Happy Hour

Overview

In a near-future America, happiness isn’t just a right—it’s the law. A timely satire by superstar writer Peter Milligan (X-Statix, The Prisoner) and artist Michael Montenat (Dominion, Hellraiser Annual).

In future America, being happy isn’t just a right—it’s the law. While the Joy Police brutally enforce the cheery code, two young people go on the run, searching for a haven of melancholy where they can safely bask in the blues. A timely tale by superstar writer Peter Milligan (X-Statix, The Prisoner) and artist Michael Montenat (Dominion, Hellraiser Annual).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781952090059
Publisher:	AHOY Comics
Publication date:	09/07/2021
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	1,141,364
Product dimensions:	6.75(w) x 10.25(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

One-time Entertainment Weekly Man of the Year Peter Milligan was at the forefront of the revolution in comics for a more sophisticated, adult audience. Shade, the Changing Man for Vertigo offered a skewed look at American culture, while Enigma, Face and Rogan Gosh pushed the boundaries of what comic books could do. The hugely-popular X-Statix was a radical reworking of the X-Men paradigm that led to controversy when Milligan tried to recruit the late Diana Prince of Wales into his celebrity-obsessed bunch of heroes; described by Kevin Smith (Clerks, etc.) as “the most well-observed scholarly analysis of media-manipulation filtered through a pop-culture lens ever committed to the page." While the Princess Diana controversy raged, Milligan was perhaps the most hated man in Britain—at least among Daily Mail readers.

Milligan was the longest-running writer of the cult horror comic Hellblazer, and his take on Human Target inspired the TV series. His latest works include the critical hit Britannia, about an Ancient Roman detective, a retelling of The Mummy for Hammer/Titan, and the surreal Kid Lobotomy for IDW. Currently he is writing a new take on the cult TV series The Prisoner for Titan. Milligan has written several screenplays.

Editorial Reviews

08/30/2021

Jerry Stephens wakes up from a coma in an America where happiness is literally the law in this spiky satire of the safe-space zeitgeist from Milligan (the Enigma series). Government-mandated good cheer is enforced by lobotomy, leeches, videos of playful puppies, and electric shock prods wielded by the Joy Police. Even a five-dollar bill boasts Lincoln with a wide grin. Stephens’s car accident shook the forced-happy grin off him, and he’s put into a reconditioning center. However, he escapes along with the equally disgruntled Kim, and together the grumpy, occasionally romantic duo drive cross-country (in a van decorated as a clown) in search of a rumored sanctuary of free thought—only to find the commune is just as fascist in enforcing being bummed out. A climatic shoot-out between the despondent and the overjoyed comes to a head with the discovery of a different and perhaps even more depressing society. The script’s snappy dialogue breezes through wildly broad-humored, sneeringly realistic art by Montenat (The Last Sacrifice) with details such as dirt masquerading as candy. With its mix of black humor and over-the-top absurdity, the social commentary will strike a chord for fans of Howard the Duck and Transmetropolitan. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

A timely and necessary story.... Part One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and part 1984, Happy Hour is a biting satire that explores societal pressures to project false happiness. Written by Peter Milligan, with art by Michael Montenat, it is a comic series that seamlessly melds the writer’s ideas with the artist’s designs, with the biting commentary and dialogue nicely met by the frenetic art style."

Insights Mag - Jonathan Foye

"Leave it to Peter Milligan to come up with something as wildly entertaining and terrifyingly topical as Happy Hour. Alongside artist Michael Montenat, Milligan launches this series with a high-concept dystopian hook that's definitely attention-grabbing, but it's what the team does next that makes it really worth paying attention to. ... This kind of concept represents an artistic tightrope, one that not all artists would be able to navigate, but Montenat clears the bar with room to spare. ... This feels like a world-class comics satire in the making."

SYFY WIRE - Matthew Jackson