“Terrifyingly straightforward.”

“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.”

“Hopeful and optimistic.”

“CALEXIT is at the forefront of a range of comic books reacting to the current political climate. Far from a grim portrait of a country under siege... a hopeful and optimistic message about people and their relationship to political power.” 

“Really spectacular.”

“Calexit, a new comic from Black Mask Studios, portrays a near-future world in which the state of California is in open rebellion against the Trump-led U.S. government. Militants clad in black bloc openly clash with federal troops to defend immigrants, painkiller addiction is widespread, and environmental decay is clear. Writer Matteo Pizzolo and artist Amancay Nahuelpan combine these elements to create a dystopia that feels far closer than many readers will probably be comfortable with.”

“Brilliant”

“Calexit Is a Must Read Political Dystopia with a Twist of Hope.
Black Mask Studios delivers a brilliant piece of political dystopian fiction: Calexit…
For all that though, Calexit doesn’t feel like a depressing, inescapable horror; instead, it feels like a reality that has forced citizens to resist, to fight. Unlike watching the news, Calexit doesn’t leave you feeling weighed down—in fact, it’s just the opposite.
No matter what we wish, the next few years aren’t going anywhere. In the meantime, we have work to do, and political art like Calexit can only help to energize us and inspire us to challenge the current regime.”

“Highly Recommended”

Publishers Weekly Starred Review
”This topical ongoing series, collected in a first volume, presents a scenario in which a thinly veiled Donald Trump is reelected and orders the deportation of all immigrants who are living in California illegally. California subsequently secedes and becomes a sanctuary state, leading the government to cut off resources and declare martial law as the region divides into several disparate factions. Fugitive refugee Zora Donato, a resistance fighter with a half-million-dollar bounty on her head, enlists the reluctant services of drug dealer/courier/smuggler Jamil to transport her to a safe house. They’re dogged by Homeland Security enforcer Father Rossie, a sadistic nationalist. The insightful script is drawn with taut, four-color artwork, as Pizzolo (Godkiller) and Nahuelpan (Young Terrorists) weave a tense too-close-to-home nightmare with visuals that ground it in gritty detail. The collection is supplemented with interviews with the author and artist, a cover gallery, and other materials that bring into focus the political climate and factors that inspired the series. This rock-solid dystopian comic is thought-provoking and highly recommended.”

“Superb”

“Wow.
First things first: this is not a wish-fulfillment fantasy about an ascendant California living in splendid isolation from the thick-fingered vulgarians of America. It is a story about an incredibly messy, violent ‘separation’ sparked by all-too-plausible anti-immigrant policies enacted by a far-right demagogue President's Attorney General, in which California has splintered into many shifting and confusing pieces. It's not wish fulfillment: it's warning — and a scarily imminent and salient warning at that.
But that's not all: it's superb. The book is so fast moving, with such outstanding characters, such intense action — like the second coming of Brian Wood's DMZ — that I read it all in one sitting, at a coffee shop patio across the street from Secret Headquarters, using my phone's flashlight as the sun set around me.”

“Hits your brain like a slug to the chest.”

“You finish it and your ears get a little hot.”
- Newsarama

“Half ’warning of a possible future’ and half ’spot-on reflection of the present.’”

-The Hollywood Reporter

“The new face of resistance in comics.”

“Elbowing past incumbents and upstarts alike by prioritizing precision, clarity, and empathy over sound and fury.”
- Comicosity

“Caustically powerful.”

-Paste Magazine

“Prescient.”

“Not all of it is as relentlessly grim as it sounds.”
- io9

“A meticulously structured and shrewdly patient rebel yell of defiance.”

-All Comic