Mr. Block
Description
Before the Golden Age of comic books, there was Mr. Block: a bumbling, boss-loving, anti-union blockhead, brought to life over a hundred years ago by subversive cartoonist Ernest Riebe.
A dedicated labour activist and member of the Industrial Workers of the World, Riebe dreamed up his iconic, union-hating anti-hero to satirize conservative workers' faith in the capitalist system that exploits them. This wickedly funny anthology of Riebe's writings and comics is a treasure trove of radical 20th-century art and an essential addition to the bookshelves of comics lovers, historians, and labour activists alike.
As income inequality skyrockets and the collective power of the working class is undermined, the lessons from Mr. Block's misadventures and misbeliefs are as relevant today as ever. Building the new world from the ashes of the old demands many tools-and laughter will always be one of them.
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Content
- Cover
- Half-title Page
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- Part 1: Ernest Riebe's Mr. Block
- Selected Comic Strips and Illustrations, 1912-24
- He Shows His Superiority
- He Tries the Courts
- He Tries Political Action
- He Meets Others
- He Invests His Savings
- He Don't Favor Sabotage
- He Celebrates Christmas
- He Works in the Woods
- He Fails to Connect
- He Reads of a Good Job
- He Peddles Signs
- He Becomes a Salesman
- He Gets Pinched on Suspicion
- He Becomes a Victim of Charity
- He Scabs at Lawrence / He Tries To Be a Union Scab
- He Learns that the A.F.L. is Known in Montana
- He Gets Scabunionitis
- He Learns Something about Craft Jurisdiction
- He Was One of the Victims
- He Gets Hurt
- He Makes a Bum Detective
- He Finds That Charity Covers a Multitude of "Skins"
- Before and After the Election
- His May Day Dream Didn't Come True
- He Learns the Power of Gold
- Mr. Block's Mind / Mr. Block in Pamphlet Form
- Images from Mr. Block: Twenty-Four Cartoons of the Mr. Block Series
- He Gets Out of the "Can" Again
- He Takes His Flag Along / He Gets Stung
- He Fails to Interest Mrs. Block in Democracy
- He Has Some Uplifting Done
- He Almost Loses 'Em
- He Has an Awful Dream
- He Inherits $2000
- He Busts the Alarm Clock
- He Becomes an Employer
- He Goes Broke
- He Goes Harvesting
- He Gets a Job
- He Goes to the Dakota Harvest
- He Finds a Place to Flop
- His Patriotism Is Appreciated
- He Leaves the Harvest with His Stake
- He Joins the I.W.W.
- He Becomes an Editor
- He Isn't Afraid of the Boss
- He Is One of Those Cascarets
- He Is Rewarded for Helping His Boss
- He Waits for a Job at Ford's
- When Block Meets Block
- Bull Con Keeps Him Going
- The Thinker
- Insults Members of the I.W.W.
- He Races for a Job
- He's Against Organization
- He Loses His Job / He Receives a Christmas Present
- He's Still Waiting for Better Conditions
- He is a Member of the A.A.A.A.
- Mr. Block Has the Blues
- Mr. Block and Mr. Bone
- They Use California Products and Receive Compensation
- Mr. Block Fails to Lick the Master's Boots and Feels Regret
- Mr. Block Forms an Acquaintance with a Millionaire
- Mr. Block and Mr. Bone
- Mr. Block and Mrs. Block
- Mr. Block and the Profiteers
- A Job / Political Bunk
- The Majority: A One Act Play
- Part 2: Reception and Commentary
- Mr. Block by Joe Hill
- Introductory, 1913 by Walker C. Smith
- Ernest Riebe and Mr. Block, 1984 by Franklin Rosemont
- I Object to Anarchism in this Boxcar
- Mr. Block reprint
- Acknowledgments
