To Inspire Antifascism, Graphic Novel Imagines a Successful Coup

Authors Alan Jenkins and Gan Golan have crafted a new graphic novel series offering a stark warning about how close the U.S. came to a fascist coup on Jan. 6, 2021.

Why you can trust us

By Sonali Kolhatkar

4 MIN READ

Feb 20, 2023

It鈥檚 been two years since the violent attack on the U.S. capitol in Washington, D.C., when thousands of supporters of then-president Donald Trump stormed the building during the certification of the electoral college to 鈥�.鈥� The insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, resulted in and came dangerously close to overturning the 2020 election. It spawned , criminal trials, congressional hearings, and, most recently, a graphic novel.

Cover image of the first of four issues of *1/6: What if the Attack on the U.S. Capitol Succeeded?*

A four-part comic book series titled imagines an alternative timeline鈥攐ne where the pro-Trump mob triumphs and imposes martial law. Amid this dark dystopia, it also visualizes how a grassroots antifascist opposition works in tandem with tenacious, honest journalism to offer an antidote to authoritarianism.

鈥淎fter the insurrection, I found myself waking up in a cold sweat at 3 a.m. for many weeks worrying about our democracy, worrying about the fact that we had already as a nation begun to move on from this cataclysmic event,鈥� says Alan Jenkins, one of the authors of the graphic novel. Jenkins is a and the co-founder of , a social-justice-oriented communication lab working to shift cultural narratives around racial justice and equity.

Jenkins says his lifelong love of comic books informed his idea to create a graphic novel 鈥渋n the tradition of speculative fiction, envisioning what could have happened if the insurrection had been successful.鈥�

A panel from the first issue of *1/6: What if the Attack on the U.S. Capitol Succeeded?*

Co-author Gan Golan is an activist, illustrator, and The New York Times bestselling author whose works include the critically acclaimed graphic novel The Adventures of Unemployed Man. Golan says he fears 鈥渉ow close we came on Jan. 6 to 鈥� entering into an alternative timeline.鈥� He adds, 鈥淒emocracy is always a very precarious proposition in history, and it requires constant vigilance to protect it.鈥�

Golan and Jenkins partnered with acclaimed illustrator 鈥攚hose portfolio includes work for Marvel and DC Comics鈥攖o visually depict the post-1/6 dystopian world in print. The first issue in their series, which was released鈥攏ot coincidentally鈥攐n Jan. 6, 2023, opens with scenes of an unnamed young Black woman scaling a building. She is reminiscent of , the real-life activist who pulled down the Confederate flag outside South Carolina鈥檚 state capitol.

Jenkins confirms that the fictional antifascist protagonists in 1/6 are indeed inspired by real-life resisters. 鈥淚f you look at 鈥� the history of pro-democracy movements around the world, it鈥檚 always activists and artists and young people who are at the forefront of restoring democracy and also envisioning a broader world, a new nation,鈥� says Jenkins.

As the series鈥� panels render the nation鈥檚 capital being overrun by military tanks amid calls to 鈥渟tamp out the Antifa menace,鈥� the scene shifts to a D.C. newsroom, where readers are introduced to Sage, a Black journalist who barely escapes with his life as his colleagues are gunned down by fatigues-clad forces. The fictional attackers claim they are acting 鈥渦nder the authority of the Fair and Balanced Media Act of 2021.鈥�

Golan argues that such a scene is not far-fetched. 鈥淲e鈥檝e already entered into the realm of the unimaginable,鈥� he says, given that Trump and his supporters鈥攎any of whom are armed鈥攈ave routinely referred to the media as the 鈥�.鈥� Insurrectionists who breached the capitol on Jan. 6 scrawled the words , and physically assaulted members of the press covering the attack.

鈥淲hen you see authoritarian regimes in other countries having seized power through coups or other violent means, and seized the apparatus of the state, control over the media becomes first and foremost,鈥� Golan explains.

While the graphic novel clearly takes a pro-democracy stance, Jenkins and Golan have crafted nuanced portraits of characters across the political spectrum. An older, MAGA-hat-wearing white man whose son is killed (under circumstances that may be revealed in later issues) finds, to his dismay, that the pro-Trump mob politicizes his child鈥檚 death in order to demonize left-leaning social movements like Black Lives Matter.

Golan says the author鈥檚 motivation was to highlight how some among the pro-Trump mob were 鈥渧ictims of a very concerted effort to 鈥� immerse them in disinformation and lies.鈥� As such, he posits that some may not have fully understood the gravity of the anti-democratic actions they participated in.

Watch the full interview with Alan Jenkins and Gan Golan about their four-part graphic novel series,

In 1/6, the authors hope to capture the challenges and complexity of countering authoritarianism. 鈥淚n future issues, we鈥檙e going to see [lead characters] disagreeing about what the struggle ought to be,鈥� says Jenkins. 鈥淛ust as we who are activists often disagree and yet find ways to move forward together.鈥�

鈥淟ike all good speculative fiction, it鈥檚 also a warning,鈥� says Jenkins of the fable he鈥檚 co-authored. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a call to action for the threats that still remain.鈥�

Sonali Kolhatkar joined 大象传媒 in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of聽大象传媒 Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent Media Institute鈥檚 Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of聽Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice聽(2023) and聽Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence聽(2005). Her forthcoming book is called聽Talking About Abolition聽(Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women鈥檚 Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master鈥檚 in Astronomy from the University of Hawai鈥檌, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on 鈥淢y Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host鈥� in her 2014聽TEDx talk聽of the same name.