CALEXIT
(w) Matteo Pizzolo
(a) Amancay Nahuelpan
What if a fascist, autocratic President took over the United States? And what if that President lost California, the sixth largest economy on Earth, by nearly 2-to-1… a margin of almost 3 1/2 million votes? What if the day after that President took power, the largest mass demonstration in history occurred, and the state with the largest turnout was California. And then, the following week, two of the largest international airports in the world, California’s LAX and SFO, were blockaded by protesters?
What if California refused to be ruled?
From the creators of YOUNG TERRORISTS, Matteo Pizzolo (GODKILLER) and Amancay Nahuelpan (CLANDESTINO), comes this tale of resisting oppression, punching Nazis, protecting each other, kicking ass, and demanding liberty for all.
In CALEXIT, the citizens of California struggle to seize power back from an autocratic government. The ongoing series tells the story of Jamil, a 25-year old courier (aka smuggler), and Zora, a 27-year old leader in the Pacific Coast Sister Cities Resistance, who escape together from a prison camp in Occupied Los Angeles, where martial law has been in place for the past year — ever since America’s demagogue President signed an executive order to deport all immigrants, and California responded by proclaiming itself a Sanctuary State. Each issue of CALEXIT will also include non-fiction material about local sustainability and grassroots campaigning for 2018 elections.
“CALEXIT is at the forefront of a range of comics & cartoon books reacting to the current political climate”—THE NEW YORK TIMES
“A brilliant piece of dystopian fiction.”—THE MARY SUE
“2017’s Most Dangerous Comic.” —The Oregonian
“California has been the hub of the anti-Trump resistance since the first hours of the new administration, but what if that resistance turned to revolution? A new series from Black Mask Studios promises to take us into a world where a Left Coast uprising gets real.”—Rob Salkowitz, FORBES
“CALEXIT is a book that hits your brain like a slug to the chest. You finish it and your ears get a little hot.”—NEWSARAMA (10 out of 10 review)
“A new comic book hitting shelves this week imagines a full-scale revolt against the federal government in the state of California over President Donald Trump’s strict immigration policies.” —BREITBART
“While the series was written during the current political climate, writer Matteo Pizzolo says it is not a ‘Trump hit job.’” —SNOPES
“Radical…. A dystopia that feels far closer than many readers will probably be comfortable with.”—ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
CALEXIT “launched last week with a print run of 25,000 for its first issue. But within 24 hours, the book had sold out at the distribution level and at most major comic book retailers.” —CNN
“Never one to shy away from controversial topics, Black Mask Studios is wading deep into the current political tumult with its latest project: CALEXIT.” —CBR
“While series writer Matteo Pizzolo didn’t set out to create something polemical, he didn’t want to shy away from the real world, either.” —NPR ‘TAKE TWO’
CALEXIT “wants to inspire readers as much as it does depress them—each issue of the series will also include non-fictional material pointing readers to upcoming Senate and House seat midterm elections in 201, in an attempt to drive wider political engagement.”—io9
“Provocative.” —FORCES OF GEEK
“On point.” —SALON
“Engaging.”—COMIC CRUSADERS
“Calexit may sound a bit on the nose. After all, it’s a tale about the establishment of a breakaway Californian republic in the wake of a presidency not too dissimilar from our current one. But trust me, it works. There are no easy gags about Californians, no silly jabs at Trumpism, and no over-the-top satire of our current state of decline. Instead, the creators have opted to tell a terrifyingly straightforward suspense story about the intrigues and crackdowns that ensue when governments decay and societies rot. The scariest thing about Calexit is how lived-in it feels — after all, every dystopia is just an accurate description of how things are for other people somewhere in the world, and this story just reminds us that we’re always a hair’s breadth away from the very bad things that we assume only happen in failed states.”—VULTURE
“Since the election, many liberals have fantasized about a utopian scenario: California leaving the United States, Calexit. But for comic book writer Matteo Pizzolo, that dream is more of a dystopian nightmare.” —NPR ‘PRESS PLAY’
“Calexit #1 is a powerful, visceral, sometimes funny and sometimes hauntingly realistic piece of speculative fiction.” –GRAPHIC POLICY
“CALEXIT is the new face of resistance in comics, elbowing past incumbents and upstarts alike by prioritizing precision, clarity, and empathy over sound and fury.”—COMICOSITY, 10 out of 10
“A meticulously structured and shrewdly patient rebel yell of defiance.” —ALLCOMIC
“With California’s secession movement gaining momentum, it was only a matter of time before someone turned the state’s dissent into art.”—AV CLUB
“Aside from the intriguing ideas, the major allure of Calexit is how closely it (seemingly) mirrors the current political landscape, of course. Curiosity has been bubbling over the series ever since it was announced. The fanfare is so huge, in fact, that stores have reportedly sold out of copies within a day of its release.” —LAIST
“Matteo Pizzolo and Amancay Nahuelpan put the politics back into comics.”—BLEEDING COOL
“Comics meets social commentary – always a good idea.”—David Lloyd
“Caustically powerful.”—PASTE MAGAZINE
“Calexit promises to give readers a pathway back to a hopeful future in these tumultuous times.—BROKEN FRONTIER (Staff Pick)
“Terrifying.”—NJ.COM/ COMIC BOX