Letter 44 #3 – Review

By: Charles Soule (story), Alberto Jiménez Alburquerque (art), Guy Major (colors)

The Story: The presidency’s falling apart, aliens are invading, and worst of all, people are not getting enough sex.

The Review: If you were amused by the parallels between the outgoing Carroll administration in #1 and the most recent Bush administration, you’ll be tickled pink by the similarities Stephen Blades shares with Barack Obama as to the early days of their presidencies: “Bailing out the banks and giving loans to the auto companies,” when he actually intended “to have Guantanamo closed by now, and have a real plan to be out of at least one of the wars.”

Fun, though the purpose of all this isn’t quite clear.  Maybe Soule, unable to make up more credible presidential acts, just decided to poach from reality.  Maybe he wanted to make an indirect comment about Obama’s legacy, that the perception of him as a ditherer was caused by events and forces beyond his control and the public’s knowledge.  Either way, Soule is setting Stephen on the same trajectory towards disappointment that his real-world counterpart suffered.  The question is whether that course can be averted in fiction any more easily than in fact.