Matt Lubchansky's The Antifa Super-Soldier Cookbook

Matt Lubchansky's The Antifa Super-Soldier Cookbook (Silver Sprocket) has a killer high concept: what if this loosely-organized group opposing fascism, state-sponsored violence, and racism was actually a highly-trained paramilitary unit? In other words, what if it was actually what far-right media and politicians claim that it is, only moreso? This comic goes over the top in depicting Antifa as a sinister, well-connected boogieman out to destroy proper American values. Telling the parallel stories of a young Antifa member who is "called up" to become a cyborg super-soldier and a cop who rises through the ranks to destroy them, Lubchansky strikes a ridiculous tone throughout.

There is a bit of cognitive dissonance at work here, however. Everything about Antifa is told from essentially the viewpoint of a right-wing fantasy, and Lubchansky is clearly satirizing that view. However, their depiction of the police is inconsistent. On the one hand, as they note at the end, a lot of the more extreme behavior and plots from the police are disturbingly real. However, there are times when they seem to be spoofing the left's understanding of the police as much as they are parodying the right's understanding of resistance movements, and it's a false equivalency I'm not sure they intended.

Beyond that Lubchansky stretches the gag too far, and as a result the story feels bloated by the end. The joke repeated throughout the book--that leftists are sneaky, violent liars who are brainwashing our youth--doesn't get funnier through repetition. The characters, by design, are one-dimensional, but that lack of depth also wears on the narrative by the end. Lubchansky's satire also tends to hit a lot of obvious beats, never going much beyond their initial premise. This would have been far more effective as a ten-page story instead of a 60-page graphic novella. The visuals are functional but otherwise unremarkable, and the garish use of color didn't add much to the narrative.