Everyman Vol 1: Be The People

Written by Dan & Steven Goldman
Art by Joe Bucco

I'm finally getting around to reading the rest of my TCAF purchases from the spring, and I regret having left this for so long. I picked this up from Dan Goldman because I had enjoyed The Shooting War, and wanted to read some of his other work.

Everyman is a very political graphic novel. President Birch, a thinly-disguised stand-in for George W. Bush, is scheming to steal the upcoming election through the use of modified electronic voter machines. He is discovered by his 'affirmative action political aide', who leaks the information to Onelove.us, a website being run by a popular author and political think-tank lobbyist, with the aim of returning some semblance of sanity to American politics.

The Onelove crew set out to publicize Birch's plans, mostly through carefully arranging to steal network television ad time, and by hijacking the inauguration ceremony. Parts of this book were reminiscent of Jonathan Hickman's 'The Nightly News', yet with a more non-violent stance.

Most interesting would be the way in which this book seems to have foreshadowed Obama's ability to use the Internet to generate popular support in the last election. Thomas Womack, the author in the book, bears a great resemblance to Obama. It's worth noting that this book was published in 2004.

This is well worth tracking down if you enjoy intelligent political thrillers.