Fracking by Daryl Cunninghan (Beta Version)

Writer and Artist: Daryl Cunningham

Self Published Online (Self – Described Beta Version)

So I read scary comics all the time about the end of the world with either zombies or mutants, interstellar wars where the Earth is kind of the bad guy (here and here) and the sex life of Chester Brown. Its all pretty terrifying and horrible. Yet I am strong and will continue to review comic books. But I can safely say that the scariest comic I’ve reviewed for Comics Forge is this beta version of an online — takes up 30 pages or more if you print it out — comic called “Fracking or Hydraulic Fracturing” by Daryl Cunningham.

If you’re not aware of this, and I barely am, “Fracking” is the next big economic thing to happen in the United States. What should be the next big thing is infrastructure investment to the tune of about $2 trillion dollars or even massive bank loans to small and mid size businesses. Republicans stopped the former because that would have helped the president and the banks stopped the latter because they own both parties.

The downside of Fracking, which this cartoon illustrates all so well, is that it leaves behind all kinds of waste which might be fine if you trust either the EPA, even under a Democrat, or the drillers. If you trust either of those entities, then you simply haven’t been watching current events. Here’s how the cartoonist, who is a British person so I presume that this will actually be a honest look at this, describes it.

What I found is that people from the oil industry, the same people that brought you climate change and the Gulf spill and just all manner of death and disaster, want to drill over 50000 wells in Pennsylvania alone. Alone. Here’s Daryl’s description of just how dangerous these chemicals are.

Like I said, scary. How about more scary?

Scared yet? Just to review, if the Republicans win the presidency or retain control of any of the other two branches, then this kind of thing continues. If the Democrats win there’s no indication, so far, that they’ll increase regulations to make sure that fracking doesn’t just destroy my water supply here in Pennsylvania but I’m trying to see how this wouldn’t destroy farming. Benzene has to go somewhere. Like I said terrifying. I give it 4.7 out of 5 stars. By the way, if you live in on the West Coast you’re fine according to this map.

If you live in Pennsylvania, New York, or the Virginias, well it’s probably not a matter of if you get cancer, or just instantaneous death according to the descriptions of these horrible chemicals, but when you will get the cancer or the instantaneous death. Scary and not in a far away science fictional way but right now. Fracking: Worst kind of capitalism ever.

Related: Here’s the short online sequel to “Gasland“, famous for some guy lighting his tap water on fire. (Mmmm tasty methane….) This short sequel to Gasland features my Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett, who is completely in the pocket of the frackers, or on the tit so to speak.

More related: That was actually a propaganda film put out by the fracking industry. My mistake. The sequel to Gasland is called “The Sky is Pink” and is now above. However, in the interest of fairness, here is the industry’s perspective. Keep in mind that polluters often buy friendly academics. They come real cheap these days….