Wildcat Anarchist Comics

Wildcat Anarchist Comics collects the drawings of Donald Rooum, mostly (but by no means entirely) from the long-running “Wildcat” cartoon series that has been published in the Freedom newspaper since 1980. Rooum does not just purvey jokes, but makes the drawings comical in themselves, “getting the humour in the line,” provoking laughter even in those who do not read the captions or speech balloons. The chief characters in the strip are the Revolting Pussycat, a short-fused anarchist who is furious and shouty; and the Free-range Egghead, an intellectual who would like anarchism to be respectable but sometimes appears foolish. Governments, bosses, and authoritarians are presented as buffoons, and quite often, so are anarchists. This thoughtful and delightful collection includes strips from The Skeptic and many more, all beautifully colored for the first time by Jayne Clementson. The book also includes a lively autobiographical introduction discussing Rooum’s role in the celebrated 1963 “Challenor case,” a conspiracy among police officers to discredit non-violent demonstrators.

Jayne Clementson is an anarchist and a professional print designer. Jay Kinney founded and edited Anarchy Comics, and contributed to many other comics. His previous works include Anarchy Comics: The Complete Collection, Hidden Wisdom, and The Masonic Myth. Donald Rooum became an anarchist in 1944 and has contributed articles to the anarchist paper Freedom since 1947. He studied graphic design in Bradford, England, and his cartoons have been published in the British press since 1950. His editorial cartoons have appeared in Peace News since 1962. His comic strip “Wildcat” has appeared in Freedom since 1980, and “Sprite” in The Skeptic since 1987.