Bernie Sanders and Comics Part 2: Memes and Comic Art

The Bernie Sanders campaign has provoked so much homegrown vernacular expression, ranging from visual art to music, that one might fairly call it the grassroots social media campaign par excellence. He is arguably the most extraordinary Jewish political candidate (in the U.S.) in recent generations based upon what he has encouraged the old, and especially the young, to do for his cause.
Nothing is quite so prolific among Bernie supporters as the production of memes, of which thousands are made with Bernie. Friendly or less-than-friendly images of Hillary Clinton, and overwhelmingly hostile images of Donald Trump, seemingly trail somewhere behind Bernie’s popular memes – but this varies inevitably with each user and their online partners.
Comic art, old in the daily press but recent as an accepted art form in the U.S. – we might date that to the Pulitzer Prize for Art Spiegelman and his Maus volumes – also has a contribution. I’m glad to say that my artists and I set out on a project that may or may not be nearing a conclusion: the

These strips bring together the “Underground Comix” generation of the early 1970s with artists who are now in their mid-twenties and at the onset of distinguished careers. Each artist has made a unique contribution, in both narrative and in comic art style. One comic that ran Tuesday on Tikkun Daily was drawn by artist Gary Dumm, a longtime collaborator with the late Harvey Pekar who has contributed to many anthologies including Yiddishkeit (I did the story for the Dumm comic that ran yesterday). The two Bernie Sanders comics for today are from Hilary Allison and Ellis Rosen.
(Managing Editor’s note: Paul Buhle is one of the foremost historians of American radicalism and the American Left. He has also edited 12 comic art books including Yiddishkeit and is the editor of the comic project at www.BernieSandersComics.com. This week we are running a series of blog posts by Buhle on Tikkun Daily about Bernie Sanders, comics, and the 2016 presidential election. With each post we will also be publishing comic art from he and other artists involved in the www.BernieSandersComics.comproject. Today’s comics are from Allison and Rosen. Tikkun does not, and cannot, endorse or oppose candidates or political parties. We have published a variety of perspectives about the 2016 election and are actively seeking articles, comics, and other publishable work in support of any and all candidates for the U.S. presidency and from any political party. The views expressed in the posts and comics are the author’s and/or artist’s alone.)

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Paul Buhle has been a contributor to Tikkun for more than twenty years.
Hilary Allison, a freelance artist and an editor at World War 3 Illustrated, has contributed to several comic anthologies includingBohemians. She can be reached atHahaHilaryallison@gmail.com.
Ellis Rosen, artist and illustrator, has publishedBunny Manand contributed to the comic artYiddishkeit. He can be reached atEllisjrosen@gmail.com.
Read More:
Professor Johanna Fernandez talks with Tikkun about Mumia, Bernie Sanders, Love, and the Power of Radical Empathy by Grace Mungovan
Building a Progressive Spiritual Movement by Cat J. Zavis
Our Dreams by Ilan Stavans
Unrighteous Anger – Queen Vashti and the Erasure of Transgender Women by Mischa Haider and Penina Weinberg