CREDIT: DC Comics
Rating: 4.5/5 – Q: What if Mainstream DC Published an Indie Comic?
by Comic Spectrum EiC Bob Bretall.
A: I think it would look a lot like Prez #1!
Prez didn’t feel at all like a DCU comic to me, and that, in my opinion, is a very good thing. Writer Mark Russell “brought the different” to this vision of an America that has gone down the path we’re currently on to a somewhat ridiculous extreme (I certainly hope we don’t get there). This is comedy rooted in today’s reality taken to some logical, if somewhat dishearteningly ridiculous, extremes. Voting happens over Twitter. There is a bill to feed the poor via ‘Taco Drones’. Presidential candidates go on humiliating podcasts to pander for votes (well, this is probably going to happen…Obama was on a podcast out of some guy’s garage just last week so the seeds have been sown). And trending YouTube sensations can be run for office without them even declaring their candidacy!
Ben Caldwell and Mark Morales do a great job on the art. Lots of little jokes and details populate the backgrounds of panels and the faces of the characters are wonderfully emotive. Their style captures the humor of the book perfectly, tonally a lot like Rob Guillory on Chew. This is a great team and I’m looking forward to seeing them run with this concept in its own little pocket universe kept safely away from the mainstream DCU. The last thing I need to see is a guest appearance by a super-hero, that would ruin this book for me.
Prez #1 is a breath of fresh air for me in the DC line-up. This is a blessing and it could turn out to be a curse since DC’s past forays into non-super-hero books have generally not sold very well. Here’s hoping the fans lured in by the #DCYou campaign will be more amenable to something that’s not the standard super-hero fare. Since it is a 12 issue limited seres (even though there’s no indication of that on the cover) it should be able to tell its complete story arc, which is a good thing. I hope it sells well enough that it will cause DC to do more “non mainstream” projects like this in future.
Reviewed by: Bob Bretall
(bob@comicspectrum.com)
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