Tommy Patterson (Stingers, Farscape) continues to bring Sam Humphries’ (Legendary Star-Lord, Avengers) tale of egoism and demonism in politics to gleeful, visual life.

In the second issue, the satire digs deep into the trenches of why when you look at politicians, you most often see soulless eyes staring back at you. The cost of one’s own humanity slips away the higher you rise until there is a husk of catches phrases, rhetoric, and fulfilled wallets.

Jack Northworthy, the over-the-top composite of all-out GOP candidates, has his catch phrase, he has the media’s attention, but he needs more. He needs to start sacrificing a bit of who he is – which isn’t much to begin with. There to help Jack is the demon on his shoulder, though, in this case, it’s a 10-foot tall purple demon named Marlinspike, which is a small device used at sea to help unbind knots, etc. Here, Marlinspike is that voice that promises greatness by putting your own desires over the needs of others.

Jack looks at politics as a way to finally show the world what he’s made of. The thing is, he isn’t the problem. He has support, he has supporters, he has people helping him so that they too can benefit, he has the media (except for a dolphin reporter that makes me laugh out loud – ’cause it’s a dolphin . . . and it’s a reporter . . . and everyone always ignores its real insight). Layers upon layers. What Jack sees as a game – a joy ride – takes a sudden turn and makes it possible for this book to swing from comedy to tragedy at any second.

None of this would succeed if it wasn’t a joy to read. This is what satire looks like when it’s at its best.