The Divided States Of Hysteria

Daring, evocative, impressive. Chaykin has lost none of his bite as a creator, He keeps finding boundaries to push and prod and explore. Master of the craft!

Read it all before proposing to judge any aspect of this book. Most reviews in blogs and the press I read from 2017 were pure nonsense and symptoms of the very tribalism this country is eaten up with that Chaykin explores in the book.

What can you say about Chaykin continuing to raise hell?

‘Divided States of Hysteria’ compiles all six issues of the comic book published by Image from June – November 2017. Included are some variant covers; an essay from Howard Chaykin on the controversy surrounding the books; and an essay from letterer Ken Bruzenak on the approach used for composing and placing letters, sound effects, and coloring in the panels.A spoiler-free synopsis: in the near future, a devastating terror attack strikes the US. In its aftermath, CIA agent Frank Villa is fired for failing to prevent the incident. Hoping to salvage his career, and remove his status as one of the most hated men in the country, Villa agrees to work for River Run, a corporation responsible for maintaining federal prisons. Villa’s assignment: hunt down and eliminate the entities behind the terror attack.President Michelle Taylor (depicted as a Hillary clone) detests Villa, but agrees to give him a free hand to operate, including assistance from the federal surveillance drone fleet. Villa assembles a perverse ‘superhero’ team composed of four felons:Henry John Noone, a black racist who murdered nine whites over a two-week span;Paul Evan Berg, con man and serial poisoner;Cesare John Nacamulli, mob hit man;Christopher ‘Chrissie’ Silver, a drag queen who murdered three Iraqi diplomats after an orgy Went South.Villa’s team uses their inside knowledge of the criminal underworld and hate groups to seek out and kill the masterminds behind the terror attack. But problems are mounting: the United States is in the grip of increasing anarchy, and threatens to collapse; some members of the team are as dedicated to murdering each other as they are to murdering their quarry; and the terror cabal is on the verge of carrying out an even more devastating attack.Unless Villa and his team can prevent the forthcoming disaster, the future of the U.S. looks very much in doubt………..‘Divided States’, as a comic book, has its strengths. In an era in which the advent of the Trump administration has led to the production of whiny, self-indulgent liberal polemics like ‘Calexit’, ‘Divided States’ outpaces the field with its unabashed goal of taking down sacred cows wherever they may graze. Chaykin’s use of R-rated episodes of sex and violence gives the book a hard, gritty sensibility that’s missing in so many of the angst-ridden treatments of the Aftermath of the Election of 2016.That said, ‘Divided States’ has its faults. The panel design is yet another victim of software-mediated graphic design, with too many panels visually overloaded with too many graphical gadgets and widgets. As well, Chaykin’s approach to plotting puts the burden on the reader to make inferences from dialogue, which is too clipped to be very informative. This lack of exposition often makes the plot very difficult to follow; for example, a page in issue 5 involving some antics in East Lost Angeles remained incomprehensible even after multiple re-readings.Also, when I finished ‘Divided States’, I found myself wishing that Chaykin had used Cody Starbuck or Dominic Fortune, instead of the rather uninspiring Frank Villa, as the ‘hero’……having Starbuck or Fortune at hand to instigate the mayhem and carnage would’ve made the book much more fun - !Needless to say, ‘Divided States of Hysteria’ generated considerable controversy during its publishing run. When issue one was released, the liberal / progressive sector of the comic book-reading public reacted with outrage over the depiction of Chrissie Silver, levying accusations of ‘transphobia’ at Chaykin. When the cover for issue 4 was previewed in a trade magazine, the backlash was so severe that Image and Chaykin agreed to use a different, less gruesome cover. The experience led Chaykin (who is a lifelong proponent of left-wing causes) to accuse his critics of censorship.For my part, as someone nearing age 60, who has been reading comics since the mid-60s, and who has read many of the old underground Comix and been thoroughly steeped their uniquely warped sense of humor, ‘Divided States’ is simply an example of Chaykin taking a mordant (that’s a word you almost never hear nowadays…….) approach to analyzing modern society. ‘Divided States’ is MEANT to be provocative in its mocking of various elements of the political right and the political left. In this regard it’s the spiritual successor to the work of Spain Rodriguez, S. Clay Wilson, Robert Crumb, Jay Kinney, Justin Green, and so many other Comix legends.There are a number of in-jokes scattered throughout the book that indicate that Chaykin meant ‘Divided States’ to be as much sarcastic as polemic (for example, Frank Villa is shown wearing a ‘Hydra’ tee shirt – with ‘Hydra’ spelled in Cyrillic).Those who can’t accept the sarcasm in ‘Divided States’, for their all-encompassing outrage over its transgressive attitudes, aren’t going to pick up this paperback compilation. But those who appreciate satire that revels in swiping all sides of the political spectrum will find it rewarding.

Howard Chaykin tells a serious and pessimistic tale about terrorist attacks on the US and the consequences of such an attack. Using a “Dirty Dozen” type theme, he depicts an awful society with no redeeming or sympathetic characters. With much violence, blood-letting, swearing and sexual scenes, this comic collection will not be for everyone!The plot is wordy with a lot to read and it's well-illustrated in Chaykin's unique square-jawed style. Recommended to his fans and to anyone who has an already-jaded view of American society.

Chrissie and Frank are two of the most incredibly real and complex characters Chaykin has created. This story is set in a reality alarmingly similar to our own in which our heroes must navigate corruption and fins themselves well as save the world...it's a thinkers read, one well worth taking...multiple times...

Chaykin doing more of what Chaykin does best, reflecting the most powerful (and sometimes very disturbing trends) in American/Industrialized Western society. All the hubbub over the cover of issue 4 and the portrayal of a certain character only hit home just how correct of an assessment his is, life imitating art indeed.

Perfect

Telling social satire. Chaykin does it again.