You're welcome. I almost forgot about Crumb's use of the Swastika in a very Mad Magazine context. i'd love to attend your Passover Seder , myself. I have'nt had a good Jewish meal in , well , a month , anyway.
PORK MAGAZINE said:
Thanks for the words Gentleman John. All of the contexts & examples yer talkin' about are reasons why we started to use the swastika in our work. I was tired of being afraid of being called a Nazi especially if Joey Ramone can sing "I'm a Nazi baby, I'm a Nazi yes I am." & barely anyone bats an eyelid. Centrally for me though, you can blame Robert Crumb who pretty much always included swastikas in his big mix up pictures of tiny cartoon characters exploding out of someone's head, including on his original cover for Big Brother & the Holding Company's "Cheap Thrills". And, as always, anyone who wants to say something is welcome to our insane Passover Seder to level any complaints.
John Battles said:OK , I JUST GOT THE NEW PORK. I DID NOT FIND THE USE OF THE SWASTIKA PARTICULARLY OFFENSIVE. IT WAS USED IN THE SAME WAY MAD MAGAZINE (WHO , YOU'LL NOTE , WAS A LARGELY JEWISH COLLECTIVE , FREQUENTLY BASHED BY THE EXTREME RIGHT.) USED TO - IT JUST EXPRESSED RAGE OR CRAZINESS OR A WAY TO SUGGEST "BAD WORDS" - YOU KNOW , "$%#@**$!!!!
It was'nt used as a means to convey Neo - Nazi sympathies , and I see Pork magazine the same way......I would imagine if it really offended a lot of people , they'd stop using that image , and The Iron Cross , which I've read was a medal of honor AWARDED EVEN BEFORE THE DAYS OF THE KAISER. A LOT OF PEOPLE IN OUR CIRCLES WERE WEARING IRON OR MALTESE CROSSES , YEARS AGO , MYSELF INCLUDED (I even found one with a Black Power fist bolted onto it. Who could contest THAT?) , BUT , no one seemed to mind. Not like Dick Miller's classic rant in "The Wild Angels". But , to wear a Swastika T-SHIRT OR BADGE TODAY WOULD STILL HAVE THE SAME CONNOTATION . BUT , WE'RE TALKING ABOUT WEARING THEM IN PUBLIC. Even if your politics don't lean that way , as with The Sex Pistols. They made it clear they were anti - Nazism and Communism , too , as did many Punk bands , but they flirted with the imagery of both , to some extent .
REAL NEO - NAZIS ARE TRAITORS. PORK SEEMS TO BE ABOUT AS ALL - AMERICAN AS YOU CAN GET.
John Battles , Roctober Magazine .