“That’s Our Word”: National Identity in Vaughan and Skroce’sWe Stand on Guard

Abstract

Brian K. Vaughan and Steve Skroce’s 2015 comic, We Stand on Guard, explores American foreign policy relating to national security, imperial military activity, and resource policy. The comic critiques early twentieth-century American oil policy, referring to the American incursion into Canada as “blood for water” while also alluding to “War Plan Red,” a plan developed in the United States in the 1920s and 1930s to invade Canada. Via the funhouse mirror of distorted, hackneyed images of Canadians, the comic criticizes the American “character,” portraying Canada as a nation of inclusion and diversity, of “ordinary” civilian love of nation and integrity, and as the target of violent American invasion and occupation.