‘Prez’ skewers politics and more in DC series
In “Prez,” set 21 years in the future, Beth Ross becomes the first teen president of the United States after an embarrassing video of her hair burning at work goes viral.
Nicknamed “Corndog Girl,” Ross becomes a hit with a segment of the nation’s electorate, no longer burdened by age restrictions, and voting via Twitter. Through an unusual, but somewhat plausible, series of events, Ross becomes the nation’s leader.
Writer Mark Russell and artist Ben Caldwell (“Star Wars: Clone Wars”) explore that premise and its aftermath in “Prez.” The collection of all of the single issues was released this month.
“The positive, which is kind of the core of the series, is to get somebody honest who hasn’t learned what they can’t do,” Russell said. “That’s the advantage of being a tabula rasa.”
In “Prez,” Russell pushes many of today’s trends into the future — drones are used to deliver tacos and to fight remote wars; the poor and homeless are used for advertising space; corporations are considered people and, as such, can run for office.
“The first thing you look at is, what are the technologies that are around now that could actually change the world,” Russell said.
He said he sees drone and remote control technology at the forefront.
“It’s one of the most certain developments of the next 20 years, but also one of the most ominous,” he said.
Developing the look of the world fell to Caldwell, who has crafted an original look for the series that at the same time feels lived in.
“One of the reasons I was hired is that I habitually create random worlds, including a lot of future worlds,” Caldwell said. “The trick with that really was to on the one hand to make these bits of technology as boring as possible; make them seamlessly familiar, something you really could see ... but at the same time to make each one try to have a sense of personality.”
The original “Prez” comics from the 1970s featured Prez Rickard, a teen who becomes president and must contend with political fixer Boss Smiley, who has a literal smiley face for a face. Although the earlier series doesn’t exactly fit in the continuity of the new, Rickard and Boss Smiley return to play key roles in the new series, with Smiley’s face now an identity-obscuring hologram.
“The thing I absolutely had to have from the original comics was Boss Smiley,” Russell said. “He’s just so menacing to me.”
Rickard, meanwhile, serves as Ross’ adviser and vice president.
“In my world, he didn’t become Prez in the 1970s ... but a scandal disgraced him and kind of ruined him for politics,” Russell said.
More about Prez Rickard will be revealed in the second “Prez” miniseries, he said.
Russell also has been named as the writer for a new “Flintstones” comic coming from DC in May.
“My idea was to treat the Flintstones, it’s about the town of Bedrock being the world’s first civilization,” Russell said. “And basically everything that we have now in civilization, ... the people of Bedrock were the first people to get them.”