The Great Arsenal of Democracy Uncle Sam and American Exceptionalism at the End of the American Century

In the decade following the "end of history," a number of high-profile American novelists, among them Thomas Pynchon and Toni Morrison, examined American history and highlighted the ways in which America's past haunted its present. Steve Darnall and Alex Ross's comic Uncle Sam similarly investigates America's history and its continued influences on the nation at the end of the American Century. As my article will demonstrate, the graphic narrative thus highlights the pillars upon which American exceptionalism was built. On first glance, Uncle Sam appears to be a liberally positioned text that asks America to remedy past wrongs and re-consider its (exceptionalist) role in the world, but a closer look reveals an awareness of how important conservative ideas (including traditionalist constructions of American exceptionalism) are to the imagined American community. My article discusses how Uncle Sam struggles with these seemingly opposing forces and effectively suggests that these contradictions define America.