Greg Plantamura's annotations
to the graphic novel

Written by Steve Darnall
Painted by Alex Ross

Published by
Vertigo/DC Comics

1:2
"Resolved: That these United Colonies ..."
- 1776 June, 1776...Richard Henry Lee introduces the resolution to draft the Declaration of Independence.

1:3
"Whenever any Form of Government ..."
- The second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence.

1:4
"I have a dream"
- possible reference to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famous civil rights speech in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963.
This image is based on Archibald M. Willard's painting The Spirit of '76, (painted approximately 1912) which depicts the American Revolution.

3:5
"In order to reform a criminal you must first break his spirit."
- Elam Lynds, original warden of Sing Sing prison in New York in the 1820's.

3:6
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. - Most prominent civil rights activist leader, assassinated in 1968.

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti - Immigrant anarchists who were arrested, tried and executed on charges of murder in Massachusetts, in the 1920's. Belief in their innocence became widespread as they were seen to be victims of antianarchist hatred. Their story was made into a popular Braodway musical.

The "Scottsboro Nine" - One of the most famous--or infamous--court cases to go on to the Supreme Court in American history. Nine black men were accused of rape by two white women in Alabama in the 1930's.

Joe Hill - A folksong-writer and member of the labor union called Int'l Workers of the World (IWW), tried for murder in Utah in 1914. The prosecutors claimed that Joe's refusal to prove his alibi was proof he didn't have one. Many believe that the state of Utah was tagging Joe as the killer in retribution for the IWW's organizing efforts in the Utah mining regions.

5:1
"There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny."
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, at his 1936 presidential renomination.

5:4
'Hessian'- a generic term for the German soldiers hired by England to fight during the American Revolution.

5:5
"Why not try...partner"
- ?????

6:1
"Sic semper tyrannis"
- Latin for "Thus always to tyrants", shouted by John Wilkes Booth when he assasinated President Abraham Lincoln, 1814.

8:1
Bald eagle. United States national bird.

An early 18th century British coin was marked with Brittania and the Lion

8:4
Britannia and the Lion are a national symbol of Great Britain, just as Uncle Sam represents the United States.

9:3
Great Britain made major colonies in Africa and India.

9:4
An old saying: "The sun never sets on the British empire."

10:3
Major General Smedley D. Butler (1881-1940)
See appendix, below.

11:1
"American factories are making more than the American people can use; American soil is producing more than they can consume. Fate has written our policy for us; the trade of the world must and shall be ours."
- Senator Albert Beveridge of Indiana, 1897

12:4
"Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream" - Row Your Boat, a children's song

13
Illinois -Jewish temple with graffitti reading "Zyklon B kills Jews dead". (A parody of an advertising slogan for Raid insecticide, "Raid. Kills bugs dead.") Zyklon B was a gas used by Nazis to kill inmates of concentration camps during WWII.
Virginia: Steven M. Bergson tells me this may be the Japanese exchange student who was shot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Bergson refers to http://www.galleryofguns.com/shootingtimes/articles/DisplayArticles.asp?ID=3103
Indiana - (store name "Hog Wild"?) Sesana Simonica wrote me this about it:

The panel is in reference to an event that actually happened in Florida. The large poster on the left of the panel is of the cover artwork of 2 Live Crew's "As Nasty as They Wanna Be," most famous for the song "Me So Horny." In 1990, Judge Mel Grossman ruled that probable cause could be found to consider the album obscene, and Broward County sheriff Nick Navarro warned local store owners that selling the album could be prosecutable. Later, Judge Jose Gonzalez declared the album obscene and illegal to sell. Following the ruling, Charles Freeman, a local record store owner, was arrested for selling the album, and three members of 2 Live Crew were arrested for performing portions of the album at an adults-only concert. The end result is that all parties were acquitted, and the Supreme Court eventually upheld the ruling that "As Nasty as They Wanna Be" is not obscene.
http://www.cd.sc.ehu.es/FileRoom/documents/Cases/386livecrew.html

15:1
Shay?s Rebellion, 1786

16:4
Chicago Haymaker Riots - May 4, 1886
- Mr. Richard De Angelis informs me that the original printing mentions "1893" in error.

16:5
Kent State University, May 4, 1970
- While quelling a demonstration against the Vietnam War, rifle fire by a contingent of twenty-eight Ohio National Guardsmen left four students dead.

17:6
British soldiers called "redcoats" because of their uniforms, fire upon colonists gathered at the village green in Lexington, Massachusetts, starting the Revolutionary War. This event is referred to as "the shot heard round the world" in the poem "Concord Hymn" by Ralph Waldo Emerson, July 1837.

18:1
Keen-eyed Krzysztof Lipka-Chudzik wrote to me:

"there is a colourful graffiti on the brick wall. It reads 'EISN-'. Two pages later (page 20 panel 2) we can see the missing part of the word: '-ER'. This is, of course, a reference to the great American comic book artist Will Eisner - creator of the original "Uncle Sam" comics."

20:2
Krzysztof pointed out to me the graffiti that says "Shazam".... a reference to the CAPTAIN MARVEL comic book character.

21:3
1965 calendar advertises ???- tzler Automotive Finisher?

21:4
"The Very Thought Of You" Words and Music by Ray Noble, remembered as being sung by Nat King Cole. 1934?

22:4
Poem by Emma Lazarus inscribed on tablet in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. The last part of the poem says,

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath free, the wretched refuse of your teaming shores. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me.

25:3
"I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier"
- A popular 1915 anti-war song by lyricist Alfred Bryan and composer Al Piantadosi.

"Over There" Music by Chick Floyd, 1939. A popular American patriotic/military song of World War II.

26:4
The Warren Commission investigated the assassination of President John F.Kennedy.

27:4
"We the people"
- From the preamble to the US Constitution

28:1
The 15th Amendment guaranteed women the right to vote on June 4, 1919. The amendment was proposed by Susan B. Anthony in 1878.

29:1
The bear is the symbol of Russia, as Uncle Sam represents the United States.

29:2
"About the capitalist states, it doesn't depend on you whether or not we exist. If you don't like us, don't accept our invitations, and don't invite us to come and see you. Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you."
-Nikita Khrushcev, Premier of the Soviet Union. (from 1958-1964) in a Speech given at the Polish Embassy in Moscow on November 18, 1956.

29:4
The Soviet Union was sometimes nicknamed "the evil empire" by the United States during the latter half of the 20th century.

Marianne in her glory days. I can't imagine why all those strange men are following her...

30:3
Marianne: The French Republic is usually symbolized by a gorgeous young woman called Marianne (I've not been able to track the origin of that nickname) and wearing the red Liberty Cap, as depicted in allegoric pictures ("La Liberte Guidant le Peuple" by Delacroix for example). There is an 'official' Marianne picture, which is used for the most common post stamps (the small red or green ones) and for the marble bust which appears in most town halls.

30:4
This is an imitation of a classic painting, "La Liberte Guidant le Peuple" (Liberty Leads the People) by Delacroix, 1830.

32:1
"What I really really want"
- line from 1996 song Wannabe by the Spice Girls, a British pop music group.

32:3
"Have you had your break today"
- McDonald's restaurant slogan

"Pure chewing satisfaction"
- Wrigley's Spearmint Gum slogan

"The traveller's checks are here"
- line from a mid 1990's TV commercial for American Express traveller's checks.

One image appears to be 3 seated people on a television gossip/talk show similar to "Jerry Springer" of the late 1990's. One image appears to be a woman drinking Mountain Dew soda pop. Below it, an image of MTV cartoon characters "Beavis & Butthead" are partially visible.

Beavis & Butthead

33:1
Images here of varying significance are too numerous to mention, but here are a few:
Above the image of the chocolate chip cookie is Saddam Hussein of Iraq, who was a nemesis of the USA in the 1990's-2000's. Below the cookie and to the right, the man wearing glasses is talk-show host Geraldo Rivera. Above Geraldo is an ad for "The Judas Project", a 1993 movie depicting the life of Jesus as if it were in the late 20th century. On the left side, below the image of the Tyrannosaurus face, we see "Beavis & Butthead" again, and 2 screens below that is an image of a baby pig's snout suckling on a mother pig. Below that and to the right is a picture of two police officers holding down a man. In the lower right is a screen from "The Home Shopping Network". In the lower left is a close-up of "Chuck E. Cheese", a character from the restaurant chain. Above "Chuck E. Cheese" is a screen title "Celebrate America-Bellevue Baptist Church".

34
Annotations contributor Steven Bergson notes that "Building a bridge to the 21st century" was Bill Clinton's 1996 campaign slogan.

36:2
The evil Sam is smoking a $50 bill.

36:3
The Statue of Freedom tops the US Capitol dome.

"You can't handle the truth!"
- famous line from the film "A Few Good Men" (Audio)

37:1
Mike Conley, a visitor to this website has this to say:

Although it might have been used with some frequency at times during the 20th century, the phrase is actually from a toast given by Stephen Decatur, US Naval officer and hero during the War of 1812, in 1816, the full text of which is, "Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong."

38
New York: Actually this incident happened in Chicago. In October 1994, five year-old Eric "Shorty" Morse was dropped out of a 14th floor window in the Ida B. Wells housing project by two other boys, ten and eleven years old, because he wouldn't steal candy for them. The tragedy made headlines across the country when the two boys convicted of the crime became the youngest kids ever sentenced to juvenile prison in the US.
Massachusetts: Car being towed
Connecticut: Prostitute soliciting a driver
Pennsylvania: Steven Bergson suggests that this refers to the 1985 police firebombing of a Philadelphia dwelling. They did so to evict an activist group called MOVE and killed 11 people and destroyed over 60 homes in the process.
New Jersey: Subway rider
Ohio: Drug injection
West Virginia: Sesana Simonica tells me this looks like a gruesome case of removing an unborn baby from a murder victim, similar to cases mentioned at this link: http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2000/10/05/current/fpage_6.htm
Virginia: Steven M. Bergson tells me this may be the Japanese exchange student who was shot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Bergson refers to http://www.galleryofguns.com/shootingtimes/articles/DisplayArticles.asp?ID=3103

Yoshi Hattori was headed to a Halloween party in Central on Oct. 17, 1992, when he and a friend knocked on the wrong door. After Hattori didn't obey commands to "freeze," Rodney Peairs shot him in the chest. Lewis Unglesby, Peairs' attorney, has said his client was protecting his home and family from what he thought was a threat. A jury later acquitted Peairs of manslaughter, but the Hattoris won a civil lawsuit against him.

42:1
"You don't tell us how to stage the news, and we don't tell you how to report it."
-Larry Speakes, Press secretary for President George Bush, Sr.

"I don't know how many future generations we can count on until the Lord returns"
-Reagan's Secretary of the Interior, James Watt, Feb.1981

42:2
"What good is the moon if you can't buy or sell it?"
- quote attributed to Ivan Boesky.

42:3-4
First Lady Nancy Reagan led an anti-drug campaign aimed at american youth called "Just Say No". This has become a popular American catch-phrase.

42:5
"Out of these troubled times, our fifth objective, a new world order, can emerge.... We are now in sight of a United Nations that performs as envisioned by its founders."
- President Bush, in his September 11, 1990 televised address

"Stay the course" is a popular political catch-phrase. It was used, among other places, in the 1988 presidential campaign of George Bush.

"It's morning in America" was the theme for the Reagan 1986 reelection campaign.

42:6
"For the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."
- the last line from the Declaration of Independence

46:1
The store window says "Chicago Comics". There is a "Chicago Comics" store located at 3244 North Clark Street on the north side of Chicago. The proprieters say this:

You are correct that is our store. I even helped Alex take the pictures that he used (stood there for scale). The funny thing was that he did not tell us he was going to use the store in the book, it just showed up and he said "did you see the Book?" we were totally caught off guard. It was really nice of him to do that. We are fortunate that both Steve and Alex are customers.

46:5
There's Columbia ("Bea") picking up the dollar which Sam dropped.

United States major political parties
Democratic National Convention - Most Democrats fall somewhere into moderate-to-liberal.

Republican National Convention - Traditional conservatives and Religious Right. Anti-gun control, anti-welfare, anti-government regulation of business, strong military

Libertarian Party - The LP, founded in 1971, bills itself as "America's largest third party." Libertarians are neither left nor right ... they believe in total individual liberty (pro-drug legalization, pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-home schooling, anti-gun control, etc.) and total economic freedom (anti-welfare, anti-government regulation of business, anti-minimum wage, anti-income tax, pro-free trade, etc.).

Major General Smedley D. Butler, United States Marine Corps

Described as a Quaker of impeccable honesty and morals, he was awarded two Congressional Medals of Honor, yet he spoke against American armed intervention into the affairs of sovereign nations. Throughout his life, Butler demonstrated that true patriotism does not mean blind allegiance to government policies with which one does not agree.
The Late Major-General Smedley D. Butler

He was secretly recruited into a plot to extort President Franklin Roosevelt.
The Business Plot to Overthrow Roosevelt

?There isn?t a trick in the racketeering bag that the military gang is blind to ... It may seem odd for me, a military man, to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to do so. I spent thirty-three years and four months in active military service, and during that period I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all members of the military profession, I never had an original thought until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of the higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service. . . .

Thus I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for National City Bank boys (Citicorp) to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1902 to 1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. In China in 1927, I helped see to it that the Standard Oil went its way unmolested. . . .

During those years, I had as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. I was rewarded with honors, medals and promotions. Looking back on it, I feel I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was operate his racket in three city districts. I operated on three continents.?
- Originally published in Common Sense, November, 1935. Quoted in Felix Greene?s The Enemy, Vantage Books, New York, 1971.

For more info on US imperialism see An American Imperialism Page