A rich man in Spain falls from grace during the 2008 recession. He hears about a town that has enveloped communism and seems to be doing well. At times this almost seems like a farce. I do think this is something that you'll only get if you understand Spain's history of dealing with fascism, communism and socialism throughout the 20th century and beyond. For me, I didn't really get the point.

'El Mesias' by Mark Bellido with art by Wauter Mannaert is a political graphic novel from Spain. The concepts are universal, but one should probably have some inkling of the struggles of the government in Spain.

A wealthy land developer named Jesus Fernandez, aka El Pocero, builds a city that will be named after him, but the housing crisis of 2008 bankrupts him, and sends him in to despair. After a failed suicide attempt, he hears of an idyllic village named Marinaleda where communism seems to be working. He makes his way to this village and the rest of the book is about how Jesus finds himself near the seat of power and sees the powers and struggles of the leader as well as the everyday people.

It's a pretty dry read, and without the Spanish context, I found it not very interesting. The art and writing has satirical quality to it, so that kept things interesting, but I struggled to finish it.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

This is one for the more politically minded readers - much more so than me, at least. DNF at a third.