Toren Chenault — I had a hard time figuring out how to write this piece. I knew I wanted to, because there’s just so much going on right now. Typing it right now, I can’t fully capture it with just my words. I hope you’re all staying safe, and if you’ve been impacted by the pandemic, my heart goes out to you. It’s hard to capture situations like this with words and art. It’s a special talent when artists can fully capture the state of things, of the world. And I think comics often do it well, and in the most creative ways. Sometimes words or pictures can scare us, make us feel uncertain, more so than we already are. But it feels good knowing we aren’t alone in our anxiety, anger, and concerns about life. 

This type of awareness, or energy is exactly what the Grand Abyss Hotel by Marcos Prior and David Rubin has. This book, more than any comic I’ve read of late, captures the state of the world. It’s a story that takes a deep dive into global political tensions to tell a satirical and brutal tale about the cycle of violence. There’s pain and rage in this story, and a feeling of hopelessness. A savage look at the state of things today through fiction. Honesty and authenticity are the first words that come to mind with this graphic novel. Prior and Rubin lay their souls bare in these pages. Their message is frightening, but it’s one that is needed. Everything about this story works — the design, art, pacing, and overall message it desperately sends.

The Grand Abyss Hotel

Let’s focus on the design first within Grand Abyss Hotel, which has a hardcover edition out now from BOOM! Studios. Grand Abyss Hotel was an instant standout, originally released in 2016 in Spanish, before being translated into English in 2019. I love that it ditches the normal vertical orientation most graphic novels have and instead extends horizontally, like a child’s picture book of something. I haven’t seen many graphic novels do this, but literally the first page shows you why it was a good choice, and it’s because of Rubin’s artwork. 

I could write pages upon pages about Rubin’s work, but I’ll just say Grand Abyss Hotel is the greatest thing he’s ever done. Even if you enjoy his work from Black Hammer or Ether, you aren’t ready for the show Rubin puts on here. The horizontal layout lets the art breathe in ways I’ve never imagined art could. He has complete freedom that normal comics don’t allow. Rubin’s art is already full of deep color and innovative design, but the Grand Abyss Hotel multiplies that more than I can explain. Red is a constant color throughout the story, a color I believe used to represent rage of certain characters and of the world in general. It’s not the first a comic has done that, I know, but combine it with Rubin’s deep saturation of other colors like green, yellow, and blue, and you have an entirely new world in your hands, one that looks eerily similar to our own.

This story doesn’t really have a main character. And it doesn’t focus on just one place or country. Everyone is involved. The man on the cover is considered the main character, but we never learn his name, nationality, ethnicity, anything. We only see his motivations, we see why the world is breaking, and it’s really everything we know and experience today. The story is told through constant news broadcasts, interviews, and talk shows. This is where Prior’s script shines. Everything here feels real, too real. I had to put the book down a few times while reading, and even more so while re-reading to write this. We see three to four distinct news broadcasts, each focusing on different topics. Big business, government policies, normal entertainment. Each bit focusing on the continued suffering of the lower class, of working people. The main character watches, pumping weights as red light blasts outside his window. A perfect setup. The news reels come at you from every angle with a lot to read, a lot to digest. And it feels all too real, evoking the mass amounts of information available to us today. 

Grand Abyss Hotel - Information and Media

Information is a constant theme in this story. Who controls it, how we consume it, and how big business and politicians aim to control it. The catalyst for Grand Abyss Hotel is a riot at a parliament building that turns into a bombing, which the main character initiates. Protestors parade the street with images of big businesses around them, a few sources of their pain and anger. Prior and Rubin don’t make any mistake about the businesses they’re referencing, which is damn near every single one. Starbucks, LG, Mastercard, Nike, DC Comics, Disney, and next to Disney, the monopoly man can be seen. Everyone is holding signs. Some serious, some playful, but their rage is palpable. It’s a truly terrifying setup. The riot is gruesome, bloody, and leaves a slew of people dead. But every news outlet reports a different number.

One says 33 dead, 307 wounded. Or 8 dead, 462 wounded. Or 1 dead, 555 wounded. All official, all from trusted sources. And as the world reels from the event, we see people completely engrossed in the different newsfeeds. Unaware of anything happening around them, the ads from more companies play, almost blinding their sense of reality. Another bright spot is Rubin’s colorwork here. Bright, fun, bubble gum, ads everywhere, all while the world is literally burning and fat white men are arguing about it on television. And here, we see every type of person that has been affected by this. Parents with kids, millennials, image obsessed individuals, and basement dwellers watching porn and eating Doritos. Everyone. Everywhere. All the time. But they are only listening to these few voices, these few people deemed smarter than them, or in some ways morally superior. I think it’s one of the strongest parts of the story, one meant to resonate with just about everyone. But through it all, a shift begins. A sympathy for the movement, for revolution, the main character’s actions at parliament. And not a single person looks up from their screens for it to happen.

How Much is Enough - Grand Abyss Hotel and Capitalism

Grand Abyss Hotel is clearly trying to spark a fire under its readers. Trying to give people something to think about, to care about. And it takes a swing at one of the most controversial topics in human history…how much is enough? How much do you need to actually live in society? It’s a question that has been brought up constantly during this pandemic. Millions of “essential” workers in America don’t make a living wage. The US government allocated $1200 to qualified people this month for expenses, which most consider laughable compared to living costs nationwide. And millions upon millions have filed for unemployment because they are out of work.

Grand Abyss Hotel confronts this head on with the capturing of an important businessman and policy influencer, forcing him to live on fixed income. This man has altered millions of people’s lives, whether he knew it or not. Or cared. And when he wakes in a strange room, he tells himself he’s dreaming and he’s at the Playboy mansion. He screams, he pouts, but there’s nothing he can do. His captor (who I assumed to be the main character…we never actually see them) controls his life. He has the “choice” to do what he wants, but only if his account says he can. Is the divide between someone like him and a normal working person so far, so wide, that this is what has to happen for a McConnell, Bezos, or Walton to even grasp the severity of the people they govern and employ? A tough topic and a brilliant bit from Prior and Rubin.

Societal Divisions - Fire Fighters Vs. Police

Systemic corruption is rampant in this story as well. It’s shown as a rivalry between police and firefighters during political tensions. Making bets on street races, beating each other up, and putting the public in danger. Even in the face of global collapse, two sides who should be united clearly are not. I thought a lot about Donald Trump recently saying he was refusing to take Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s calls because “she wasn’t very nice.”

Prior and Rubin make it clear here that this story takes place in the future. Slick vehicles and aircrafts, and the high tech of the firemen’s suits. Pages filled with red and orange as we see these lunatics charge in these burning apartments (I got the sense they were causing the fires too?) They scan the people inside, assessing their worthiness and status in society. Are they important enough to save? And we’re seeing that today, as poorer and minority communities are being the most impacted by coronavirus, pleading for help, begging for it. But the banter between Trump and whoever he thinks is mean continues. While the media eats it up like a rivalry between cops and firefighters’ street races.

The Conclusion

Grand Abyss Hotel ends abruptly. I felt reading this the first time, and even re-reading, that it was too short. That an entire universe could be built here, movies could be made, other creators could be brought in, oh boy! But see, that’s kind of the point. This story isn’t meant for that sort of thing. And as I was reading this story, I couldn’t subconsciously let my capitalistic, selfish mindset go. And I looked at my phone to check Twitter notifications that didn’t exist sometimes in between pages. And read news stories that were nonsensical messes like the ones here. The story ends with a stop to the fighting, an ambiguous changing of the guard in society, things move on. And we’re treated to two old guys discussing the chances things stay this way. What are the chances this uprising has caused true change in the way people think? 

“Have the mechanisms now been set in motion that will kickstart the project of human emancipation?”

I love that line. But the man’s friend doesn’t have a concrete answer. So they drink from his flask as the world literally burns around them and their chairs.

So, what is this story trying to say? There’s a bunch of lessons here that will never get old. Stay off your phone, read more, talk to actual people, check sources. The broader themes of information control, resource allocation, corporate oversight, and violence can be discussed and dissected for days. But like I mentioned before, this story captures just about everything going on in the world today. It’s as important as 1984 or Fahrenheit 451 in that regard. Grand Abyss Hotel will to me, always be a story to come back to when studying political comics. Always. 

But at the heart of this story is violence. It all starts with violence from the anonymous bomber, the mental violence enacted against the businessman, and continues with violence from the police and the firemen (there’s a scene of police killing innocent people that broke my heart.) Humans connection and obsession with violence is interesting, especially Americans. Always has been and I think it always will be, but Grand Abyss Hotel seems to caution us that our world is heading there sooner rather than later, this hyper violent world. Or are we already there? When? And for how long will it last? Will I be safe? Will you? It’s all a bit overwhelming during these times, so I hope that if you read this comic, or read this piece you find some type of peace in your day. Be it with your puppy, your kids, or just ice cream and a movie. That’s okay. And take from this graphic novel those small lessons it is trying to teach, while continuing to be better every day.

Is violence a necessary action people will need to take to liberate themselves? That’s a tough, burdening question to answer. Even more so on the people who are being crushed, oppressed. But I’m glad that Prior and Rubin gave an honest look at the question.

Grand Abyss Hotel
Writer: Marcos Prior
Artist: David Rubin
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Imagine a world overrun by big business and "fake news" via the social media machine...In The Grand Abyss Hotel neoliberalism has become a state religion, while the citizens quietly and then not-so-quietly rebel, giving way to violence on the streets and sowing chaos. A masked vigilante takes on the role of hero to battle politicians, the erosion of democracy, and social media. After the fires burn low and the dust settles, social order returns. Or does it?
North American Release Date: May 29, 2019

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Toren Chenault is a writer and creator from Lansing, Michigan. He released his debut novel, Mystic Man in 2018. He's the owner and co-founder of Black Hole Comics and Entertainment. Toren has a passion for comics and all forms of storytelling. His influences range from hip-hop to anything science fiction related.