Uncle Sam

    (Vertigo, 1997)
™ and ©1997 DC Comics

Famed from his work on Marvels, painter Alex Ross teamed up with Steve Darnall to revise an American icon in this 1997 mini-series.

Uncle Sam is a time-honored symbol of America, as developed for the old “Uncle Sam Wants You” Army recruiting ads. Here, however, he is not a proud symbol of American “can-do.” Instead, he’s a raving bum, with clothes in tatters, continually listening to the lunatic voices of American society, and wondering where the dream went wrong. Uncle Sam relives all the bleak moments in American history, from the murderous quashing of the Shay Rebellion through the brutal treatment of native Americans, Klan lynchings, political corruption, and violence in the streets. It’s an unrelenting view of a super-power in decline, with only the tiniest recognition of any good that has come out of the U.S. past. Stylistically, it’s what Ruins was to the more upbeat Marvels.
Jump to issue:
  NotesWriterArtist
#1

January, 1998
Cover Price: $4.95
15 copies available from $1.50 		Steve Darnall, Alex RossAlex Ross
#2

February, 1998
Cover Price: $4.95
12 copies available from $1.99 		Steve Darnall, Alex RossAlex Ross