Prez: Corndog in Chief

Prez, Vol. 1: Corndog-in-Chief by Mark Russell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

With a cat flu ravaging the country and big business in charge of everything, a teenager is elected president via Twitter. Can President Beth Ross change the world?

Mark Russell is one of my recent favorites so I had to pick this up. For a book published in 2015, I didn't expect it to be so timely, although I guess political corruption and ineptitude never goes out of style.

The year is 2036. The age limit has been lifted from the presidency and election is done via Twitter. Beth Ross accidentally set her hair on fire making corndogs and became president when the video went viral. When the ultimate Washington outsider goes up against the establishment, will she meet her match?

Mark Russell turns his darkly humorous gaze on politics and big business in Prez. As always, he managed to depress the hell out of me while making me laugh my ass off. As I said earlier, this is a very timely piece, what with the United States in the grips of a pandemic and politicians and big business reaping the rewards.

I was highly entertained but felt soiled while reading it. I'd like to say the greed displayed by the antagonists was unrealistic but it was all too believable. A pharmaceutical company wanting 9 billion dollars for research into a vaccine for a deadly disease and also wanting to make massive profits on the vaccine? Never happen... The art by Ben Caldwell, Dominike Stanton, Mark Morales, Seaon Parsons, and John Lucas did a lot to lighten the tone and make me want to eat a gun a little less.

Prez is an all too realistic portrayal of American politics and greed. Five out of five stars.

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