Elmer TP Gerry Alanguilan SLG Publishing 1st print NM What If Chicken gained Sentience?

Description

Elmer Paperback
by Gerry Alanguilan (Author)

Elmer is a window into a world where chickens have suddenly acquired the intelligence and consciousness of humans, where they can now consider themselves a race no different than browns, black, or whites. Recognizing themselves to be sentient, the inexplicably evolved chickens push to attain rights for themselves as the newest members of the human race.

Originally self-published by the author in the Philippines, this is the first US edition of the book.

Jake Gallo is an angry young man, frustrated at his lack of employment and easily provoked by perceived slights. It is not until we are several pages into the book that we discover that he is also a talking, thinking chicken. He is no anomaly; decades earlier, all of chickenkind suddenly gained intelligence and speech; by the 2000s they are legally human. Jake’s father’s illness and subsequent death lead Jake to read his father’s account of the early days after the change; this in turn allows Alanguilan to show the reader the often horrific sequence of events that followed chickenkind’s sudden elevation to sapience. Used to seeing chickens as food or worse, humans are not shown at their best as they react, often violently, to this sudden alteration of the natural order.

The gorgeous b&w art, full of lush pen work and strong expressions, takes what should be a self-evidently ludicrous proposition and somehow imbues it with plausibility, drawing readers into a brutal, blood-soaked tale of a transformed species and the outrage and savagery of their former owners. A peculiar but engaging work that deserves attention.

Publisher SLG Publishing (Nov 23, 2010)
Paperback 144 pages
ISBN-13 978-1593622046
Weight 8.8 ounces
Dimensions 6.3 x 0.5 x 8.9 inches

This book tells the fictional story of Elmer, an ordinary chicken who becomes intelligent. It tells, in comic book format, what life is like for Elmer and his family and friends when an completely unexpected incident occurs. What would happen if all the chickens in the world became intelligent and could learn to talk to people?

The story follows Elmer and his family through the changes in society as mankind struggles to adapt. A bird they once ate can now speak and reason as people do. It’s shocking in some parts, sentimental in others. The story develops in a realistic manner over several years. It may seem like science fiction or something that belongs in The Twilight Zone but it’s interesting.

Near mint, 1st print.