Plutocracy: Chronicles of a Global Monopoly

Martínez’s bleak cautionary tale, his English-language debut, paints a future wrought by the consequences of allowing politics and wealth to govern as one. In the year 2051, excessive corporate growth reaches its zenith as the last remaining powerhouses merge into a single entity: The Company. The Company stakes itself as a one-world government, seizing power via control of employment, healthcare, and politics; shares in the company become votes counted in elections; and market forces guide legal policies. When Homero Durant quits his job as one of the Company’s detectives, he sets out to discover its real history and the hidden agenda of the government members—who seem a little too keen for him to investigate. Homero ends up discovering what makes a “socio-capitalist” society tick, while never losing his own humanity. Martínez’s script brims with tension, and his drawings combine thick inks and agitprop styling. Characters gape with exaggerated facial features, but the overall mood is muted by the sickly industrial-green color palette. This eye-opening outing will carry an unsavory sense of familiarity for many readers in this troubled time. Agent: Stephanie Barrouillet, SBRights Agency. (Oct.)