Plot [Paperback]

There are lies, damn lies, and then there are the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Perhaps no other single document has been responsible for more bloodshed than the Protocols. A thoroughly nasty hoax and complete forgery the Protocols reputed to be the minutes of a secret meeting of world Jewry that took place in conjunction with the first Zionist Congress in Switzerland in 1897. The minutes detailed a conspiracy by these "Elders" to take over the world. Despite being revealed repeatedly as a hoax the Protocols have taken on a life of their own and continue to be brought up in areas around the world.

Will Eisner, perhaps the most creative and influential cartoonist, graphic artist, and/or sequential artist (whatever term one finds applicable), of our time spent the last twenty years of his life trying to unravel the origins of this deadly hoax. Bit-by-bit over the last twenty years Eisner read up on the Protocols and did significant amounts of research, including a review of files released in Russia (most of which dated to Tsarist and early revolutionary days) after the fall of communism. Eisner completed this graphic history book one month before he died, at the age of 87. The compelling art and narrative in "The Plot" helps to make Eisner's last work a wonderful epitaph for a creative giant. The year 2005 also marks the 100th anniversary of the Protocol's introduction in Russia in response to the 1905 Revolution. The bloody pogroms that followed bear stark witness to the horrid power of the Protocols.

After a brief but moving introduction by Umberto Eco, Eisner lays out a sequential history of the birth and strange life of the Protocols. The story begins with the creation of a book entitled "The Dialogue in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu" by a French writer named Maurice Joly. Joly's book was a thinly-disguised attack on Napoleon III's rule. The story continues and Eisner takes us into the life and less than wholesome career of Mathieu Golovinski. Golovinski, in conjunction with the Okhrana (the Tsar's version of the KGB) creates the Protocols by plagiarizing Joly's book almost completely. From there we see the Protocols exposed as a hoax by The Times of London in the 1920s. Yet despite that expose the Protocols are then used by both Adolf Hitler and the American car magnate Henry Ford. It is still being distributed today.

A significant portion of the book consists of side-by-side comparison of Joly's Dialogue In Hell and Golovinski's Protocols. The results are both compelling and conclusive. There may be some who feel that this rather lengthy insert is not appropriate for a graphic work such as this. I tend to think it both necessary and effective. Mere claims of fraud are not sufficient. It is important to set it out in black and white. Eisner does this to great effect.

It has been said that a graphic novel may not be the best method for discussing such a serious topic. I disagree. I think that the information provided by Eisner is absorbed very well by the reader. It is not an academic treatise to be sure but it was not intended to be. The information is easily absorbed even if one takes time to admire Eisner's graphic art which is powerful and compelling.

Eisner's last work is a fitting tribute to his life for at least two reasons. First, it provides an excellent overview of a publication that has caused havoc over the last 100 years. As Umberto Eco says in his introduction, "one must fight the Big Lie and the hatred it spawns". Eisner has done this to great effect. Second, "The Plot" provides yet one more piece of supporting evidence for the assertion that the graphic arts is a serious, provocative medium that need not play second fiddle to what may sometimes be referred to as pure `literature' or `the arts'. Eisner's legacy in this field is secure and The Plot serves as a fitting grace note to a long, distinguished career.

In what is the final work from Sequential pioneer Will

Eisner (1917-2005), the great graphic storyteller turns

his wide-ranging attention to the depiction of a

grievously non-fictional wrong. In THE PLOT, Eisner

culminates a decades-long examination of the historical

fabrication which is widely considered the source of

anti-Semitic propaganda which spans a century, working

its poison around the world, even now.

THE PLOT is an astute Sequential narrative denoting the

concoction of THE PROTOCOLS OF THE ELDERS OF ZION, and

painstakingly follows the blind establishment of this

gross and clumsy lie as authenticated fact across the

ages. A disgruntled Russian bureaucrat plagiarizes the

work of an 19th century Parisian satirist, transforming

a poke at the tyrannies of a French emperor into a

damning denigration of an entire group of human beings.

The astonishing point made by Eisner, more astonishing

than the hatching of a genocidal conspiracy for the sake

of political convenience, is the manner in which this

lie has endured, and spread its evil message across the

years... even after THE PROTOCOLS have been methodically

and repeatedly exposed as the malicious lie that it has

always been! From Tsarist Russia, this cancerous document

has sown its seeds of hate everywhere, from England's

Winston Churchill and America's Henry Ford in 1920 to

the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis from 1921 on through

WW II.

Even now, the bigotry engendered by the propagation of

THE PROTOCOLS wreaks havoc with the common sense of the world,

as reflected through its avid usage by the worst participants

of fundamentalism, whether engaged in the burning of crosses,

the bombing of mosques, or the terrorism of those taking

revenge for Crusades past with more blind slaughter.

Eisner's artistry, setting precedents for 70 years, is

prodigious here. His depiction of THE PLOT's unveiling

tableau, stark in its black & white tones while elusively

gray in its basic textures, is an ingeniously succinct

way to impart this penetrating tale of wrongdoing which

perversely endures, and a virtue which must never falter.

In utilizing the gifts which he has honed over the course

of a lifetime, Will Eisner has set a standard for the ages;

further establishing the Sequential field as a literary

arena far more diversified than the narrowing yardstick

applied to "funny pages", while taking a concrete stand

for Clarity and Justice.

Make no mistake about THE PLOT. There's nothing comic about

this tale, or what's at stake if we, as human beings do not

heed the truth, at last.

Actually, this is quite a powerful and scholarly book.

Yes, it is in comic book format. But there is no mistaking its seriousness. We see how a satirical French work which had nothing to do with Jews was transformed by some Russians into a libel against Jews in general. And we see the history of this fabrication as it makes its way through Europe and World War II, as well as into the Arab world, the Americas, and elsewhere.

If there is one thing on this planet that outrages me more than anything else, it is anti-scholarly lies. We humans aren't worth much without our brains, and our brains are not worth much unless we value truth. Lies are major causes, in my opinion, of many human misfortunes, including plenty of unnecessary wars. And I think lies such as the fabricated "Protocols" need to be exposed.

A minor point that occurs to me is that many people call "The Protocols" a "forgery." While that is certainly true, it can give a few people a misleading impression that there is a genuine Protocols and they are reading the wrong one! I prefer to call "The Protocols" a fabrication.

In this book, we see many people claim victory over this lie, only to see "The Protocols" arise again, like some sort of undead monster. But I think this misses a big point. Namely that there is a difference between a lie, produced with a serious intent to deceive, and a taunt (such as, say, "your mother is a garbage truck") which is designed to insult and certainly is untrue, but does not have deception as a primary goal. A taunt can't have deception as a primary goal (imagine the taunted victim admitting that yes, her mother truly is a garbage truck, and here is a photo of the truck and a birth certificate).

That means that "The Protocols" really can be defeated. Oh yes, copies will still be sold here and there. But most responsible people will dismiss this as a taunt, not as a controversial or serious work. And that is indeed happening. I think the deceptive power of this fabrication is diminishing, maybe significantly.

There will be other lies in the future. And "The Protocols" is still around. But, with that big stake through its heart, this libel is indeed in just the kind of trouble it deserves.

I recommend this book.

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