Brian Doherty on Battling Boy and the Libertarian Stain

The most recent graphic novel from the much-lauded cartoonist Paul Pope is Battling Boy (First Second), a modern take on a youthful hero sent from an Asgard-like land of gods to protect a city from ghouls and monsters. The Comics Journal, a leading organ of comics criticism, likes the book. But, points out Reason senior editor Brian Doherty, because Pope has produced explicitly libertarian-themed comics in the past, reviewer Charles Hatfield cautions that "Pope's libertarian streak reveals itself, again."