ABSTRACT
Contemporary political curmudgeons the world over display a heyday of iniquity. From Japan to the United States, Russia and China, Roman Rosenbaum’s exploration of leadership foibles, disentangles the sarcasm, wit and ferocious cynicism of contemporary manga, so richly deserved. Modern manga ambidextrously contort the good with the bad and mercilessly debunk contemporary political leadership. Manga lend themselves to the representation of both sides of the ideological spectrum and stoically combine intersectional elements such as class and gender adroitly across ideological divides. In this way, Rosenbaum demonstrates how manga like many contentious social media in the age of populism have also long been an integral vehicle in the perpetuation of pseudo-truths, propaganda and conspiracy theories.
