Howard Chaykin, American Flagg! issue 5 page 20 (1983)

The first of a rare consecutive page set from an early Flagg issue (the next page to follow), this page shows most everything that made American Flagg such a ground-breaking comic.

* The page construction - the first two panels are mirror images facing each other: one of the protestors and one of the Plexus Rangers. The imagery parallels the story, given Reuben's comment that he may be on the wrong side in this fight which to him increasingly resembles the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Chaykin wove themes of Jewish oppression and rebellion into the first 12 issues of Flagg, culminating in the penultimate scene in issue 12 where Flagg cries out that his nearly unstoppable fascist opponent is a Golem. As usual, the genius of Flagg is that each of the immediate plot, longer term story and design of the page all link together in ways that become apparent eventually in this well-plotted story.

* Creation of language and words - "Nightmachers," a term used to describe a weapon causing an immediate blackout (like a more effective smoke bomb) and heavily reminiscent of Nazi terminology and the background SHHHHHH as the darkness sets in, but also "Wakka-Ding-Hoy," the slightly ridiculous Plexus Ranger battle cry. The second panel shows two Rangers setting off the Nightmacher which allows us to see the darkness emerge from each gun.

* The visual clues on the page can easily make one forget that Flagg is on this (illegal) basketball tour to South America to try and figure out who is broadcasting subliminals to the Chicago area. Chaykin expertly weaves in and out of this long-term tale of population subjugation through video cues and legalized gambling on violence (but not sports).

I will never stop raising how overlooked Flagg is among the pantheon of 1980s comics: Dark Night Returns would not have the visual punch it does without Chaykin first employing many of the visual notes in Flagg, and Watchman borrows heavily from the theme of power corrupting as Flagg shows how the Plexus Rangers exist not to safeguard the population but to subjugate them as they safeguard the interests of the powerful.