BUNDLE: Joe Hill: The Troubadour Tramp & TRAMP music single

This bundle brings together both the digital edition of the 4-page comix Joe Hill: The Troubadour Tramp, and the withthesetwohands music single TRAMP which adapts and expands Joe Hill's 1913 song "The Tramp" in a modern industrial metal context.

Joe Hill: The Troubadour Tramp

Joe Hill. Tramp. Troubadour. Troublemaker. Martyr.

Joe Hill (born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund, Gavle, Sweden) was a Swedish American laborer, union organizer, and songwriter for the Industrial Workers of the World "Wobbies". His songwriting ability was incredibly effective in organizing and inspiring workers of the era. In 1914 & 1915 he was arrested, convicted, and executed for a crime he is widely believed to have been innocent of. In this act, he was made a martyr and entered the global consciousness.

In this 4-page comic, I tell the story of Joe Hill, whose story took him from his early days in Sweden and a series of family tragedies to emigrate to the United States; a rise to prominence as a songwriter and labour activist and a member of the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World, or "Wobblies" as they were known); ultimately being tried, convicted, and executed in the State of Utah for a crime it is widely believed he did not commit; and his enduring legacy.

This is the digital edition of this 4-page comic, which was originally appeared in print in the music comic anthology The Setlist Vol. 1 from Inservice Comics & Records in 2024.

TRAMP music single

TRAMP is the first creative output towards an upcoming yet-untitled Industrial EP that serves as a companion album to the next historical graphic novel from ganky comix, based on the On To Ottawa Trek and Regina Riot of 1935.

TRAMP takes a lyrical adaptation and expansion of 1913 labour/protest song "The Tramp" by Joe Hill (1879-1915), fused with an original marching and spitting industrial arrangement. Joe Hill was a Swedish American labour activist who was a songwriter most well known for his labour songs for the International Workers of the World (IWW).

The same hardships Joe Hill wrote about in his labour songs of the early 1900s still resonate today. This song in particular tells of the lack of dignity and empathy afforded to down-on-their-luck workers during hard times. Today we apply the same "out of sight, out of mind" logic to dealing with those who are downtrodden, as we simply seek to sweep them from our public spaces and further and further away from our consciousness.