Free Inside

Content notes for nudity, guns, violence, police, torture, needles, death and lack of healthcare.

Content warning for the fact that this is not actually a comic book. But it's close enough that I felt like including it.

What kinds of keywords came to mind reading this volume? Prison, reformation, birds, nature, censorship, and life sentence.

The summary for this volume is "'Free Inside' is a portfolio [of] art and writing by the late Canadian activist and prisoner Peter Collins, who spent 32 years behind bars for killing a police officer during a botched robbery. Collins was the kind of man you'd expect to find in prison - and he still didn't belong there. Among his cartoons, paintings and articles are heartfelt words from friends, comrades and those who knew him best. 'Free Inside' is a condemnation of the Canadian prison system and an invaluable perspective on notions of justice, "rehabilitation", political activism, and hope. It is an imperfect record of the life and work of a courageous, compassionate man who deserved better from the world."

So digging into the craft of this volume, as I already mentioned this is not a comic book per say but a book of art, some of which is political cartoons. A very precise art form that packs a punch in potent but minimal wording or artwork. Something Collins appears to have been extremely talented at. I was also impressed by the breadth of issues covered, including but not limited to stolen land, policing protest, national politics, prison injustice, Palestinian liberation, oil extraction, sex worker solidarity and disability justice.

On the opposite end of the stylistic spectrum we had Collins' incredible Jailbird Series depicting birds juxtapositioned with the prison itself. In contrast to the overtly political cartoons, fueled by righteous indignation, these pictures of birds are tender and vulnerable. Fueled by his love of nature, and real life experience taking care of injured or orphaned birds. These paintings powerfully reflected back the hope that such creatures can bring to captive humans.

A thread that wove throughout was the pressure that Collins felt as a prisoner who was actively engaged with the political struggle against prisons. Not only did this impact his sentence in many ways, he was continuously being told to censor himself so as not to hold the powerful to account.

A different sort of beast then most of my reviews, Collins still managed to address most of the identities and intersections that I try to highlight in my reviews. Namely, class, race, disability, and more! I feel like sexuality got less coverage then most and gender was perhaps the least examined in total? There's a lot here though so that's hardly a critique.

Wrapping things up, I will read from the short bio on his online gallery "Peter Collins was a lifer at Bath Penitentiary. He lost his battle with cancer after 32 years inside the prison. He was a tireless advocate for reform, both inside and outside the prison environment, and fought injustice where ever he found it, through his artwork and writings." You can see more of his work at lockdown galleries dot com.

And five stars, because I found it really interesting, I felt like I learned a lot and took away a bit of inspiration too as far as Collins' artistic practice is concerned.