Yes, and...? [Accidental Czar by Andrew S. Weiss]

This riveting graphic novel biography chronicles Vladimir Putin's rise from a mid-level KGB officer to the autocratic leader of Russia and reveals the truth behind the strongman persona he has spent his career cultivating.

In the West’s collective imagination, Vladimir Putin is a devious cartoon villain, constantly plotting and scheming to destroy his enemies around the globe. But how did an undistinguished mid-level KGB officer become one of the most powerful leaders in Russian history? And how much of Putin’s tough-guy persona is a calculated performance?

In Accidental Czar, Andrew S. Weiss, a former White House Russia expert, and Brian “Box” Brown show how Putin has successfully cast himself as a cunning, larger-than-life political mastermind—and how the rest of the world has played into the Kremlin’s hands by treating him as one. They shatter all of these myths and expose the man behind the façade.

Recently, someone referenced the ongoing war in Ukraine and mentioned "five months ago." We're going on half a year actually. I remember the weeks leading up to the invasion, news outlets covered speculative reports on what might happen. Street interviews with both Ukrainians and Russians revealed a skepticism held by many. As events and their coverage unfolded over Twitter and YouTube, it became an hour by hour, minute by minute information feed. I'd estimate I was glued to my Twitter feed for two weeks straight. As it became clear Ukraine was not going to fall in days, as Ukrainians resisted, fought back, and returned after having fled, the longer term having become the default, the news cycle rebalanced to more equitable coverage. So while I'm not spending all day watching war coverage anymore, I'm not removed from the events, economic and military developments, and its ongoing consequences. And so I'm still quite interested in learning about the history of Russo-Ukrainian relations and I suppose European history at large. Understandably, I was quite interested for this read.

The spread of misinformation, mal-information, and disinformation, a major takeaway has been global media and communication critique. Narrated, as it were, by the author, Andrew S. Weiss, Accidental Czar has an obvious pro-U.S. slant. That's to say, it weird to see Russia presented in contrast to the United States and the latter upheld as a supposed bastion of free democracy and free-moving societies. Nowhere in the world can either be found. In the same vein, to then reference Russian imperialism without examining American imperialism? It rang a bit hollow. And it's not an unexpected slant, Weiss is a career policy expert, having advised no fewer than two U.S. presidents. It'd be weird for the slant to be anything other than what it is. But narrative bias wasn't even my biggest issue.

Illustrated by Brian Brown, Accidental Czar reads as a graphic novel, and so the artwork was the first impact as you read. Some of the editorial decisions in that sense were questionable. Why is Trump hardly pictured? Why, when depicting the war in Ukraine, and even the buildup to it, were Angela Merkel and especially President Obama so heavily represented? Where are the caricatures of President Biden? Trump? I suppose because the story plays between a representation of building events and present, and one could argue that depiction of past influencing present is thereby represented, but, respectfully, using Merkel and Obama to represent the "unity of the west" doesn't represent the current political reality as related to ongoing events. More to the point, with respect to the war in Ukraine and the wording, there's a lot of past tense, as if things are decided, as if they've ended. Though I suppose because of that lack of resolution the language could be seen as tentative, a would be future tense. 

It might be argued that framing Putin as the grand machinator of the war absolved many of culpability, but as a character study Accidental Czar is really elucidating. Because referencing Russian imperialism can't be avoided, in that sense it is also very educational. And the decision to make this a graphic novel is an interesting one. On the one hand, images convey story quickly. That makes it easy to subtly portray depicted personages as conniving, noble, anxious, peaceable - which adds another dimension of narrative analysis. Because who is the intended audience here? What is the purpose of the book? The length of the book doesn't allow for as much detail as a biography would usually provided. Are we just looking at Putin and his rise to power in the context of Ukraine and no other conflicts, despite brief mention? 

I suppose the most acutely interested reader would be someone looking for more information because of the narrative surrounding the war. I am no exception. But it's not like the coverage of the war in the book was so extensive or multi-faceted. The main portrayal is of a head of state who started a war because of a combination of wanting to stay in power and an affinity for a forgone past. Is it that simple? Here is how Putin rose to power, here's how paranoid he's been in office, then who knows what's going to happen is a weird sequence to follow.

I enjoyed Accidental Czar as a graphic novel read, but as a biography it felt skimp. The ongoing nature of the war in Ukraine meant a lot had to be left unwritten. So the lead up to ambiguity, though logical, added to the lacking feeling of what came before. A lot of information was provided, but without clear narrative focus the book read somewhat ambiguous. It wasn't a strict biography and it was presented with a strong enough focus on recent events to argue that's what it was meant to be. But I did learn, so 4 stars from me.

Accidental Czar (ISBN) is due for publication November 2022.