Zen and Nuclear War

This appeared in issue #5 of THREAT!

Another strip about nuclear war, it seems so distant now but in 1983 before the fall of Communism it was on all of our minds.

I wanted to make some sort of statement but realized that ZONE might flourish in the toxic aftermath of nuclear fallout. That left the crow, ZONE'S connection to the natural world to voice a paraphrased poem, originally penned by Master So-gen, a monk facing execution by barbarian forces.

“The heaven and earth afford me no shelter at all;
I’m glad, unreal are body and soul.
Welcome thy weapon, O warrior of Yuen!
Thy trusty steel, That flashes lightning, cuts the wind of Spring, I feel.”

THREAT! was a magazine sized anthology created by Jim Rohn, Gary Fields, Jay Geldhof, Dave Harrison and myself. There were ten issues published by Fantagraphics Books in 1986 - 1987.