The horror of what man can do to fellow man has intrigued and appalled artists for centuries, from Duerer to Hogarth, and probably reaching a kind of nadir with Goya's “;Disasters of War,”; a themed exhibit of etchings that were considered so disturbing that they were not published until decades after the artist's death. Modern artists like Picasso also dealt with the effects of war as it crushed civilians and wounded entire nations.

But these were singular works. The invention of the mass-media printing press allowed artists to cartoon their outrage, and anti-war sketches became a staple in newspapers and journals for the last couple of centuries—nearly as much as pro-war cartoons.

Both are a type of propaganda, although pro-war cartoons invariably reflect the will of the state, and anti-war cartoons the personal feelings of the artist.

Craig Yoe has gathered together a representative sampling in ”;The Great Anti-War Cartoons”; (Fantagraphics Books, $24.99). It's all in black and white—are there gray areas when one opposes the concept of war?—and the reproduction is stunning in its detail. One really appreciates what master draftsmen these artists were. Goya is in there, naturally, but so are folks noted.

In cartoons, though, the idea is what counts. That's what makes the pen mightier than the sword, or so cartoonists like to think. What is most interesting about this collection is the universality of the themes over the years, the staying power of effective imagery. It's actually kind of depressing—the book makes it clear that no one ever learns. There's no progress.

Yoe trolled the Internet for suggestions about what to include, and his readers tended to skew toward the early part of the 20th century, when the “;War to End All Wars”; horrified nations. “;Modern”; cartoons include works by Ron Cobb and Robert Crumb, who aren't exactly spring chickens.

The book is arranged by themes, which means things have a certain sameness across the pages, and the themes chosen aren't terribly clever, such as a whole section showing broken world globes. On the other hand, it's interesting to see that Bill Maulden and Ron Cobb drew essentially identical cartoons independent of one other.

Some of the artists are familiar, although not for political cartooning, like Winsor McKay and Sir John Tenniel, and others purely as gag cartoonists, like Syd Hoff, plus a smattering of foreign cartoonists, thanks to the reach of the Internet as Yoe polled potential readers.

The subject of the book is strictly anti-war, which visually translates mostly into anti-bomb, and the themes of fascism, communism and other “;-isms”; that incite warlike behavior, including religious zealotry, are beyond the scope of this work. Too bad; it would have been richer. Yoe has provided little context for his seemingly endless procession of repetitive visual metaphors. The point is made on the first page and then hammered home again 200 times. OK, I get it. War's a bummer.

The book is also weaker for not including more recent cartoons. Many cartoonists have been killed or persecuted because of their drawings, and the number seems to be on the rise.

On the other hand, railing against injustice and hypocrisy is the daily bread of cartoonists. Just check your local newspaper for the latest—unless the paper laid off its editorial cartoonist.

As the Dalai Lama has said, “;War seems to be part of the history of humanity,”; but “;today we are so interdependent that the concept of war has become outdated.”;

Unless there are corporations that can profit by it.