** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

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Shoplifters Will Be Liquidated
★★★★★
120 Pages


Well, this was a strange and intriguing little number.

The main character is...not loveable, not relatable, single-minded and violence without pause, and comes across as someone who is brainwashed by the corporate structure. However, he's really not. At least not the last one. And, somehow, he still manages to carry the weight of the story.

Do I like him? No. Do I root for him? Not really. Was he my favourite character? Not by half. That definitely goes to the Hermit and the Kid, with even the guy trying to kill the MC coming higher.

However...it still works. There is a triple aspect story : Nussbaum hunting shoplifters and dropping into a world below the shopping centre; the boss trying to capitalise on suicide and murder; and two employees hoping to use the boss' insanity for their own profit. Each story is interwoven, with an epic ending that ties it all together.

Do I like any of the central characters? Not on your life. But I don't have to, to appreciate the story. It's original, clever. And the story does have a point, a lesson and yet remains hard to classify. Sometimes a person just needs something to believe in, a place to call home. And sometimes the greatest enemy to one person is the greatest saviour to another. The world isn't black and white, and the people who treat it as such will end up getting a rude awakening one day.

The premise of this story was so interesting that I just couldn't not read it. The concept is amazing, the story as well as the illustrations. Usually, when I pick up a graphic novel, the main thing I'm most attracted to is the illustrations but for this one, the storyline definitely trumps. I was so hooked with the story and I wanted so much more with this dark and full of capitalism. I honestly didn't know which team to side with and it was totally a page turner. I love it and I highly recommend it to everyone to pick this up.

Title: Shoplifters will be Liquidated
Author:Patrick Kindlon
Illustration: Stefano Simeone
Publisher: Aftershock Comics
Genre: Graphic Novel/ Satire
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Author Patrick Kindlon's latest work is interesting, suspenseful and an eye-opener. The work is a satirical take on the consumer society of today's world, where a handful of people enjoys all the riches pf the world whereas the others live their lives in utter despair.

The plot follows the character of Nussbaum, who works as a loss prevention staff and he is the best in his work. He belongs to that kind of a person who can't be prevented from catching the shoplifters. But His life turns upside down when he discovers a society living under the retail outlet. The things he observed there forces him to question his beliefs.

Would he be able to get himself put from this state of confusion?

Would he be able to discover himself in a new way?

To know these, you have to go through the work.

Review:

Patrick Kindlon has presented the issues of poverty, crime and human rights through the story in the most beautiful way possible. Patrick Kindlon is a master storyteller which is very much evident from the way he has presented the story and makes the reader question and evaluate his/her thoughts. I absolutely loved yhe choice of words and character construction.

Stefano Simeone has done an equally impressive work. Through the mastery of his art he has painted a world where there is so much evil but yet a still ray of hope is lingering somewhere deep down.

Overall, it was a fascinating experience going through the work. I highly recommend this book to all the Graphic novel fans out there and give it 4.5 stars for the concept, plot and character construction and the overall presentation.

Happy Reading

Oh boy, I definitely did not like this comic. The satire was too broad (even though, with "Sorry to Bother You" halfway to a reality, that almost shouldn't be possible), the characters were too basic, and the world was too shallowly drawn. Also, for a book that jokes about corporate "stolen land" and has seeming white folks with painted faces and other appropriative stuff, this book really doesn't seem to feature many characters of color or any exploration of the history of that appropriation, particularly in the non-corporate half of the story. It seemed sloppily done...

I don't know what this book is. On the surface it's most obviously a book about consumerism, and slavery to an economic system. But beyond that..? It feels wishy-washy, and kind of empty at its core.

We spend some time in a Caucasus megastore (a mega MEGA megastore), but most of the time in a forgotten underground world, located directly under the store. The underworld is much less interesting, both narratively and visually.

There are a ton of characters, that become hard to tell apart. The art sort of yoyoes between recognisable faces and scratchy, depersonalised sketches of people. Whenever there's an action sequence (and there are quite a lot of those) or a two-page setpiece, the art becomes incomprehensible, without a central point to focus your eye on.

I can't really say which characters you're supposed to follow. All of them, I guess? I just found myself not caring about any of them (and not because everyone's unlikeable - you can do unlikeable, as long as there's an interesting drive to the characters).

The colouring comes in two or three palets, all of which started to give me a headache around the second chapter.

Stuff happens, and then the book fizzles out on a nothing of an end. To quote everyone's favourite president, who could be a character in this book's world: "Sad."