I don't know if I didn't not like the book, as much as I didn't like what it says about us...

I got this on the cheap, but I'd best not refer to it as a steal: from 2019, Shoplifters Will Be Liquidated #1, "Workplace Injury" Written by Patrick Kindlon, art by Stefano Simeone.

It's an intriguing set-up: the story opens at the Caucasus SuperStore "Flagship Retail Location and Home Office," a massive combination of Amazon, Wal-Mart, and the sanctified virtues of late-stage capitalism. Loss prevention employee Nussbaum is our primary antagonist, protecting the store with a zealot's brutality: his supervisor chastises him for "false-postitives" and bad optics, but Nussbaum defends his record and argues a fatality rate of less than one percent is pretty good. It's more of a rebuke than any serious trouble, and his instincts for spotting shoplifters are strong. Still, his day takes a turn when the company president, Provo, visits the sporting goods section, intent on getting a gun and killing himself after a break-up. With Provo's assistant's urging, Nussbaum knocks out Provo; which leaves him wondering if his job was in jeopardy: tailing a shoplifter, Nussbaum confesses he's a "company man" and a bit emotional. But, he falls through a secret trapdoor, discovering a massive cavern of cities underneath the store. This is not met charitably by Nussbaum.

There is probably more than a bit of Judge Dredd in the DNA here: although he is occasionally sympathetic, Nussbaum is far from heroic; and the dystopia is less apocalyptic and more corporate. A subplot through the rest of the series is two executives plotting to use Provo's instability to short-sell the stock and make billions; while Provo himself turns his suicidal tendencies into a new product line selling the "right to die." Beneath the store, there are various factions that may not all get along, but seem to be living relatively peaceably until Nussbaum shows up: he sees them all as parasites, and as such is at best not overly concerned for their well-being. He's a true believer in his store, which makes him dangerous as all get out. Still, I didn't like even the likeable characters in this one, which may have been by design: even in completely checking out of capitalism, you are still affected by capitalism, aren't you? 

Still, worth a read. Aftershock has been doing some fun stuff; I need to get the trade for The Man Who F#%&ed Up Time...