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1963 Jules Feiffer "BOOM" cartoon...
1963 Jules Feiffer "BOOM" cartoon...
Item # 723558
February 07, 1963
THE VILLAGE VOICE (weekly), Greenwich Village, New York, Feb. 7, 1963
* Jules Feiffer - American satirist - cartoonist
* "Boom" re. Nuclear atomic H-bomb weapon
Pages 15 through 18 is a four full page cartoon titled: "BOOM" which is a savage take on the H-bomb. (see images)
AI notes: Jules Feiffer’s Boom! (1963) is a landmark work of American Cold War satire that distills the terror and absurdity of nuclear brinkmanship into a stark, minimalist cartoon narrative. Set almost entirely in an underground bunker, the story follows a paranoid, authoritarian leader who accidentally triggers a doomsday nuclear device and then spends the remainder of the book justifying the annihilation of the world through circular logic, patriotic clichés, and ideological doublethink. Feiffer’s genius lies in his use of spare line drawings and repetitive, almost claustrophobic dialogue to mirror the psychological trap of mutually assured destruction: once the bomb exists, human reason collapses under the weight of its own rhetoric. Rather than depicting mushroom clouds or mass death directly, Boom! exposes the moral emptiness and bureaucratic insanity behind nuclear weapons policy, skewering military arrogance, political obedience, and the illusion of control in the atomic age. Widely read during the Cuban Missile Crisis era, the book became one of the most effective artistic critiques of H-bomb culture, showing how nuclear annihilation could arise not from evil genius but from fear, ego, and institutional momentum.
I suspect this to be an extremely rare item because there was really no reason to save it at the time.
It is worth noting that "The Village Voice" was an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955, the Voice began as a platform for the creative community of New York City.
Complete in 32 pages, tabloid-size, one crease across the center, very nice condition.
Provenance note: This issue comes from The Village Voice's own archives, part of their in-house collection used to create their digital archive. Rare as such.
Alert: Many issues of The Village Voice contain articles and/or photos which some consider offensive, and are certainly inappropriate for children. Please purchase with discretion.
Category: The 20th Century
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$48.00
