I love the way this book plays with both politics and sesame credit, the idea of influence and power and the ways they combine and clash. The plot heads in the directions you would expect but does so to humorous extremes.

Thank you to DC Comics and Netgalley for providing this ARC.

This was an excellent satire that clearly echoes the nuances of today's world of politics and society. With virality being less of a foreign concept nowadays, it also touches on the topic of sudden fame, or being thrust into the spotlight unexpectedly. Something I particularly appreciate about DC graphic novels, especially those under their YA label, is their independence from the overarching DC Comics storyline and universe. It's always a breath of fresh air. It's great seeing older comics repackaged in lieu of current events, and I look forward to reading more from this author.

Published by DC Comics on June 4, 2024

The Prez I remember from my teenage years was published from 1973 to 1974. The premise was that a constitutional amendment eliminated the age requirement for service as the United States president and lowered the voting age to 18. A teenager named Preston Rickard ran as a third-party candidate and prevailed. I don’t remember much about the series apart from my belief that it died a fitting death after a four-issue run.

DC’s Mark Russell gave Prez a reboot in a 6-issue series that was published in 2015 and 2016. In this version, the teen president is Beth Ross, a 19-year-old who works at Lil’ Doggies House of Corndogs in Eugene, Oregon. She gets enough votes from other young people to deprive the major party candidates of an electoral vote majority. That throws the election into the House of Representatives, where a tie vote encourages Congressmen to vote for Beth, never expecting her to get a majority but with the expectation that they would change their vote to whichever mainstream candidate promised them more political pork. Their shenanigans result in Beth’s inadvertent election to the presidency.

Betsy doesn’t owe anyone a favor and doesn’t care if she’s humiliated. That makes her an ideal president, apart from her ignorance of anything unrelated to corndogs. Fortunately, she’s a quick learner who isn’t afraid to ask for help. In this version, Preston Rickard was never elected, but he once ran for president and is now Beth’s vice president. She fills her cabinet with reality-based people who aren’t science-deniers. Her old boss at the corn dog restaurant was good with details, so she becomes Beth’s chief of staff.

Beth has some great ideas. Once of my favorites is an international apology tour. She personally apologizes to other nations for America’s history of unfortunate behavior (“sorry Vietnam; our bad, Nicaragua”).

At the time of its publication, Russell’s story earned recognition for its political satire. The story skewers America’s refusal to assure decent healthcare to everyone, price gouging by pharmaceutical companies, the dominant role played by social media (rather than debating, the candidates appear on Puppy Slap’s podcast), religious beliefs in God’s preference for bigotry and extremism, America’s hypocritical definition of terrorism (“it’s not terrorism if you can afford a stealth bomber”), border security, useless technology, government surveillance, the stock market, consumerism, self-driving cars, war, artificial intelligence, gun nuts, the Supreme Court, and cats. The story even envisioned a pandemic and the search for a vaccine, although Russell didn’t anticipate the rise of vaccine-deniers as a political force.

Prez is pretty funny. DC is presumably reissuing Prez because this is an election year. This edition collects the 6 issues of the rebooted Prez, as well as a story from Catwoman: Election Night that was published in November 2016. It also includes a new story and “bonus material” (the usual collection of preliminary sketches). The reissue is a timely reminder that politics always provides fodder for mockery and satire (just ask Mark Twain).

RECOMMENDED

I teach high school history and one of the things we discuss is government. My students came up with a plan to save us all. Build a retirement home behind the real Congress and tell all of the old politicians that it is a secret society that really runs the government. This book has all that energy and then some. As an adult, Prez makes me sad. Even though it is cranked up to a ridiculous degree, it hits home. But at the same time as the book goes on you get this feeling of Hell Yeah! I am excited to see how my students react because I think they are going to love it. I just have one request, can we please make Taco Drone a reality, I'll even wear the stupid outfit.

5 stars

I understand that this story is satire but I didn’t think it was that funny. I do think it was spot on because it did show that the government is in shambles and that they tend to have different priorities such as ones that can benefit them rather than the people. However, I did find the plot to be a bit all over the place and confusing at many spots. I feel like if the plot was a bit more focused than I would’ve like the story more but since that wasn’t the case, I honestly can’t see myself re-reading this one.

I was very intrigued when I saw the cover of this comic. I haven’t read too many satire books and I thought that this one would be interesting due to the comic book formatting. America in this comic is very exaggeratedly awful, but in a way that makes sense. The problems experienced with the cat flu in this comic and the parallels to Covid made me laugh but also sad inside because the general reactions and disregard for loss of human life are things I remember when the pandemic was at its peak.

The comedy mixed with real world problems and exaggerated concepts made this comic gold to me. I wish that politics weren’t such a corporate money grab driven thing, but the way corporations do everything to gain control for their own gain in this comic felt accurate. I loved the cheeky ways are young President 1-ups her adversaries and I wish we had people who actually cared about making life better in office, instead of men war-mongering and cracking down on women’s rights to healthcare and birth-control.

When I think about American politics and how it works it really makes me sad. Bills passed with names that trick you into thinking they are meant to do one thing and instead doing the opposite. Everything about marketing yet not really telling you the truth about the belief you’re subscribing to. I want to believe that there’s good in the system and eventually people will take the blindfolds off, but I don’t really know.


This comic is a great look at the holes in the system of how America functions. Even if it is silly and funny it gives a lot to ponder about.

With the recent release in a collection of Prez: Setting A Dangerous President by DC Comics, I was lucky enough to get a review copy. I loved this book!

In a funny turn of events, I was actually listening to my favorite podcast about Star Wars comics, Star Wars Splash Page, when one of the hosts started gushing about Mark Russell since he wrote the Darth Maul: Black, White, and Red # 2. The comics that he was talking about that Russell previously wrote – like Prez, The Flintstones, and Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles – sounded hilarious and awesome. How lucky was I when the opportunity came up to read Prez?

The series, originally released in 2016, was a new take on a story from the 1970s where the United States gets a teenage President. The new version from Russell features Beth Ross who becomes President after being elected via Twitter in 2048.

The book is a hilarious and biting take on American politics, capitalism, culture, technology, and cable news. Russell manages to take the absurdity of a child winning the US Presidential election and makes it the least absurd part of this, let’s be honest, somewhat believable American future.

The artwork throughout was very fun. Ben Caldwell, Mark Morales, and Jeremy Lawson combined for a beautiful, pointed, and at times kind of cringy book.

This was excellent, and I really had a great time reading it. I would recommend this to anyone and everyone.

Thank you Netgalley and DC Comics for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

An incredibly well-done satire of politics and corporate greed, as well as a prediction of a pandemic, from the pen of Mark Russell. It was very cool to see a new story that tied up at least a couple of loose ends, but I really would love to have seen the whole second half of his planned story. I'd for the new edition of the story to drum up enough interest to get another volume but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Special Thanks to DC Comics and Netgalley for the digital ARC. This was given to me for an honest review.

The year is 2046, America has just elected its first teenage president...what could go wrong and what could go right? This is Eisner Award-winning writer Mark Russell's satirical comic Prez: Setting a Dangerous President at DC Comics. Along for the ride with Mark are artists Ben Caldwell and Mark Morales.

Oregon teen Beth Ross has just been elected President of the United States of America. Age restrictions were abolished when corporations gained the right to run for office. Elections are now held on social media, and after a corndog accident makes Beth Ross go viral, a nation is shocked to wake up and find that "Corndog Girl" has just become their new president.

The eyes of the world are on Beth. But in a nation so used to misrule that the poor are willing to do anything on TV for a chance at a better life, will a fresh start be enough to undo the damage caused by Boss Smiley and his corporate shadow government?

As it is with most comics by Mark Russell, his writing style shines in Prez: Setting a Dangerous President. He has the uncanny ability to deliver sharp satire and thought-provoking commentary on politics, media, and societal norms. Russell delivers witty dialogue that draws us into Beth's world as she grapples with the responsibilities of her new role. I mean who else can write this off-the-wall satirical story with such ease other than Mark Russell?

The story reads a lot similar to those written in the independent comic world, although it was published by DC Comics. This is another strong suit of Mark Russell, the ability to engage readers from various genres with a story so unusual you have no choice but to invest your time into reading.

Ben Caldwell's pencils, Mark Morales' inks, and Jeremy Lawson's colors bring the vision set forth by Russell's outstanding writing to life with unique artwork and wonderful design. The use of design and coloring to create an immersive experience is truly spectacular. Some may write-off the overall story as simply a funny book, but what this team was able to create from cover-to-cover is truly wonderful.

Releasing Prez: Setting a Dangerous President again in a new format during a time where the political climate is such as it is right now is a great decision on the part of DC Comics. Prez was originally co-created by Joe Simon and Jerry Grandenetti in 1973. The adaptation by Russell was released in single issues beginning in June 2015. The most recent series was selected as one of YALSA’s Top Ten Graphic Novels for Teens. Hitting bookstores again for those who want to collect everything about Prez or who missed out in the first place, now is the time to read this fun series.

Prez: Setting a Dangerous President is not your typical comic book, it is one made up of bold decisions, wonderful writing and unique artwork. While we might find ourselves glued to a specific genre or publisher, this story is worthing taking a break from whatever you are reading and diving into.

DC Comics provided an early galley for review.

Back in 1973, I was a kid moving from funny comics to super-heroes and other serious comics. That was when DC Comics released the first Prez series about a teenager who is elected president. It lasted four issues. It came out though at a time when politics and the presidency were hot topics.

Nearly forty years later, history swung back around, and thus a new Prez series came out in late 2015. This volume collects that six-issue mini-series with a few more related items as well.

My first exposure to Russell was through The Snagglepuss Chronicles, an outstanding 2018 series with a strong social commentary. This re-release of a collection of his earlier work for DC shows similar topical leanings. Subjects that were relevant two election cycles back are still very present today in 2024 with another election soon upon us. The satire might seem outlandish and extreme, but turning on the latest news cycle will show you that we're getting closer to this than we would prefer.

This is a graphic novel where the reader is rewarded for paying extra attention to the art as well. The humor is not just in the dialogue and the situations. This one takes pot-shots at a rapid-fire pace. Like all great humor, the funny comes from the truth upon which it is based.

What I found amazing is that Russell managed to predict the global pandemic we'd face in 2019 as well as other issues that would be dominant in the administration that took office in 2017. The additional material that is included in this collection from several more recent DC specials does touch upon the issues of women's rights and billionaires getting into space travel, but those felt a bit less impactful than the main miniseries.

Sadly, the main mini ended after six issues with a bit of a cliffhanger. I understand it was originally slated for twelve issues. It is a shame it did not get to that point. I would have definitely liked to see where the creative team was heading on the momentum they had back in 2016.