



Amy reviews Factory #1

Imagine Earth many years in the future with no more animals, no more plants, and no more natural resources. The environment is dry and desolate and everything around you is drab and devoid of color. Your food is poorly rationed and distributed from a truck. There is disease all around you from those who are sick or dying, and the smell is unbelievable. Enter the world of Factory #1, written and drawn by Yacine “Elgo” Elghorri.





In this comic, the Baron, Gucco, is the leader of Earth and controls the different sectors on the planet. Instead of living among the people though, he instead lives within a Factory, where he is kept safe from the outside world. His guards are the ones who travel to the people and give them the illusion that Gucco is powerful and deserves the praises of the people, as if he were a god. The comic opens to reveal the last future telling Precog, or precognitive fetal creature, on Earth dying but not before attempting to relay his final prediction, regarding a man pig. What does his prediction mean? On top of this, there is a level of uncertainty brought on by the coming appearance of a mysterious food inspector who threatens to disturb the already frail environment.





There are many interesting characters in this comic. One is Raul, the man pig, who is traveling the desolate land with three humans, named Shima, Anka, and Obaz. The humans are short and stout and very dull looking. The Baron is great as the antagonist. He is a heavyset man who claims only he can save everyone from starvation, and gives the people food that he claims are “miraculously grown” when in reality it is old food that has spoiled. The Earth is not without its resources though, as the people are led to believe. Gucco can be seen eating a full course meal that could feed a small army. But instead of sharing his wealth of food, complete with a variety of meats, with the people, he keeps it all to himself and the members of his clique inside the factory, including his sentries, which are hardly more than floating heads.





This comic reminds me of society today in that the leaders of this world say that they want to help the middle and lower classes, but they are aloof from the majority of the people, especially the ones who truly need help. While the rich keep getting richer, or as Gucco keeps getting fatter, the poor get poorer, as the people starve to death and live out in the streets in filth. This comic showcases a theme that is extremely prevalent in our world.





The illustrations are wonderfully graphic, and there are lots of gory details and blood and guts, which is right up my alley. There are so many unsettling attributes to the outside world. The trees eat you alive, and an odd monkey leads voyagers into poisonous traps. The colors throughout are dull earthy tones with reddish hues, which really capture the devastation and hellish nightmare the people of Earth have to live in every day. The art displays the gross, decomposing world in every panel.





If you enjoy horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and utter weirdness, I recommend picking up this comic and checking it out for yourself. Factory #1 came out March 28, 2018.





-Amy Waters-LaFollette