk when people share how the “movement” Che was involved in had such a terrible impact the lives of their family and friends makes you a grade A A-hole

Someone needs a hug...

Or maybe a swift kick in the bony @$$.

[adamcasey]

I picked this up at SPX.

From the same creative team comes "Ultimate Peanuts" and "The 80 Page Youngblood Giant", both given out free at the show.

Give these guys some time and I'm sure they'll keep winning people over.

[Kolimar]

Originally posted by twoarmman
screw you dude. There is nothing knee jerks about what people have said and you sound like a jerk for saying that. Its people’s heart felt opinion. It's a book about a murderous commie so we are talking about him. I already looked through this book at SPX and to be honest I don't get it.

If there was a book about Superman I would expect people in the thread to talk about Superman. The book is about Che so people talk about Che and his life. Get over it.

You sound like a board Nazi just because this thread didn't go the way you intended.

It's funny how I've seen these posts go from a comic for the military to bashing Bush and you don't say a damn thing. Hypocrite.

You calling it knee jerk when people share how the “movement” Che was involved in had such a terrible impact the lives of their family and friends makes you a grade A A-hole

Cool it. If you want to discuss the subject any further go there. And stop behaving like that.

[NewRisingSun]

Che's my homeboy!