Kristian Williams

I have two reviews in the current issue of The Comics Journal.

The first is a long review of This Book Contains Graphic Language: Comics as Literature by Rocco Versaci. In it, I question how much justification comics criticism really needs.

The second is a short review of The Twilight Zone: ‘The After Hours’ and ‘Walking Distance’. In the magazine the piece is mis-attributed to Kent Worcester (a mistake owing, I think, to our sharing the same initials).

Neither is online. If you want to read them, you’ll have to find the paper version.

The Guide asked several of its contributors to comment on the forthcoming presidential election. Four of us did, and you can find our remarks online here:
http://www.guidemag.com/magcontent/invokemagcontent.cfm?ID=39D1AD1D-F48F-4E29-857A580B07471890

My piece is tagged “Expect Election Hangover,” and in it I argue that we shouldn’t pin our hopes on political parties or their candidates. (I’d also encourage people to read Yasmin Nair’s contribution, “Class in Drag,” which appears immediately following my little essay.)

In keeping with the notion that it’s what happens after the election that matters — Remember, remember: November 5 is Guy Fawkes Day, in memory of the only man to enter parliament with honest intentions.

Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes

I’ve written a review of Darius Rejali’s massive study, Torture and Democracy (Princeton University Press, 2007):

“Hidden Torture, False Democracy.” International Socialist Review. September-October 2008.

You can read it online at: http://www.isreview.org/issues/61/feat-torturedem.shtml

This essay largely directs criticism toward Rejali’s idea of “democracy.” In a forthcoming piece for Make/Shift I will also examine his definition of “torture.”

Peter Little and I have an article in the latest issue of In These Times, taking on the gun control debate:

“Talking About Guns, Fighting About Race.” In These Times. September 2008.

You can see it here:
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3857/talking_about_guns_fighting_about_race/

Most of the comments at the In These Times site concern the law enforcement aspect of our argument. Critics question whether the criminal justice system does, in fact, unfairly target people of color. I’ve addressed this issue at length in my book Our Enemies in Blue. A short excerpt appeared on the Bring The Ruckus site a few years ago, and is now archived at Infoshop.org:
http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20060409132740815

If you enjoy the ITT piece, I’d also encourage you to read Little’s earlier article on the Portland Gun Show:
http://bringtheruckus.org/?q=node/52

He and I are already working on a longer piece on the same topic. I’ll let you know when it’s in print.