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2024: A Graphic Novel
Move forward two decades. See the world as the giant media moguls and software companies have become our new big brothers. They want the best for us. They know what’s best for us. And maybe we don’t always know so well.
Ted ‘I-need-more-enemies’ Rall updates 1984 in a scathing look at where we could be headed; and this is all Rall, no holes barred, no prisoners. His best and most chillingly funny work yet!
Ted ‘I-need-more-enemies’ Rall updates 1984 in a scathing look at where we could be headed; and this is all Rall, no holes barred, no prisoners. His best and most chillingly funny work yet!
96 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
73 people want to read
About the author
Ted Rall
51 books98 followersTed Rall is a prominent left-leaning American political columnist, syndicated editorial cartoonist, and author. He draws cartoons for the news site WhoWhatWhy.org and the email newsletter Counterpoint, and writes for The Wall Street Journal opinion pages.
His political cartoons often appear in a multi-panel comic-strip format and frequently blend comic-strip and editorial-cartoon conventions.
The cartoons appear in approximately 100 newspapers around the United States. He is a former President of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, a Pulitzer Prize finalist and twice the winner of the RFK Journalism Award.
He is the author of 20 books.
His political cartoons often appear in a multi-panel comic-strip format and frequently blend comic-strip and editorial-cartoon conventions.
The cartoons appear in approximately 100 newspapers around the United States. He is a former President of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, a Pulitzer Prize finalist and twice the winner of the RFK Journalism Award.
He is the author of 20 books.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 14, 2015
With apologies to Timbuk3...
The future's so dull, I'm glad I wore shades....so the other library patrons couldn't tell I fell asleep five times while reading this book.
The future's so dull, I'm glad I wore shades....so the other library patrons couldn't tell I fell asleep five times while reading this book.
June 16, 2010
I was browsing NYPL's graphic novel shelf (which was a disaster), and found this. Certainly a product of its time (2001), it is a retelling of 1984. The idea is clever and I often enjoy Ted Rall, this book I think lacked the humor of his others. It was more like hitting you over the head with it. This is kind of my problem with all parable dystopia type books. Which always have the opposite of the intended effect on me, like well it's not anything like this! so it's all good. This book reflects a lot of fear, and I think some of these fears were really justified. But it trying to complete his 1984 metaphor or something he comes of as a bit of a curmudgeon about youth culture. Apparently one he thinks has replaced real sentiment with Irony. Also us and our wikipedias! our changable knowledge etc. I think he failed to anticipate the progressive and quite good things that have came out of modern technology things like wikipedia and its spawn like wikileaks. I'm not sure how inspired he was by Wikipedia which was started in 2001 (I went to the wikipedia page for wikipedia, mind fuck), the same year as the book was written. I suspect it though. Anyways many of his warning should sound alarms but the overall book elides the good of the new with the bad without distinguishing.
October 3, 2020
ORWELLIAN DYSTOPIA, 2024: It seems that Ted Rall had an eerily accurate view of our current condition and state of affairs.
As Professor Michael Charrington writes in the introduction, " 'Orwell thought that some evil totalitarian government would oppress us, but our worst enemy is really our own stupidity.' It is our fault, Rall demonstrates in 2024, but we're stupendously happy staying stupid."
Sound familiar, right now, in 2020?
Professor Charrington continues, the citizens of 2024 " . . . believe in nothing and in no one, and least of all in themselves. Bereft of heroes and alienated after endless broken promises, [Americans] take nothing seriously."
With our very own leaders attacking the institutions that make America the America we have known, including their attack on our faith in free and fair elections, and the Increasingly obvious broken promises of Watergate, Globalization, the Fall of the USSR, the failed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the savage misrule and subversion of our governmental institutions from within during the years of Trump, is this merely a "comic book" or is it an eerily accurate prediction of what things will be like, and devolve to, by 2024?
As Professor Michael Charrington writes in the introduction, " 'Orwell thought that some evil totalitarian government would oppress us, but our worst enemy is really our own stupidity.' It is our fault, Rall demonstrates in 2024, but we're stupendously happy staying stupid."
Sound familiar, right now, in 2020?
Professor Charrington continues, the citizens of 2024 " . . . believe in nothing and in no one, and least of all in themselves. Bereft of heroes and alienated after endless broken promises, [Americans] take nothing seriously."
With our very own leaders attacking the institutions that make America the America we have known, including their attack on our faith in free and fair elections, and the Increasingly obvious broken promises of Watergate, Globalization, the Fall of the USSR, the failed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the savage misrule and subversion of our governmental institutions from within during the years of Trump, is this merely a "comic book" or is it an eerily accurate prediction of what things will be like, and devolve to, by 2024?
February 12, 2013
Boring. Terribly dated and filled to nauseating levels of nihilism so endemic to Xers.
June 16, 2025
Originally published in 2001 by NBM Books.
Ted Rall's graphic novel 2024 is a loose re-telling of George Orwell's classic novel 1984. It feels like a healthy dose of Huxley's Brave New World.
This is an alienating tale - it is hard to find any character with any redeeming qualities at any point. It is hard to really understand their society and how it works - until you realize that Ted Rall was actually quite the prophet.
In this world, the economy is controlled by massive corporate conglomerates that control the government as well. The main character is Winston. At work, his job is to re-write history (just like he does in the original novel). History has been re-written so often that even Winston can't keep track of what the official story is.
He spends a great deal of time day trading and shopping for items online that he doesn't really need.
Parts that I thought were prophetic include:
-Winston's country, Canamexicusan, announces a new set of alliances and pretends like it has always been this way. This reminded me of the Trump Administration's hard turn towards Russia and away from NATO, as if it had always been that way.
-Very few people are interested in sex. Sex is simply not interesting when compared to the videos and the shopping. This has been noted in our real world modern society as well.
-Very few people have any idea what's going on around them - they have their face in a screen all of the time.
-Social media trolling as a hobby.
-On page 95 there is a TV announcement that sounds almost exactly like a Donald Trump tweet about the tariff trade war with China:
"Freedom Media is pleased to announce total victory against the Asians! That's right: In a TOTAL VICTORY for Canamexicusan consumers, Asia has agreed to smash tariffs on Canamexicusan products! Interest rates will be reduced, our total economic potential will finally be achieved...This is a great moment on a great day!"
To be honest, this is quite a bummer of a book, but it called out what 2020's would be like on so many levels that you have to give it credit.
I rate this graphic novel 4 stars out of 5.
https://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2025...
Ted Rall's graphic novel 2024 is a loose re-telling of George Orwell's classic novel 1984. It feels like a healthy dose of Huxley's Brave New World.
This is an alienating tale - it is hard to find any character with any redeeming qualities at any point. It is hard to really understand their society and how it works - until you realize that Ted Rall was actually quite the prophet.
In this world, the economy is controlled by massive corporate conglomerates that control the government as well. The main character is Winston. At work, his job is to re-write history (just like he does in the original novel). History has been re-written so often that even Winston can't keep track of what the official story is.
He spends a great deal of time day trading and shopping for items online that he doesn't really need.
Parts that I thought were prophetic include:
-Winston's country, Canamexicusan, announces a new set of alliances and pretends like it has always been this way. This reminded me of the Trump Administration's hard turn towards Russia and away from NATO, as if it had always been that way.
-Very few people are interested in sex. Sex is simply not interesting when compared to the videos and the shopping. This has been noted in our real world modern society as well.
-Very few people have any idea what's going on around them - they have their face in a screen all of the time.
-Social media trolling as a hobby.
-On page 95 there is a TV announcement that sounds almost exactly like a Donald Trump tweet about the tariff trade war with China:
"Freedom Media is pleased to announce total victory against the Asians! That's right: In a TOTAL VICTORY for Canamexicusan consumers, Asia has agreed to smash tariffs on Canamexicusan products! Interest rates will be reduced, our total economic potential will finally be achieved...This is a great moment on a great day!"
To be honest, this is quite a bummer of a book, but it called out what 2020's would be like on so many levels that you have to give it credit.
I rate this graphic novel 4 stars out of 5.
https://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2025...
January 25, 2024
Thought it would be funny to pick up a book named after this year. Yes, it had substance to modern day. Yes, it was funny at times. Did I enjoy it? Not much; around as much as I enjoyed 1984. A lot of words for a comic. Felt like reading a political cartoon/parody that went on for 96 pages.
February 20, 2017
Not my cup of tea. I get what the author was trying to do but I found it repetitive and boring, and I didn't enjoy the the "graphics" part of the graphic novel either. It's also hard to care about anything that's happening, or the characters, when the book is about no one caring about anything. He wrote a book about boring, repetitive, uncaring people in the future, and I was bored and didn't care.
November 16, 2014
Winston and Julia's romance plays out again, this time transported 40 years after 1984, again against the backdrop of a totalitarian regime.
August 19, 2017
Good rewrite/modernization of 1984 as a graphic novel.
May 23, 2018
DNF. This book had a really interesting concept, but it was not well-written, or well-drawn. It was all over the place.
August 3, 2024
Not really impressed. I understand what Rall was doing but didn’t find it necessary, entertaining, or any more thought-provoking than Orwell himself.
September 7, 2025
Interesting reimagining of George Orwell’s 1984. Reminds me of Pixar’s Wall-E. It doesn’t feel as prescient as the New York Times article led me to believe. But still a fun, fast read.
July 21, 2010
After reading for a while you can tell where the book is headed even if you could not tell already by the the title. That being said the economy of the writing was well done. Rall's ability to say so much with only a few sentences or frames made for a quick and powerful read. But, ultimately I did not agree with his "we are all doomed" conclusion. Even if he is right.
November 8, 2007
his version of 1884.
June 27, 2008
Actually kinda dumb. It does cling closely to the plot of 1984, on which it is based, but it is really rather insipid.
November 1, 2009
Wow. Deeply Sarcastic. Even I am awed. Yet also deeply perceptive and true... Yes, the truth is stranger and scarier than fiction.
January 17, 2013
an overlong updating of orwell's "1984" for these shopaholic times (with corporations taking the rôle of the party).
March 20, 2015
I loved the concept of this book.
But the execution was really lacking. An interesting idea, but I just couldn't get into the story, if you want to call it that. It ended up being a bit tedious.
But the execution was really lacking. An interesting idea, but I just couldn't get into the story, if you want to call it that. It ended up being a bit tedious.
September 1, 2016
An interesting capitalism twist on 1984. A goodish read, not worth it unless you've read 1984.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews