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Wobblies!: A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World

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fighting the battle for justice." Mother Jones

This sentiment from one of the founders of the International Workers of the World ("IWW") better known to the world as the Wobblies captures the underlying spirit that permeated the Wobblies. It also captures the spirit of the entertaining and informative "Wobblies! A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World". For those not familiar with the Wobblies, some brief background information may be helpful.

The IWW was created at a convention in Chicago in June 1905. In attendance were some of the leading figures in the American labor movement, including Big Bill Haywood, Eugene V. Debs, Daniel De Leon, and the above mentioned Mother Jones to name a few. The disparate groups who came together to form the IWW shared two common bonds: a disdain for the elite, seemingly pro-capitalist craft unions that made up the American Federation of Labor (AFL); and a belief in the necessity of `the class struggle'. Membership in the IWW was open to all workers. This stood in stark contrast to the tough entry requirements of the AFL's craft unions. The IWW, unlike the AFL, welcomed both women and racial minorities into its ranks. As a result, the IWW may be said to have created the first `rainbow coalition' of American political thought. There were socialists, anarchists, communists, syndicalists, and just about every type of `ist' one can imagine in the IWW. Membership grew rapidly in the early days of the movement and the IWW became much feared by the corporations they did battle with and loomed large in the public imagination. John Dos Passos captured the IWW beautifully in his landmark USA Trilogy. At the same time, the fragmented ideology of its membership resulted in quite a bit of internal strife and the somewhat anarchic nature of the IWW as an organization created some difficulties for it. The IWW's growth reached its peak in the days leading up to the 1917 entrance of the United States into the First World War. The war and the subsequent `Red Square' following the Russian Revolution led to a series of federal legislative and judicial measures that hampered severely the IWW's organizing activities.


"Wobblies!" is at once both an entertaining and informative graphic history of the IWW. This is not a full blown, chronological history. Edited by Paul Buhle and Nicole Schulman, both of whom have deep connections to what may be called the American Left, Wobblies! consists of a series of illustrated vignettes of notable events in the history of the IWW. Virtually all the writers and graphic artists who contributed to Wobblies!, perhaps the most well-known being Harvey Pekar, have roots in or sympathy with contemporary radical political action groups. I found the simple story lines to be coherent and I found the graphic artwork to be excellent.

The stories seem a bit random and the narrative lacks a certain element of continuity at times. Yet these elements struck me as being fully consistent with the rather chaotic nature of the IWW itself and I found it to be amusing rather than annoying. Further, as its title indicates, this is a graphic history. The reliance on graphics seemed to be an appropriate vehicle to tell the story of the IWW. Significant portions of its membership were immigrants who either did not speak English or who were illiterate. The IWW relied heavily on oral (songs) and visual (street theater) means to promote itself. With that in mind the use of graphics to tell the story of the Wobblies seemed perfect.

The year 2005 marks the centenary of the founding of the IWW and this book may be viewed as an admittedly admiring commemoration. Having said that, it should be noted that the fondness the contributors have for the IWW does not lessen the quality of the graphics or the quality of the breezy, informative narration. This book may only find favor with readers politically pre-disposed to the IWW. In a sense that would be a shame. I think the graphics and the information contained in Wobblies! could appeal to a wider audience who either like graphic artwork generally or who are interested in a work that happens to tell some stories in a compelling manner of a by gone era.

This is one of the most enjoyable books on the hidden and suppressed labor history of American workers. Made all the more enjoyable by the variety of people's artists/cartoonists that have contributed to what is surely a labor of love. This is not what you're going to be taught in schools or colleges. This book portrays clearly that long memorable struggle for dignity among the working class that continues to the present day.
The Wobblies held to a grass roots approach of organizing workers, prefering "crude vigor to polished banality", a system of priorites too little seen in these waning days of capitalism. Each young person, parent and school should have this information available to them, for any soul not born with a silver spoon wedged in their mouth will come away from this history with a lump in your throat and a new spring in your step. In light of encroaching globalism (that is no friend to worker's anywhere) this is a handbook to inspire and encourage a new generation to take control of their own destiny.
Solidarity Forever!
P.S.- Check out the recordings of Utah Phillips, the modern troubadour/sage of the Wobblies.

As a youth activist, organizer, and scholar, I find Paul Buhle's "Wobblies!" to be a refreshing and unique reminder of the revolutionary tradition of the Industrial Workers of the World. Combined with amazing graphics and informative texts, "Wobblies!" is not just *any* graphic novel--it's a historical testament to the creative, inspirational, and rebellious struggle for freedom and justice that the Wobs fought (and continue to fight!) for. From the Paterson and Lawrence Strikes, Free Speech Fights, various interesting graphic-biographies of Rebel Girl Elizabeth Gurley, Ralph Chaplin, and Joe Hill, to the role of Black and Mexican Wobblies--usually not the focus of most scholarship--this book is a treasure to all and anyone interested in, as Mike Davis writes, "REPLANTING THE SEEDS OF REBELLION."

I recommend this book with utmost sincerity. You won't be disappointed!




"Perhaps some fading flower then
would come to life and bloom again"
--from Joe Hill's last will ["WOBBLIES"!]

The "Wobblies!" is an excellent graphic novel spelling out history of the IWW. It's chock full stories told by some of the top notch hardest working political comix artists alive today. So check it out and if you got the $$$, it's definitely worth the buy - in solidarity - Savannah Skye...

WOBBLIES! is truly a wonderful, unique piece of work. The book tells the story of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW, better known as the Wobblies) through a collection of over fifty graphic stories (i.e., comics) produced by some of today's most exciting progressive artists/writers (Harvey Pekar, Mike Alewitz, etc).

The individual works are incredibly diverse, linked thematically into six chapters: (1) "Early Days" (founding convention, Big Bill Haywood, western miners, Mother Jones...); (2)"Lawrence and Patterson" (the most famous strikes the Wobs led); (3) "Wobblies Far and Wide" (Joe Hill, free speech fights, itinerant Wobs (or, hoboes); (4) "Repression, Martyrdom, General Strikes"; (5) "Beyond Martyrdom" (focusing on the often neglected Wobbly history of the 1920s); and (6) "The IWW Lives!" (the Wobblies up to the present).

As a special treat, there is a collection of original IWW cartoons and illustrations at the end (indeed, this book carries on that very special wobbly tradition).

This is a wonderful book that couldn't be more timely-- being released on the centennial of the founding of IWW (one of the best comics in the book depicts the founding convention of the Wobblies in 1905). Because of its graphic/comic form, it will surely help popularize the IWW to a new generation-- at a time when this is needed more than ever. (And, on top it all, it is a very *FUN* read-- highly recommended)

Wobblies! A Graphic History Of The Industrial Workers Of The World is an amazing history of the Industrial Workers of the World, an organization known for its eclectic and controversial affiliations as well as its strong stand against government and corporate exploitation. Wobblies! is particularly remarkable in that it presents its vivid anecdotes about everything from wartime witch hunts, government prosecutions, mob lynching, Mexican peasant revolts, the bombing of IWW figures and much more in comic book format. Black-and-white comic-style stories by a wide variety of artists, from vintage political cartoons to unfolding true tales of modern history, fill this superbly edited and presented overview of the Wobblies. Presented in an absorbing manner that invites the lay reader to peruse from cover to cover, Wobblies! is highly recommended especially for school and public library history shelves.

This book has everything: words, pictures, history, exciting stories, and disaffected workers. There are almost as many different artists as stories, so it's easy to look at each episode with fresh eyes.

The IWW may have been small, but they were also hugely important, and there are more scholarly ways to learn about them, but there can't be any that are more fun than this.

The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), also known as the `Wobblies', is 100 years old in 2005. In celebration, Paul Buhle, Nicole Schulman and comrades have brought together an illustrated history of the Wobblies. The IWW was considered by many as the most dangerous labor organization in the 20th century US. Their ideas and organizing style spread well beyond the borders of the US into Canada, into the revolutionary milieu of Mexico, and much of the industrializing world. The IWW was primarily influenced by left anarchist thought. It sought to organize all of the working class across sectors and regardless of sex, race or nationality. Bourgeois interests feared the Wobblies because of their inclusiveness. The IWW embraced the strike as the primary tool to better the lives of the working class, improve working conditions and pay. They were fiercely in favour of free speech, especially during World War I, and opposed all interstate wars. Unlike the AFL in many ways, the Wobblies paid for their militancy with beatings, unjust prison sentences and murders but left many powerful models for action and organization including the sit-down strike and the basis for the CIO. During and after the World War I, the federal government, local police authorities, corporate thugs (i.e. Pinkertons), and even other members of the working class attempted to destroy the Wobblies but their ideas persisted. While they never returned to their pre-war strength, locals were maintained. Their actions and ideas fused with the civil rights movements to provide examples for sixties' activists and, today, the economic justice movement.
Wobblies!: A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World primarily employs comics to show some of the organizational lineages and successes. The text highlights the careers of some of the Wobbly legends: Lucy Parsons, Joe Hill, Big Bill Haywood, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Richardo Flores Magon, and Frank Little. More importantly, its labor struggles are documented from the Ludlow strikes to Lawrence and Patterson strikes to Butte to Centralia to Naranja, Mexico; the free speech movement during the Wilson Administration; and the IWW's ongoing direct action agitation to this day. The comic is a particularly powerful form for communicating some aspects of Wobbly history because it makes a strong and immediate impact on the reader, but also because many Wobbly cartoonists have influenced popular culture through to the present. This inspired volume is a testimony to the craft, intelligence, wit, and solidarity of the thirty-plus artists who contributed graphics for it. The same is true of folk music noted with frequency within the book with references to the songs of Joe Hill and other Wobblies who inspired Woodie Guthrie on through to Utah Phillips and Ani DiFranco. This is an excellent primer for anyone interested in the IWW as well as those who think that another world is possible and want to organize, educate and agitate for it.

The history uses many cartoonists, many cartoon styles. Text outside the cartoons is minimized. Footnotes are light. But compelling reading as an introduction to the Wobblies, from their beginnings to this 2005 publication. A lot of information despite (or maybe because of) the cartoon format.

These are not neutral presentations. You may wonder whether our government and corporations really mistreated workers in this way. That many jailed, that many killed? This is within the past 100 years. If we're not careful, whatever progress workers have made since the Wobblies began may be lost.

Read this great intro and get charged up. Then, by all means, seek out other sources to check what you've been told here. Section six of this book, "IWW Lives", alerts us that, although smaller than in the past, the IWW is active. Seek them out on the Web: you too can be a wobbly.

Before I read this graphic novel, I knew very little about the history of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or Wobblies). This was a great way to brush up on my history. Almost all of the included art is very informative and interesting. As for the IWW, they were the most successful radical labor movement in the history of the US. You aren't going to learn that in a high school classroom but we can learn a lot from the history of the Wobblies. Socioeconomic developments within our lifetimes could allow a movement such as the one represented by the IWW to grow and flourish. An injury to one is an injury to all!