When his father dies, Jake inherits a diary chronicling a struggle for equal rights that spans twenty years.

It was favorably compared to George Orwell's Animal Farm and received critical acclaim for its art and seriousness.

Alanguilan grew up in San Pablo, Laguna, a city in a fairly rural area of the Philippines where chickens roam freely through the streets.

[6] Alanguilan also drew on an event from his teenage years, when he found his father's diary and read about the death of Gerry's uncle Dennis.

[1] The story was fully planned when he began work on the first issue, and he wrote it in English because he wanted an international audience.

This self-promotion led the book to get good reviews from well-known writers like Steven Grant and Neil Gaiman and a widely read interview with Tom Spurgeon on "The Comics Reporter.

"[1] The Spurgeon interview led the entertainment megastore Forbidden Planet to order copies directly from Alanguilan and promote it with special offers.

[7] After the series was complete, Alanguilan offered all four issues in a special box set release, followed by a Filipino edition trade paperback in 2009.

[1][11] After Alanguilan exchanged emails with publisher Dan Vado, Slave Labor Graphics released Elmer as a 144-page trade paperback in North America.

When his father, Elmer, falls ill, Jake returns to his childhood home in the remote countryside (hinted though never explicitly stated to be in Alanguilan's native Philippines).

Jake glances through it and realizes it is a record of events after chickens gained human intelligence, beginning with Elmer's memories of the first day.

Millions of healthy chickens are killed by humans to prevent the spread of the disease, and Ben hides Elmer and Helen again.

Once the flu is contained, humanity expresses regret for its rash actions and Elmer writes a scathing editorial about the panic.

As he reaches the end of his father's diary, there is an entry detailing a time Jake was attacked by some human boys as a child.

Jake turns his father’s diary into a successful book and begins dating the actress he met on the movie set.

[1][11][14][15] The major United Kingdom retailer Forbidden Planet offered the book at a discount because they felt it was something that should be read, promoting it to customers by comparing it to George Orwell's Animal Farm and saying Alanguilan uses "the child fable-like idea ... to comment on morality, family and prejudice.

[3][7] In an interview with PhilStar Global, famed writer Neil Gaiman described the work as "heartbreaking and funny", adding that it is "beautifully drawn.