By Jacob Cordas — My first introduction to comic books was through the funny pages. I remember reading a Spider-Man strip in the newspaper every week next to Hagar the Horrible and Pearls Before Swine. It was all so silly and so fun. And then I got my first comic book, a beat up copy of Spider-Man #68 from a flea market. I was blown away by the seriousness of it. I was nine years old but, with only comic strips to compare it to, this was what I imagined adult art looked like. I was a tween dragged into the tail end of ‘90s nihilism and carried away into the edginess of the ‘00s. Adulthood in the art I consumed became synonymous with darkness. For a minute, I was even a fan of Mark Millar. And, while I aged out of this for the most part, there was still a “seriousness” to my comic reading. 

I think it was Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis’s Justice League International that broke me out of this. I could consume comics as being purely comedic. The funny pages can in fact be funny. And while, this wasn’t my favorite thing, I assumed it was just a matter of differing taste. I would never like comedic comics as much. I am here for superheroes fighting for reality. 

But then I read Mark Russell, and I felt a realignment. I struggle to describe exactly what I experienced so I’ll just use my reaction to one of his works to describe this: After reading Exit Stage Left, I immediately bought it purely so I could pressure my loved ones into reading it.* 

This is all an unnecessarily long disclaimer to say, I am not unbiased when it comes to Russell’s work. But knowing my biases, I ask that you believe me when I say Billionaire Island #2 is great; absolutely, unadulterated, anti-capitalist greatness. 

Mark Russell and Steve Pugh, who previously made the excellent Flintstones’ comic together, are a match made in heaven. Russell’s writing has always focused so heavily on the importance of narrative and the value of story-telling. Here he is able to twist those tropes into a satiric reimagining of a Randian wet dream. On top of that, he is able to maintain that wit and sharpness of focus without minimizing plot. It easily elaborates on the previous issue maintaining a forward momentum that his work often doesn’t have. 

And let us not undervalue Steve Pugh. Pugh knows better than almost any other working today how to build a visual gag. These pages are densely packed with joke after joke. Even more impressive is that these jokes always tie thematically into the overarching narrative. It’s silly but it is always thematically on point. Pugh knows exactly how to elaborate a world with small sight elements, but with a quality I haven’t seen since Darick Robertson’s work in Transmetropolitan. He is able to stretch the serious into the silly and then back with ease. 

This is just a delightful, hilarious and all around dynamic comic. I recommend reading it once for the plot, once for the jokes and once for the staunch reminder that capitalism is eating at our species’ very soul. 

Overall: Billionaire Island #2 succeeds not just as an amazing humor comic by an all-star team but as a wonderful continuation of everything the first issue sets up. Spend whatever you need to to pick up your copy and then regret having to live in a society with money after you read it. But hey, at least you have a copy of this outstanding comic. 10/10

*It is currently loaned out** as I write this. It still sits on my roommate’s desk, collecting dust.

**One of the people I loaned it to is currently trying to find a way to use it as part of his American Culture high school class. 

Billionaire Island #2 Review

Billionaire Island #2
Writer: Mark Russell
Artist: Steve Pugh
Publisher: Ahoy Comics
Price: $3.99
Like an action movie come to life, Trent storms onto Billionaire Island in search of answers - and he's willing to get them anyway he can. Meanwhile, Shelly is after answers of her own...but will she regret getting them? The infiltration of Billionaire Island is on! Every AHOY comic also features extra prose stories and illustrations. Featuring a variant cover by Darick Robertson (The Boys).
Release Date: Jul 01, 2020
Buy It Digitally: Billionaire Island #2 via comiXology

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My name is Jacob Cordas (@Jacweasel) and I am not qualified to write this.