Mark Russell and Steve Pugh are back with the second installment in the Billionaire Island story, Cult of Dogs. The world’s single greatest concentration of wealth, the Billionaire’s Island, is gone. What happens next? The story picks up two years from the conclusion of the original series. America has more or less fallen and Shelly Bly travels to get an interview with one of the world’s remaining billionaires. What more could go wrong?
The Good
Mark Russell has really solidified his status as one of the premier satirical writers in comics today; the original Billionaire Island was a testament to that. This issue picks right up (two years later) and keeps running with that fact. The opening pages are a fantastic snapshot of what makes satire funny. It can be hard to laugh at satire in a world where reality seemingly has eclipsed it, but Russell knows what to point and laugh at, and what to bring attention to.
Those opening pages that detail the space between the last season and this issue cover everything you could expect. From 1980 to 2044. There’s humour in the depiction of spaceships billionaires use to fly to space, but there’s a poignancy in the reality behind the jokes. Speaking as a UK citizen who recently saw their politicians gamble the economy and lose, as well as three Prime Ministers within a year (one of whom was only elected by a single party’s members, the other wasn’t even elected at all) some of the prophetic fiction is a little near the knuckle. But that’s what makes Mark Russell such a good writer.
He’s only one half of the book, though. Steve Pugh’s art brings an objective, serious juxtaposition to the sometimes surreal writing. Armed guards patrolling a planned community, Y.M.C.A. playing at the White House, a casket being buried atop a beloved motorbike. The book’s full of funny images presented so seriously. Russell and Pugh work perfectly in tandem to deliver a book that’s both serious and hilarious.
On top of that, being an AHOY book, there’s more. Two prose pieces accompany the main chapter and round the issue out well. The single chapter of Billionaire Island is worth the price of admission alone, let alone two extras.
The ‘Bad’
When there’s a big chunk for the good section it’s unlikely there’ll be much to say here. And not to cop out, but there’s not. Ordinarily, opening a sequel with a montage recapping what happened off page would be bad, but it happens to be such a good section here that there’s nothing to complain about.
The Verdict
Billionaire Island: Cult of Dogs builds on the success of the original series. With Mark Russell and Steve Pugh’s name on the cover it’s worth reading; being the continuation of the fantastic Billionaire Island from 2020 makes it a must buy.
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