From Charles H. Kerr Publishing —
Illustrious forerunner of the "underground" comics that began to appear in the 1960's, Ernest Riebe's Mr. Block was published in 1913 to advance the aims of the Industrial Workers of the World. To the best of knowledge it was the first comic book intended as explicitly revolutionary propaganda.
Little is known about cartoonist Riebe. He was born in Germany, emigrated to the U.S., joined the IWW, and seems to have lived mostly in or around Minneapolis, and perhaps later in Chicago.
For a least a decade he devoted his life to the IWW. There is no evidence, that he ever held office in the union, or that he attended its conventions, or that he held job delegate's credentials. Ernest Riebe served the cause of the One Big Union above all as cartoonist, and most especially as the author/artist of Mr. Block. A note titled "Our Cartoonist" in the Industrial Worker adds that he received no compensation for his services as cartoonist. "Every rebel should do his share for the emancipation of his class," Fellow Worker Riebe was quoted as saying. "I shall do mine."
Mr. Block represents the fool, the deceived, the believer. A person who time and time again "falls for all the games of their many masters who exploit them to the limit."
He is ignorant, gullible, spineless, patriotic, superstitious, religious, xenophobic, racist and jingoistic. Unlike her hopeless husband, Mrs. Block, although she appears only in a few strips, shows unmistakable signs of working-class consciousness, and is notably impatient with her mate's endless capacity for getting hoodwinked as a result of his inane faith in the goodness of "free enterprise". Her generally sympathetic portrayal reflects the IWW's principle of equality of the sexes and its emphasis on organizing women, points raised as early as the union's founding convention (by Lucy Parsons and others) and frequently reiterated in its agitational literature.
The cartoon even inspired another fellow worker to write a song that went by the same name — "Mr. Block" by Joe Hill. First published in the fifth edition (March 6th 1913) of the IWW Little Red Songbook:
Please give me your attention, I'll introduce to you, A man that is a credit to "Our Red White and Blue," His head is made of lumber, and solid as a rock; He is a common worker and his name is Mr. Block. And Block he thinks he may Be President some day. CHORUS: Oh Mr. Block, you were born by mistake, You take the cake, you make me ache. Tie a rock on your block and then jump in the lake, Kindly do that for Liberty's sake. Yes, Mr. Block is lucky; he found a job, by gee! The sharks got seven dollars, for job and fare and fee. They shipped him to a desert and dumped him with his truck, But when he tried to find his job, he sure was out of luck, He shouted, "That's too raw, I'll fix them with the law." Block hiked back to the city, but wasn't doing well. He said "I'll join the union -- the great A. F. of L." He got a job next morning, got fired in the night, He said, "I'll see Sam Gompers and he'll fix that foreman right." Sam Gompers said, "You see, You've got our sympathy." Election day he shouted, "A Socialist for Mayor!" The "comrade" got elected, he happy was for fair, But after the election he got an awful shock, A great big socialistic Bull did rap him on the block. And Comrade Block did sob, "I helped him to his job." The money kings in Cuba blew up the gunboat Maine, But Block got awful angry and blamed it all on Spain. He went right in the battle and there he lost his leg. And now he's peddling shoestrings and is walking on a peg. He shouts, "Remember Maine, Hurrah! To hell with Spain!" Poor Block he died one evening, I'm very glad to state, He climbed the golden ladder up to the pearly gate. He said, "Oh Mister Peter, one word I'd like to tell, I'd like to meet the Astorbilts and John D Rockefell." Old Pete said, "Is that so? You'll meet them down below."
