In the year 2036, the food stamp program is replaced by privately-owned taco drones. You have to pay extra at the hospital for an ad-free experience. Corporations can run for public office because of a constitutional amendment that declares them to be people. And, a 19-year-old girl who works in a fast food restaurant was elected President of the United States in the country’s first Twitter election.
At least, that’s 2036, according to DC Comics’ latest comic “Prez,” which has its third issue hitting stands on Wednesday. Written by Mark Russell (“God Is Disappointed In You”) with art by Ben Caldwell (“Convergence: Infinity Inc.), “Prez” is a political satire that lampoons social media, celebrity candidates, the right wing and many other aspects of the political process.
“It’s been very amusing,” Mark Russell recently said about the parallels between his comic and the current election. “I wrote it as science fiction, but it’s odd how prophetic it has become about the 2016 race.”
“Prez” is about Beth Ross, a viral sensation whose presidential candidacy begins as a joke perpetrated by an online hacking group. Initially, no one takes her seriously, but in a runoff vote, she accidentally becomes America’s first teen president.
While there are similarities between “Prez” and what’s going in the real election, they are coincidental because Russell writes the scripts for the comic months in advance. Russell says that the political satire in “Prez” is inspired by thing he reads and trends he notices. For example, the Corporate Personhood amendment was inspired by the recent Citizens United case. However, Russell is more interested in the book’s science fiction aspects.
“I very much wanted this to be first and foremost science fiction,” Russell said. “I think I have planned far enough in advance that I’m not entirely influenced by what’s going on in the news.”
