Is this the future? [Plutocracy by Abraham Martinez]

2051. The world's largest company, The Company, has seized power on a planetary scale and runs the world as if it were a business. In a plutocracy, the richer one is, the more powerful one is. In this context, an anonymous citizen becomes compelled to uncover how the world came to this situation, without paying any attention to the official version. Several members of the government end up encouraging him to carry out this investigation by giving him access to all information. He decides to discover the true history of The Company and the various interests that are trying to influence his investigation.

Originally published in Spanish in 2017, Abraham Martinez's graphic novel Plutocracy: Chronicles of Global Monopoly is an imagined look at an idealized, fully capitalist world government and the illusion of control. Shadowy control is mimicked in illustrated faces in shadows, the unknown evoked in dark scenes. The general revolting tone of the story, of the reality put forth, comes through with a thematic vomit yellow-green. As if to say, there's something wrong here.

As far as the story goes, it's not an especially tense one. Stakes are non-existent because opposition is non-existent. But without that conflict only loose ethical questions remain. Unfortunately that wasn't enough to really get me invested. With less than 150 pages of story and panels, Plutocracy is a quick read. But having read it I'm not finding the story particularly impactful. 3 stars from me.  

This English edition of Abraham Martinez's Plutocracy is set for publication October 27, 2020.