Johnny Jihad

by Ryan Inzana

John Sendel is a typical teenager. The kind that snap and would start shooting at their school. He is part of a generation reared by television in the nineties with absentee or loveless parents, cynical, and willing to wield the impetuousness of youth in a self-destructive manner. But Johnny stumbles onto fundamentalist Islam through his friend Salim, and finds a new outlet to channel his rebellious angst. He cannot but admire these people with an actual purpose in life and something to believe in. The facets of Johnny's humdrum existence in suburbia begin to fade, his life now has a jihad. However, the deeper he gets enmeshed, the more frightening the road becomes with no possibility of return. When the CIA gets hold of him, things take an ugly turn. Based on true facts of training camps run in the U.S. and inspired by the stories of John Walker Lindh and others...Chillingly real and hotly topical.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Comix

80 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2003

About the author

Ryan Inzana is an illustrator and comic artist whose work has appeared in numerous magazines, ad campaigns, books and various other media all over the world. His illustration work has been recognized by The Society of Illustrators and Communication Arts. Ryan's comics have been inducted into the Library of Congress's permanent collection of art and have earned an Eisner nomination as well as an Asian American/Pacific Islander Honor Award for YA literature.

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This starts out really interestingly, and makes the valid point early on that not all Muslim extremists are, you know, brown people. (The main guy is a white dude). Also not all of 'em are... extreme. At least not from their perspective.. from their perspective they are being reasonable and they are justified in their violence. I mean, I think I already understood this but a lot of people who villify the Taliban and groups like that, really don't get it. I'm not saying they don't DO evil things but..well, here's a quote from Philip Pullman's The Amber Spyglass that sums it up.."I stopped believing there was a power of good and a power of evil that were outside us. And I came to believe that good and evil are names for what people do, not for what they are." YES, THAT.

But anyway. I got bored towards the end. Could have been just me. Cool idea for a graphic novel, though.

[Tasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like this story had so much more potential. For a book all about the conversion of a typical American Joe to an extremist Islamic terrorist, we get surprisingly little about his actual beliefs. A few panels on how he read the Koran cover to cover and how Islam had all the answers and absolutely no story showing this, no examples of his thinking changing, no attempts at personal growth, no descriptions of Islam benefiting him an literally anyway. He went from zero to 20 thousand and then back to zero immediately. Johnny's not an idiot, he learns three languages and manages to crash course a bunch of other information, but storywise, we don't really get to see his brain working. I get that happy, peaceful Islam isn't the story that this book is telling but going the whole route without a single example of a moderate, reasonable Muslim thought process just seems weird.

The art style is very beautiful though, all brutal crosshatching and engraving. Love that.

[TBML · Rating 5 out of 5]

Young Adult Fiction inspired by the experiences of John Walker Lindh and the Columbine shootings, this fictional exploration tells the story of a young martyr-in-training. Originally from New Jersey, John Sendel narrates the story as he's about to die in an American bombing run in Afghanistan. In a flashback we see Johnny in the early '90s with a nowhere job, no girlfriend, an abusive, profane ex-military father, and a remote, drug-dependent mom. He's is failing life until a fellow employee shows him the Koran and involves him in an Islamic activist group. The terrorist training camp provides a family for him, while anti-Americanism provides a purpose to his life and something to blame. Harrowing tale of an american teenage jihad. Joe

http://tinyurl.com/4lmrq39

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

This graphic novel is loosely based on the life of John Walker Lindh, a.k.a. "the American Taliban." It's OK, but not particularly insightful or illuminating. After reading it, I didn't feel as if I had any better understanding of why a confused, friendless young American raised without religion might feel drawn to radical Islam. By changing a few details, this story could just as easily have been called Johnny Cult Member or Johnny Neo-Nazi. Maybe that's the point, but it's not a particularly interesting one.

[Ketan Shah]

A graphic novel,based on the story of American Taliban ,John Walker Lindh. The fictional protaganist ,John Sendel ,is recruited and eventually radicalised by a fundamentalist group in the US. He eventually ends up a spy for the CIA in Afghanistan. Some interesting facts about the US policy in Afghansitan and the Middle East are woven into the narrative ,and the stark black and white artwork supports the story well. If you enjoyed this,you might like Art Spiegelman's Maus, and Alan Moore's Brought to Light.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gripping and authentic representations of how a horribly abused child finds acceptance into an Islamic terrorist group, and his eventual disillusionment with them and with America as well. In his cynical eyes, America is no better than her enemies.

Some speculate that this is an attempt to explain John Walker Lindh, but I was unaware that he came from a nightmarish background like the protagonist here. If not, the comparison does not stand.

[Erok · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a bit more impressed with the artwork than the actual story. The American Jihad is an interesting concept to base a story around, but I guess I was hoping for either a more developed story or a more accurate biography.

It's worth reading though, especially for the artwork.

[Sydney · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first I found the font really annoying. I also felt as though I would have enjoyed it more if it were a short story (many times the images used seemed to just echo the text as opposed to work/mesh with it). Eventually I got into the story and the image thing didn't bother me too much.

[Charles Barragan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Crudely drawn and with an apparently unfinished narrative, this tale of a young man drawn to jihad is weak countersplain to the John walker Lindh saga. It has some energy and great potential, but overall not a work you'd ever miss reading.

[Cecelia]

It's alright, not my favorite and I don't like the illustrations though.