In these chaotic times, people seem to be seeking entertainment and edification. Thus it is that We Stand on Guard by Brian K. Vaughan and Steve Skroce has had renewed sales as tensions rise between the United States and Canada. 

The book was originally serialized in 2015 and collected 2017 and the storyline is pretty blunt….and intriguing. 

Set 100 years in our future, WE STAND ON GUARD follows a heroic band of Canadian civilians turned freedom fighters who must defend their homeland from invasion by a technologically superior opponent…the United States of America.

Vaughan is American and Skroce Canadian, so they had both sides of the conflict covered. BKV was interviewed about the series right here at The Beat back in 2016. While noting that his wife is Canadian (and he didn’t want to pick sides) the series was meant to make a statement:

Vaughan: Niko Henrichon and I had already done an allegory about noncombatant victims of war with Pride of Baghdad, but now I wanted to write about actual violent resistance against a country I love, in a way that would hopefully be relatable to anyone, regardless of nationality. Steve and I never wanted this to be boring “commentary,” but underneath the pulp and giant robot guts, it’s definitely political.  

With current US president Donald Trump repeatedly expressing his desire for Canada to be the 51st State, and a trade war over tariffs between the countries looming, obviously a book about Canadians fighting a guerilla war against the US seems a little closer to reality on the doomsday clock. Although since it’s set in the future there are giant war robots, and we don’t have giant war robots quite yet, alas.  

The the book seems to have struck a nerve. In the US it’s currently #23,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

But in Canada it’s an even bigger seller, ranking #702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Sadly, I couldn’t find a comparable category of “dystopian graphic novels” for the US Amazon, but checking out the graphic novels bestseller list, Manu Larcenet’s stunning Eisner Award winning adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road is #3 in the GN bestseller list and #1,966 in Books, which is pretty good. 

Last week Publishers Weekly reported that dystopian novels in general are selling well all of a sudden: 

In the week of the inauguration of President Donald Trump, sales of the trade paperback edition of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, published by Simon & Schuster, hit #8 on our bestseller list after selling roughly 24,600 copies. The 148% increase over the week prior followed a 59% increase over the week ended January 11, as historic wildfires continued to tear through the city of Los Angeles

Sales also spiked for the 75th anniversary editions of 1984 and Animal Farm, both written by George Orwell. Sales of 1984 jumped 192%, to about 19,500 copies sold, putting it 10th place on the bestseller list, while Animal Farm sales rose 136%, to over 17,000 copies sold.

A quick check at Amazon showed that 1984, A Handmaid’s Tale, Animal Farm and Fahrenheit 451 are all among the top 20 literary fiction bestsellers, so yeah, bring on the dark.

At any rate, We Stand on Guard is a heck of a yarn, and shows that BKV knows how to tap into the zeitgeist…sometimes it just takes a little time. 

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