THE WRONG EARTH: FAME & FORTUNE #1
Writer: Mark Russell
Artist: Michael Montenat, Andy Troy
Publisher: Ahoy Comics
Release Date: April 13, 2022
Cover Price: $4.99
A satirical one-shot from superstar writer Mark Russell spotlighting both gritty vigilante Dragonfly and his cheerful counterpart, Dragonflyman! On Earth-Alpha, Dragonflyman and his billionaire alter-ego Richard Fame work to bring citizens together. On Earth-Omega, the Dragonfly busts heads and breaks unions with a savage intensity. But they both share one goal: build a new sports stadium with Richard Fame's name on it! All five Wrong Earth specials feature covers by co-creator Jamal Igle and a special incentive variant cover by legendary artist Gene Ha.
Score:
★★★★☆ (4/5)
The second Wrong Earth universe expanding one-shot comes from the stellar creative combo of Mark Russell and Michael Montenat. This multi-verse was established in the bestselling The Wrong Earth by
Tom Peyer, Jamal Igle, Juan Castro, and Andy Troy. One gritty violent vigilante from Earth-Omega, Dragonfly, switches places with the affable boy scout of a superhero Dragonflyman and must navigate a very different world than they're used to. It was a great point-counterpoint to the tropes of comic book superheroes of the last 80 years. It was exceptionally well-written and illustrated which made it a hit series.
After another bestselling volume, The Wrong Earth: Night and Day, Ahoy Comics has assembled an all-star crew of writers and artists to put their own spin on this world with exciting new one-shot issues. In Fame & Fortune, leave it to one of the best satirists in any medium to take on a very real-life scam in Fortune City, a publicly-funded sports stadium. It's been a rather lucrative scheme of billionaires for decades to beg for public money to build or renovate venues whose profits will ultimately enrich them while leaving taxpayers holding the bill. It might seem like an odd approach to a superhero comic but it really reveals more of who these analogs of Bruce Wayne are.
Billionaire Richard Fame is seen from both worlds simultaneously with a cleverly composed split-screen by Montenat that shows both caped heroes as their alter egos. The conniving union-busting Fame from Earth Omega and the "community-building" Fame from Earth Alpha both share a vision of a brand new football stadium. Their motivations couldn't be any more different. EA Fame talks of the stadium driving local businesses with more opportunities and jobs. In reality, a stadium's economic impact is minimal on the surrounding community. EO Fame's pitch is more straightforward and honest. Even a modestly successful venue will bring in revenue while constructing it on the cheap and gentrifying the neighborhood. These proposals represent a glossy pitch to cities and the reality behind them. Russell offers up a scathing look at this grift, a form of corporate welfare that's been and continues to be a plundering of public funds.
The story begins on two different paths shown side-by-side and heading in the same direction. Montenat alternates the tone from one world to the next visually with great details and designs. Andy Troy colors them accordingly, bright and sunny colors for Earth Alpha, dark and sinister for Earth Omega. The escalation of violence and chaos is captured effectively with great action and character designs. What becomes so striking is how the two worlds stop being totally separate entities and slowly begin to blend in as the promises of both projects begin to be compromised. Even the benevolent EA Fame can't avoid the trappings of the venture.
'The Wrong Earth: Fame & Fortune' is a textbook example of how comics can inform and infuriate while holding a mirror up to the real world. The scam of publicly-funded stadiums is real and possible virtually anywhere. It's just as likely to happen in a fictional setting where even well-intentioned billionaires lose control. This is one of Mark Russell's greatest hits.
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