Great Pacific #2

Written by Joe Harris
Art by Martin Morazzo

Corporate malfeasance, environmental degradation, indigenous rights, and father issues are all colliding rather nicely in Great Pacific, a new mini-series from Image Comics.

Chas Worthington, son of the founder of Worthington Energy, has faked his own death after stealing millions of dollars, and has now laid claim to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a collection of plastic garbage from around the world, loosely held together by centrifugal forces.  He's named his new land New Texas, and has already sent out feelers for recognition among the international community.

Much of this issue is taken up with the mechanics of starting a new country, which of course necessitates surveying it.  While Chas does this, he discovers some indigenous people, who perhaps have come from another island.  They give chase, but that kind of things doesn't go well on land that is really only two feet of floating plastic.

There are also squids, and government-corporate dealings back home.

I enjoy the way that Joe Harris has worked an environmental message into his story, which is just as much about corporate greed as it is about conservation.  I'm curious to see where the story goes, and wonder just what Yalafath, a name spoken by the Natives and by the seamen Worthington hired to take him to New Texas, is.  I'm hoping it's not the squid.

If you're looking for an intelligent thriller with a bit of a message to it, this is a good book to check out.

Great Pacific #1

Written by Joe Harris
Art by Martín Morazzo

Image Comics does it again, with a strong debut for new series Great Pacific.  This comic stars Chas Worthington, the scion of a gigantic American energy company.  In the period after his father's death, young Chas has little interest in running the company as either his father or his grandfather before him did.  Instead, Chas wants to make his mark on the world, and has devoted his attention to fixing the issue of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Chas is shown as the typical American trustifarian.  He's jetting and helicoptering around the world, helping some Maasai irrigate their village, juggling multiple girlfriends, and trying to convince his company of the soundness of his process to break down hydrocarbons into water, in an attempt to help clean up oil spills.  Chas is clearly a bit of a flake, but with his heart in the right place.

We learn quickly that the board of directors at Worthington Enterprises have no love for him, to the extent that when he gets attacked in his home and subsequently disappears, it's not easy to believe that the company was involved.  What we, the reader, learns though is that Chas has some very big plans for the floating mass of garbage the size of Texas in the middle of the Pacific.

I am pleased to see that this issue is being given increased prominence in various forms of entertainment (watch Ramin Bahrani's excellent short film The Plastic Bag).  It's an important one, but it seems most of the public is still unaware of it.  I do wonder at the solidity of the garbage patch as it's shown here - I don't believe it's something that someone could actually walk around on, and is more like a plastic soup.  I also wonder at the dichotomy of Chas flying everywhere, releasing a large volume of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but then driving a car that runs on biodiesel.

Joe Harris, who has previously caught my attention with the excellent Spontaneous and Ghost Projekt, does a great job of establishing this story and catching my interest.  I'm not familiar with Martín Morazzo, the artist, but I do like his work.  His characters remind me a touch of Frank Quitely.  I'm not sure how many issues this series is set to run for, but I know I'll be sticking around.