The Best of Adrian Raeside: A Treasury of BC Cartoons. Adrian Raeside. Madeira Park, BC: Harbour Publishing, 2014. 192 pp., trade pbk. & ebook, $12.95 (pbk.). ISBN 978-1-55017-631-5 (pbk.), ISBN 978-1-55017-633-9 (ebook). Subject Headings: Canadian wit and humor-Pictorial. British Columbia-Politics and government-Caricatures and cartoons. Grades 9 and up / Ages 14 and up. Review by Rob Bittner. *** /4

excerpt:

Among all the provinces, British Columbia is decidedly unique.... [We're] suspicious of anything that comes from beyond the Rocky Mountains - specifically, anyone from Ottawa... or Alberta oil. The mountains also act as a cultural barrier, allowing us the freedom to get on with our gay weddings on skis, pot smoke-ins and group tree-hugs - assuming those events aren't disrupted by a mudslide, flood, forest fire or massive earthquake.

Over the last thirty-five years I've drawn roughly seven thousand cartoons on BC-specific topics - everything from aging ferries to Zalm - but could fit only about two hundred and thirty of them into this book. If I missed the cartoon on your favourite scandal from the past, I apologize. If, however, I have included a cartoon exposing a scandal that you were responsible for, please accept my sincere thanks for keeping me gainfully employed.

Comics make many heavy topics decidedly easier to digest and can simplify complex situations. Adrian Raeside has been using a mixture of humour, razor-sharp wit, and caricature to explore British Columbian politics for years, and The Best of Adrian Raeside brings together some of the best and most scathing glances at BC scandals over the last 35 years. The anthology is broken down into numerous themed sections, including (but not limited to) the environment, premiers, health care, the HST, the Island, and the 2010 Olympics. He pulls no punches when it comes to critiquing the bizarre and often contradictory actions of those in government. Many of the comics are accompanied by commentary of some sort-some get a full paragraph-long treatment, and others get a simple sarcastic statement.

      Raeside's targeted comic strips go beyond the government and politicians - "BC has been blessed with a long line of colourful characters in the Office of the Premier. We've had drunks, theme park owners, high school dropouts, trailer park managers and union organizers" - often aiming at British Columbians in general: "We have no clue how to drive in snow-and we're proud of it. We'll happily queue for twenty minutes to get a chai latte but won't spend twenty seconds learning what a Single Transferable Vote is - and we're proud of it." Taking aim at BC drivers in the winter months, gang violence, housing prices, and BC Ferries, this collection covers a lot of troubling yet hilarious ground.

      In terms of appeal, The Best of Adrian Raeside will find reasonably wide appeal, though the youth audience may take some convincing. The anthology should find a suitable home in social studies classrooms, and in school libraries, for access by politically-savvy young people. Raeside makes readers think, cry out of sheer political/social frustration, and laugh out loud in delight at the expense of so many of our bumbling provincial leaders.

Recommended.

Rob Bittner recently graduated from the MA in Children's Literature program at The University of British Columbia and is now a PhD student in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, BC.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.

Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

Hosted by the University of Manitoba.

 

NEXT REVIEW | TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - April 25, 2014.

AUTHORS | TITLES | MEDIA REVIEWS | PROFILES | BACK ISSUES | SEARCH | CMARCHIVE | HOME