Wish We Weren't Here: Postcards From the Apocalypse

by Peter Kuper

45 years after his first political cartoons focused on capitalism's impact, Peter Kuper takes stock of the state of the world... and isn't optimistic about what he sees. Across 100 pages of vivid, colourful, silent four-panel comics, Kuper traces as many aspects of how business and politics have accelerated the climate crisis, and looks at how, if things keep going in the direction they are, how our oligarchic lives will be further transformed. Witty and angry in equal measure, Kuper deploys bold figures, clever metaphors, despairing howls, and some of the best drawings of his career to get his message across. Originally serialised in the legendary French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, each page is a single blackly funny gag strip, but themes flow, recur and build across sequences to create a true hybrid of political cartoon and graphic novel. Since co-founding World War III Illustrated in 1979, Kuper has maintained his deeply humanist/anti-capitalist perspective, while developing and broadening his graphic and story-telling skills across a range of topics and styles. In this book, he brings all of that experience, study and passion together into a single powerful work that stands as a culmination of his career. See the future now, and laugh hollowly while you still can.

Genres: Nonfiction, Graphic Novels, Comics

144 pages, Paperback

Published October 28, 2025

About the author

Peter Kuper is an American alternative comics artist and illustrator, renowned for his politically charged, socially conscious, and often autobiographical work. He co-founded the influential anthology World War 3 Illustrated, and is best known for his long-running reinvention of Spy vs. Spy for Mad magazine from 1997 to 2022. Kuper has produced numerous graphic novels, including award-winning adaptations of Franz Kafka’s Give It Up! and The Metamorphosis, as well as autobiographical works like Stop Forgetting To Remember and Diario de Oaxaca, documenting life, travel, and social struggles. His illustration work has appeared on covers and in publications such as Time, Newsweek, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times. Kuper’s style often merges comics and illustration techniques, with both wordless narratives and text-driven storytelling, reflecting his belief that the two disciplines are inseparable. He has traveled extensively across Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia, often documenting these experiences in sketchbook journals. Kuper has taught courses on comics and illustration at the Parsons School of Design, the School of Visual Arts, and Harvard University’s first class on graphic novels. He has received numerous awards, including recognition from the Society of Newspaper Designers, the Society of Illustrators, and Eisner and NCS awards for his work. His comics combine sharp political commentary, personal observation, and inventive visual storytelling, establishing him as a prominent figure in contemporary alternative comics and illustration.

Reviews

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Depressing. But damn accurate.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading all these cartoons in one sitting was perhaps not the best way to do it. I suspect that Kuper's work, collected here from years of publications, is best consumed in smaller doses. The strips begin to feel repetitive and perhaps even dull their impact.

Many are incisive, illuminating. Others are simply a different palette for the same message. In this cartoon, a lizard representing big oil heats/dries to death over time. In this cartoon, it's a river. When paired with the headlines referenced immediately below the cartoons, the work has impact. When paired with a hundred other cartoons and headlines, it's overwhelming.

The creator works to create a bit of narrative connecting them all, coming in the form of quotes by various people throughout history. The work is also broken somewhat thematically, with sections focused on ice melt, sea level rise, wildfires, etc.

What's at the end of it all, though? More dread, more anger, more grief. Like most of the world, Kuper seems to be seeking--and not finding--a way out.

[Michael Daines · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5)

I’m a long-time fan of Kuper’s art; I own a volume he signed for me over twenty years ago.

“Wish We Weren’t Here” is a collection of wordless four-panel pieces he did for Charlie Hebdo over the last several years. The focus is entirely on the destruction that capitalism has brought to bear against the environment.

While there are some excellent comics here, it also does get repetitive.

[Nick Pratt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shotgunning the whole thing is a decidedly bleak undertaking. I appreciate the hopeful tone it ends on, but after the monotony preceding it, probably too little, too late.

[Lesley]

too heavy-handed to be interesting to me