Give Me Liberty - An American Dream #3: Health & Welfare

I decided to pick up Give me Liberty after reading Miller's, The Dark Knight Returns because I was very entertained by the story and how appropriate the level of violence was for the story. But lets talk about this book. Give me Liberty follows the life of Martha Washington, a youth from an oppressive housing projects, who escapes from her oppressive home and ends up in a fascist military unit, PAX. The story follows a series of misadventures of Martha while she struggles to stay alive amidst all of the martial and political chaos. I have to say, I enjoyed the book a lot. Not so much because I could sympathize with Martha but because of how interesting the setting is in the book. Miller portrays quite vividly how during the 90s a Reganesque figure turns the U.S. into a fascist dictatorship that wages pointlessly destructive wars abroad and at home with its own citizens. In Miller's vision of the future, America is simply a parody of its former self, with a surgeon general who is a gemophobic robot with sterilizing tendencies. In comparison of Give me Liberty and the Dark Knight Returns, I would say I enjoyed the Dark Knight Returns more as far as the story and the characters. However, this is not to dismiss Give me Liberty which is also a very entertaining book that fails to create a protagonist that is identifiable but exceeds in creating a world that is rife with subtlety (hiding behind obviousness) and relevance (global warming, pollution, genetic experimentation, and fascism).

Well, that's a Frank Miller's story. You know about Frank Miller, he's always a genius. In this particular book he had the help of Dave Gibbons (Watchmen's illustrator), that is always the warranty of a good drawing. But the book has troubles. It's not like "Dark knight returns" or "ronin", Frank Miller's classics. It's... softer. I mean, it's good, but do not expect classic Miller's type of stories. But worth the prize. You must buy it.