Al-Qaeda’s Super Secret Weapon
Turns out the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was just the opening that the terrorists were waiting for! This witty, sexy, spy tale sends up Republicans, the War on Terror™ and gay clichés from A to Z. The end of the world was never so fabulous!
$5.99 – $14.99
Turns out the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was just the opening that the terrorists were waiting for! This witty, sexy, spy tale sends up Republicans, the War on Terror™ and gay clichés from A to Z. The end of the world was never so fabulous!
ISBN: 9781938720291
Publisher: Northwest Press
Publish Date: 2013
Page Count: 72
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The Legend of Bold Riley #3 $2.99 – $4.99
During a stormy night and under the influence of some surprisingly strong pipe weed, Bold Riley glimpses a shape of what’s to come. Now, somewhat less burdened by sorrow, she heads towards the Atratan Desert in search of the powerful city state of Kabumzala.
Written by Leia Weathington and illustrated by Joanna Estep. With color by Nechama Frier, a pinup by Gisele Jobateh, and a cover by Genue Revuelta.
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Dash #2 $2.99 – $3.99
After the shocking events of the last issue, Dash is now on the hunt for the mysterious Zita Makara. But will a violent interrogation by his former colleague turned rival, Detective Bruno Fernez, prevent him from stopping another murder?
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The Legend of Bold Riley #2 $2.99 – $4.99
Bold Riley, still reeling from a tragic loss, continues southward with no real destination or purpose. On the desolate Broken Head Moors, she’s rescued from a terrible storm by an aged weaver whose fantastic tapestries may foretell the shape of what’s to come.
Written by Leia Weathington with art by Zack Giallongo, a pinup by Victoria Grace Elliott, and a cover by Terry Blas.
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A Waste of Time $7.99 – $19.99
The first full-length collection of irreverent and sweet comic strips from Rick Worley. Featuring a foreword by StevieD and EvilJeff from the Comic Book Queers podcast.
Foul-mouthed, sex-obsessed and misanthropic, Rick is no ordinary cute cartoon rabbit. The strips in this hysterically funny, surprisingly sweet collection range from fantasy tales about a closeted fundamentalist teddy bear, an oversexed fox, and a doomed robot love affair to autobiographical comics that share maybe a little too much information about the author. In their quest for contentment, the characters fail, fail, and sometimes fail again, but they never stop looking. There’s always the chance they’ll find that one person who was worth the search.
Or maybe not.
RAVES:
“There’s a brutal frankness and honesty coming from these foxes and teddy bears that you rarely see anywhere else. Comics are the one of the last havens to be truly offensive and beautifully unapologetic.” — from the foreword by StevieD and EvilJeff from the Comic Book Queers podcast.
“Beautifully drawn, hilarious, wistful, profane and very human. Rick Worley’s A Waste of Time knocked me out.” — Robert Kirby, creator of Curbside, Boy Trouble and THREE.
“Rick Worley’s insightful A Waste of Time comic strips are simultaneously tender and perverse—like his bunny.” — Howard Cruse, author of Stuck Rubber Baby and Wendel.
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A Waste of Time #2 $2.99 – $4.99
Worried about Rick’s prospects for a successful art career, his creations decide he needs some inspiration. They set out to find his favorite artist, the reclusive Bill Watterson, whether Watterson wants to be found or not.
Sequential Tart –
“If you’re looking for something with good production values that is totally out of the box, this might be something worth checking out.” Read Katie Frank’s review on Sequential Tart.
Sequential Tart –
“The art is fantastic. Clean and open, drawing the focus to the characters. While the main characters are probably best described as ‘hot’, there is some variety of body types throughout the book (though, with the military aspect, most of them are also fit). Body mechanics are excellently rendered and realistic. I also really appreciate the time it takes to draw that much body hair and make it look good. ” Read Sheena McNeil’s review on Sequential Tart.
David Quantic –
“Of course, things go horribly wrong in the most hilarious ways. The terrorists soon become distracted by the everyday realities of the American Gay Lifestyle that include boyfriends, three-ways and learning how to make a mean arugula salad. Another result of the mission is the bombing of the Dallas airport (mostly for aesthetic reasons.)” Read David Quantic’s writeup David Quantic Film.
Zachary –
I should say this up front: I don’t read a lot of erotica. I come to literature for intellectual stimulation, not erotic. That said, for all its erotic content, Al-Qaeda’s Super Secret Weapon is an extremely intellegent riff on the fundamentalist values of conservative America, the fundamentalist values of certain sects of Islam, and gay culture itself.
The protagonist, Mahmoud, is a member of an Al-Qaeda cell. After hearing McCain state on television that the American’s military’s ban on homosexuality should stay in place so that soldiers are not “distracted,” Mahmoud’s cell decides to learn “the gay lifestyle” and introduce it into the American military. Over the course of the novel, Mahmoud falls for the blonde-haired American man Steve, who he enters into a relationship with. Steve calls Mahmoud his “swarthy little lamb kebab.”
The jokes are a mile a minute and span gay culture, military culture, Middle Eastern culture, and on and on.
Now, if that had been all there was to tell, I might not have proceeded to write up this review. But the real gem of this piece is its thematic core: Mahmoud’s struggle to reconcile his feelings for Steve with his identity as a terrorist. He feels trapped between two conflicting worlds and struggles to find himself.
That the novel succeeds in blending its satire with this deeper element and be simultaneously entertaining, is a great feat that few stories achieve, but Al-Qaeda’s Super Secret Weapon pulls it off with extraordinary finesse. I have one qualm with its execution. There is a page of text near the center of the novel that breaks the narrative in order to explain this thematic core directly. Big no-no. While itself humorously written, the story would have been stronger if I could have been allowed to arrive at that conclusion myself.
Overall, this is a very solid story—excellent satirical social commentary woven elegantly into thematic underpinnings—and I can highly recommend picking up a copy. Though if you are offended by religious commentary or graphic depictions of sex, you should steer clear of this one.