Image Courtesy of Kelly Roman
Roman’s “The Art of War” is set in a near future where the Chinese dominate the American economy, as well as that of most of the rest of the world. This title is built on political and economic intrigue. However, even if you are not the economic/political intrigue type, there should be plenty of action and gore to keep you interested. The title is illustrated by Michael DeWeese in black and white with red highlights, to give the classic violent black and white comic look to great effect. True to its namesake, this graphic novel is laced with Sun Tzu’s sayings throughout (For those of you who skipped that day in school, Sun Tzu was a warlord in medieval China. He was widely regarded as a tactical genius and compiled his knowledge in a book of sayings titled “The Art of War.” There, now you are caught up.) The protagonist of “The Art of War,” also named Kelly Roman, is seeking to avenge his brother, who was killed in mysterious circumstances while working for a Chinese corporation.
It is not the setting itself is not that makes “The Art of War” unique, but the fictional events that lead up to the creation of that distopia. In the novel, China takes over the United States through economics, not military invasion. This has the result of devastating the country side and killing civilians through starvation and lack of medical care rather than bullets and bombs. Only major economic centers (such as New York) are spared the devastation due to their usefulness to the invading Chinese corporations. Through malicious investing through corporate proxies, the Chinese government is able to seize control of American food supplies, health care, military forces, and other key assets.
Additionally, as a result of the Chinese economic invasion of the United States, corporations remain the only functioning institutions in society. They conduct their own semi-religious services, bury their employees in private grave yards, and dole out marital discipline on employees and violent attacks on competitors without fear of legal repercussion.
Great science fiction presents either a utopian or distopian vision of the future; this is as equally true in comics as it is in film or prose. In tying a medieval Chinese warlord with a corporate CEO, the author is making a clear statement regarding the ruthless nature of corporations. In addition to criticizing corporations for being heartless entities being concerned with nothing else but profit, (Which has been done by other authors.) Roman makes a powerful statement about the future of war. In the author’s vision, the future of war will be at least partially economic. While there are political disagreements over the issue, the possibilities of Chinese economic or militarydomination sometime this century are certainly being discussed. In closing, what makes “The Art of War” most intriguing is the plausibility of its scenario.
