The style of children's books is put to the service of more adult concerns in Snark Inc.: A Corporate Fable.
Randy:
Last week, Don and I took a look at Get Your War On, a book of political cartoons from Soft Skull Press. Snark Inc. is another of their initial graphic novel offerings, and it shares a similar political leaning with Get Your War On, although the style is quite different.
Don:
So different, in fact, that the term "graphic novel" doesn't really apply. The creators use the illustrated children's book format here, but the message is not one we normally find in such fare. They rail against America's corporate culture in rhyme, but the story is still one that's suitable for kids.
Snark Inc.
published by Soft Skull Press
written by Brian Gage
illustrated by Tom Ellsworth
Don:
In the town of Snark, U.S.A., everyone works for and worships Snark, Inc. Working for Snark, the townsfolk earn Snark, so they can buy more Snark. But one lone man -- Will -- has no desire to live such a limited life, and he sets off into nature to while away his days happily. But Will gets lonely, and he returns home to Snark, U.S.A.
Randy:
It's funny, I used to consider myself more liberal than conservative, but I've come to realize that I think that the more extreme views on either side are basically interchangeable in terms of scaring the crap out of me. Which is a long-winded way of saying that, as with Get Your War On, I found the politics of Snark Inc. to be quite different from my own. Usually a reviewer can be fairly apolitical (I enjoy work from both Brian Wood and Chuck Dixon, for example), but when you're reviewing a book that is based so solidly in the political realm, how much you agree with the creators is going to color your perceptions of the book quite a bit.
Snark Inc. has a lot to say about the perils of a corporate state, and to some degree, I'm right there with Gage and Ellsworth. I've done my stints "working for The Man" and in fact, I still work for a small business, so I know the daily irritation of putting everything you have into a job and not getting what you feel is fair compensation, whether monetarily or spiritually speaking, from it. But I thought that the spin put on corporate omnipresence in Snark Inc. bordered on the paranoid, and worse, didn't really say anything most of us hadn't picked up on already.
Don:
Paranoid? I don't agree. I think the creators' symbolic corporation really hits the mark. Snark represents capitalism, and Gage points out just how enslaved all of Western culture has become to the corporate mindset. For the most part, it's fostered a culture that consumes as opposed to converses. My problem with the book is its repetitiveness and lack of subtlety. The visuals for the first few pages are rather dull, and all we get is a slowly moving close-up for a visual element that turns out to be rather unimportant in the grand scheme of the book. The pace of the plot is just as excruciatingly slow as well. And personally, I've always found the strictly rhythmic, rhyming lines of children's literature -- though cute at first -- to be ultimately plodding and irritating.
Randy:
However, there are some aspects of the story which I found pretty engaging. In the current climate where speaking out against common wisdom is considered almost treasonous, the notion of such a singularly focused culture is terrifying, and Gage does effectively translate the complex problems of corporate politics into a more simple and scary corporate bogeyman, embodied in the boss of Snark Inc.
Don:
The simplicity and obvious quality of the storytelling doesn't appeal to me, but it brings an important message about individuality and priorities down to a level at which children can get it. There's nothing here that's really all that inappropriate. Mind you, the other novel aspect of this story that I enjoyed -- the unhappy ending -- may not be something kids are ready for.
Randy:
The production quality of this book is quite impressive. It's an oversized, full color hardback book in the style of children's books from Dr. Seuss, and the artwork by Tom Ellsworth is beautiful. His cartoony vision of Snark U.S.A. is chilling, a visual representation of the monoculture that corporations have been accused of striving for, and his art does convey the more frightening aspects of Gage's story, notably the evil boss and the loneliness that accompanies Will when he tries to break from the system.
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