In Ben Passmore’s one-shot comic Sports is Hell, a Super Bowl celebration becomes a pretext for a riot in this biting satire. Follow Ash as she and a ragtag group seek safety from the ensuing chaos and violence.
Sports is Hell
Ben Passmore (Writer and Artist)
First Published by Koyama Press, February 2020
First Sliver Sprocket Publishing, November 2021
Sports teams are often an excuse for extreme tribalism. “When the Birds win, I win,” as a bystander says near the beginning of Ben Passmore’s political satire Sports is Hell. Trust me, I live in New England, a.k.a. Patriots country, where the devotion is it’s own special brand of nuttiness. There are countless examples of post-win celebrations resulting in violence, and this is the inciting point of the comic.
Our protagonist is Ash, a young punk Black woman living in a city hosting the Super Bowl. Her anarchist friend Kweku believes a riot will help a Black revolutionary movement in the United States, citing the history of the Watts riots and the Ferguson Protests. The pair plan to go out and participate, staying together.
While the story dives right in, I liked that Passmore developed Ash and Kweku’s friendship. They argue over politics and the Super Bowl, and the possibility that Kweku is romantically interested in Ash. Their early conversation establishes their personalities well, Kweku’s nonchalant attitude and Ash’s low tolerance for stupidity.
The game is more charged than usual due to the politics of one of the Birds’ players, Marshall Quandary Collins. (Quandary is defined as “a state of perplexity or uncertainty over what to do in a difficult situation.” Highly fitting.) He is a stand-in for Colin Kaepernick in this what-if, sharing much of his real-life background.
I thought it sad in some way that Collins is able to do what Kaepernick is not, play in another Super Bowl. Passmore declines to comment on whether his creation’s career will follow the same path as Kaepernick’s. Collins keeps his helmet on in every appearance, making him seem more anonymous and ordinary despite his importance.
Ash and Kweku are separated when the police arrive to disperse the crowds on horseback. She ends up seeking safety with Tyson, a serious-minded, self-proclaimed revolutionary who believes Collins is the solution to the violence in the city. There’s also Molly and Jordan, a pair of clueless white liberals, who believe Dr. Martin Luther King jr. made his “I have a dream” speech on the grassy knoll.
People across the political spectrum are represented by football teams during the riots. Neo-Nazi’s cheer for their own team, aptly named the Nords. A pair of commentators go from talking about the game to discussing the violence between the factions in the same tone without skipping a beat. There are nihilists and communists out in the streets, and sex workers fight TERFs off panel.
The art is linework with a soft orange highlight. Passmore’s character designs are great. Little details say much about the characters and the universe they inhabit. Ash has a tattoo in the outline of Africa on her arm. I didn’t notice it on my first read through, but look for a jersey with the name “Turner” on it during the climax.
Because of Passmore’s exaggerated realism, the violence, sudden and serious, is a gut punch. Yes, this world is a tad out there. However, it is grounded enough. When the characters are in danger, you feel it. The issues are real, even if how they are presented isn’t exactly. I quickly read through Sports is Hell wanting to see Ash safe.
I’ve greatly enjoyed Passmore’s political cartoon work at The Nib, and I plan to check out his other long form work in the future. Sports is Hell is back in print with Silver Sprocket after the shuttering of original publisher Koyama Press. The comic has already earned deserved praise, winning the 2021 Eisner Award for Best Single Issue, and was also listed as one of the 100 best comics of the decade by The Beat.
The comic surprised me. I had been expecting something with the title of Sports is Hell to talk about the racist problems of the NFL, or perhaps the exploitation of players’ bodies in regards to CTE. But that is not the point. This is not a story about sports, it’s about everything that is happening around the Super Bowl. The game is only the eye of the hurricane in Sports is Hell.
Without spoiling the ending, a moment from the beginning becomes a connected thread. Thus, new meanings are given to past interactions. Passmore respects his readers’ intelligence, never spoonfeeding them the answers. Like any political media, your own viewpoints determine what you take away. But I do think there is an indictment against those who make the easier, but wrong, choices in the face of fascism. Especially if you are privileged to not be an immediate target for hate groups. I’m talking to you, my fellow white people.
Some may see the events of Sports is Hell as too on the nose, but considering that anything can happen these days, the comic is an engaging read. I finished it in one eager sitting. It is a possible, if however uncomfortable and fantastic, what if.
