Acclaimed artist Umar Rashid (also known as Frohawk Two Feathers) presents the third installment in his ambitious twelve-part narrative series, The Epoch of Totalitarianism. This new chapter, titled The Civil Wars and the Uncivilized Wars (See Power), continues Rashid’s ongoing reimagining of global history through the lens of his richly constructed fictional universe, the Frenglish Empire.
In this latest installment, Rashid turns his focus to the early stages of the Napoleonic Wars, refracted through his signature blend of historical fiction, hip-hop lyricism, and pop-cultural commentary. Set across Genova, Cape Town (reimagined as Francisabad del Sud), Goa, Hong Kong, and Trafalgar (Cádiz, Spain), the work follows the exploits of the formidable Admiral Lord Honoré Nelson—a decorated naval commander in service of the Revolutionary Council.
While Nelson’s reputation as a master tactician precedes him, his true role straddles a moral divide: both liberator and pirate. His naval fleet, representing the commercial interests of the Frenglish East and West India Companies, enforces power through ruthless precision—devastating all who resist. Rashid explores this duality, probing the contradictions between revolutionary ideals and imperial ambition, between freedom and domination.
As the so-called “civilized wars” of Europe devolve into “uncivilized wars” across the rest of the world, a new technological force emerges: the Mysorean Rocket. Developed in South Asia and later replicated in Europe by Colonel “Burna Bill” Congreve, this weapon becomes a metaphor for the accelerating spread of violence, innovation, and empire.
Through intricate drawings, narrative paintings, infused with wit, rhythm, and historical remix, Rashid reveals how lofty ideals of liberty and equality decay into conquest and control. His world burns with a crimson glare—a vivid allegory for the cycles of power that define both past and present.
With The Civil Wars and the Uncivilized Wars (See Power), Umar Rashid continues to expand his complex mythology of resistance and empire, weaving together the global and the personal, the factual and the fantastical, in his uniquely compelling visual storytelling.