Devil Dog is the opening salvo in a new series called “pulp history,” where author Talbot and illustrator Spain Rodriguez use a myriad of techiniques to tell the story of a forgotten historical figure, in this case Smedley Darlington Butler one of the most highly decorated Marines ever.

It's a fascinating story, covering the Boxer Rebellion, wars in Nicaragua and Haiti and World War I. Butler was a gung-ho Marine, but he was also an intelligent man who questioned the reasons behind his assignments and later used his fame to assist returned veterans being shabbily treated by our government and even to foil a plot against the President.

Great story, and an interesting format. ( )

Totally compelling, if too breathless, tale of Marine General Smedley Butler, who enlisted at age 16 to fight in the Spanish-American War, led a company of Marines in the Chinese Boxer Rebellion of 1900, then served his country (or more accurately his country's business interests) in Panama, Nicaragua, Haiti, and other posts before getting himself shipped off to World War I France, where he turned a squalid disease-infested base into something livable, saving thousands of soldiers' lives in the process.

After the war, he was outspoken in his condemnation of those who had profited while the soldiers that Butler was so devoted to suffered and died. Long before Eisenhower, he recognized and made speeches about the soulless businessmen who made their fortunes from others misery and saw nothing wrong with using their country’s military might to protect their private wealth. During Franklin Roosevelt’s first administration, Butler was approached by a group of men, backed by the DuPonts, among others, who wanted him to lead a 500,000 man march on Washington that would cause FDR to effectively cede power to a cabal of businessmen, supported by others with delusions of grandeur, such as General Douglas MacArthur. Butler met with several of the group, gathered evidence, then testified before a Congressional committee about the plot. The Committee accepted the veracity of Butler’s testimony, but the affair was played down and its intended beneficiaries, such as MacArthur, spared the justice they deserved.

The parallels to the present day, when we have a similar cabal of businessmen leading a crusade against an imagined socialism, with Sarah Palin running interference for them, is chilling. But, no offense intended, instead of a Smedley Butler leading the charge to save America, we have the host of a satiric late night comedy program. Despite all our supposed strides since the days of the Great Depression, one wonders if those Americans weren’t a lot smarter than the stupid, apathetic masses that make up our country today.

Postscript: I was really angry when i wrote this for some reason. I admit that it isn't fair to call Sarah Palin Mussolini-in-a-skirt (what currently reads "running interference for them" in the paragraph above originally said "as their Mussolini-in-a-skirt"). All you have to do is look at a picture of Mussolini not to trust the guy. He has that smug, superior, know-it-all look on his face. At the same time, he comes across as some sort of comic opera buffoon, unlike Hitler, who looks too scary (it's the eyes) to dismiss lightly. Palin, on the other hand, is deceivingly run-of-the-mill until she opens her mouth and nonsense starts pouring out. Unlike Mussolini, I doubt that she'll even be able to make the trains run on time. ( )