Saucer Country #8 – Review

By: Paul Cornell (story), Ryan Kelly (art), Giula Brusco (colors)

The Story: Even without the aliens, this is a very strange election we have going on.

The Review: I’ve often spoken about the dangers of using politics in comics.  If this election has taught us nothing else, that world is a complicated place, not always driven by what’s right or rational.  Even if you take your own personal philosophy out of the equation, the issues themselves have so many factors going into them that they can’t be easily discussed.  Comic book writers (e.g. Gray-Palmiotti) have no special virtue in this regard that I can discern.

In choosing a story that centers on a political candidate, Cornell has no choice but to wade neck-deep in that environment and hope his ambition doesn’t sink him.  I will say that an advantage he has (contra Gray-Palmiotti) is he actually has a nuanced perspective on the hot-button topics, as you can see in the opening mock debate.  Here, he plays both sides of the immigration issue with surprising accuracy.  Arcadia advocates for “—amnesty for all those immigrants in honest employment, already contributing to our society, but without the right to—”

Chloe (acting for the opposition): “So you’re giving a reward to those aliens [Oh, Chloe—you went there.] who snuck across the border?”