Independent Propaganda

Reviewed by Chris Beckett / Writer for Independent Propaganda

Published by Oni Press
Written by Antony Johnston
Art by Christopher Mitten
covers by Ben Templesmith
one-shot issues drawn by Carla Speed McNeil

WASTELAND Book 1: CITIES IN DUST
$11.95
160 pp.
reprints issues #1-6
ISBN: 1932664599
www.thebigwet.com

One of the best new series of 2006 came from Oni Press in the form of WASTELAND, birthed by the creative mind of Antony Johnston (THE LONG HAUL, ALAN MOORE’S THE COURTYARD) and the artful brush of Christopher Mitten (QUEEN & COUNTRY: DECLASSIFIED VOL. 3, LAST EXIT BEFORE TOLL). A company known for literate and diverse comics and graphic novels, this is the second continuing series published by Oni - alongside Greg Rucka’s critically-acclaimed QUEEN & COUNTRY - and it is a great read. Smartly written with beautiful art, this book is a must-have for any fan. With the second story arc beginning in April’s issue #8 and the first collection - “Cities in Dust” - arriving soon, I thought it time to take a closer look at this exciting new series.

100 years after the Big Wet, a cataclysmic flood that devastated the Earth, very little remains. Small hamlets - and a very few large cities - are spread out over the vast, arid plains where life resembles that of the mid-1800s in the American Old West. Technology has been lost to these people; what few artifacts they discover seem to owe more to magic than reality. There is no central government, and if one is to survive in this harsh world they must learn to trust those around them and return this faith in kind, for danger always lurks at the edges of these scraps of civilization.

Traveling the wastes is a task not lightly contemplated. Nomadic Sand-Eaters traverse the dry sands in packs, their fanged mouths butchering the English language, mirroring their deformed countenances. Unrelenting and undaunted, they attack all those braving the wastes, plundering their victims for whatever they may be carrying. Sun worshippers say the Sand-Eaters used to be human. They believe the Sandies spurned Mother Sun and as retribution she burnt their skin, creating the abominations they now are. Who’s to say different in this vicious land with a lost past?

Despite the harsh terrain, there are other travelers of the wastes; ones that are human. Called Ruin-Runners by some, they are the few brave enough and resourceful enough to navigate the barren countryside alone. Michael is one such nomad. Keeping his own counsel and indifferent to others, he finds himself in the village of Providens. There to trade the spoils of his travels for Newbegin cash, he brings word of the Sand-Eaters in the area while bartering with Doc and Abi, the sheriff. Believing no Sandies to be within a day’s walk of the town, the two scoff at this notion. But that proves to be the town’s undoing as a large pack of Sand-Eaters attack that night, killing many of the townsfolk while setting fire to the village itself, leaving those survivors without shelter, food, or supplies. They will have to make their way on foot to Newbegin. It is the nearest city and it is seven days away.

Unknown to the refugees of Providens, the political turmoil that has been seething just under the surface in Newbegin is heating to a boil. The Lord Founder, who has not aged in the eighty years of his reign, is working to consolidate more power to himself while suppressing the rights of the Sunners, a religious sect dismissed by many in the city. Primate Heddor, a member of Newbegin’s ruling council, feels it necessary to speak out for the Sunner population. Sunners are peaceful, many are already slaves, and Heddor worries that increased persecution of their kind could be harmful to the city. Believing he has some support among the council, Heddor is proven wrong when the Lord Founder frames him and sends Heddor to the slave compound. Heddor looks to his fellow members of the Council as he is marched away, but they say nothing and turn their heads in shame. This is the political reality Abi and her group are walking into as they continue to move across the desert.

After the Sandies’ assault, Michael leaves and Abi, tacitly accepted as leader, looks to Jakob, who led their trading party, and Doc, who ran the trading post, for support and guidance. They soon find themselves in trouble when they are beset upon by wolves, but Michael - who must have been keeping watch on them the whole time - shows up to assist and helps find them passage with a large caravan. But things are never exactly as they seem and can quickly go from bad to worse on this whispering desert. The ragtag group leaves the Caravan after discovering its secret cargo, and finds travel across the wastes more difficult than even they had expected. Ultimately, they make their way, battered and bruised, to the expansive city of Newbegin, built in tiers up the side of a huge mountain. Entering the gates, where they believe salvation is awaiting them, they discover that not to be the case. As they are led through the tunnels beneath the city, they come to realize this is only the beginning of worse things to come.

Conceiving a post-apocalyptic future where the people need to hack out life in a harsh, barren wilderness, Johnston has created a fully realized world that feels genuine from its brick and mortar foundation up to the winding spires that reach for the sky. Mysteries abound - from the unintelligible old language, the Tongue, to Abi’s strange connection to the Ruin-Runner Michael - which Johnston teases out deftly within the book while masterfully driving the narrative forward. Using sharp dialogue that mirrors the harsh wasteland, Johnston reveals character through the people’s actions and words, never cheating his audience or talking down to them. All of the people in this future dystopia are unique and they react in a very “human” way that readers will be able to identify with. This also makes for very dramatic storytelling as people, especially ones in tense situations, are not prone to rational acts or easy decisions. By mining the foibles and idiosyncrasies common to all of us, Johnston adds depth to the storytelling while allowing the tale to progress in a natural, unforced manner. Equally adept at writing tense action sequences or quiet moments between two characters, this is a series that showcases all of Johnston’s talent, a result of the hard work he has put in over the past several years in journalism, prose, and comics.

Of course, WASTELAND would still be a nagging thought at the back of Johnston’s mind without the artistic talents of Christopher Mitten. His stark linework is a perfect complement to the harsh, tense story Johnston is sharing with his readers. Evoking the feeling of this post-apocalyptic Earth perfectly, Mitten’s artwork continues to grow with each issue. His storytelling skills are extremely good for somebody that is so relatively new to the medium, and they continue to expand with each installment. Mitten seems as comfortable filling a page with marauding Sandies as he does eliciting a tender moment between Abi and Jakob. And there is a section of issue two which delves into the history of the cataclysm through a religious filter, as told by a Sun worshipper, where Mitten utilizes digital ‘painting’ and toning in Photoshop to create something completely different and beautiful. His artwork during this sequence perfectly captures the mood of antiquity and mythological undertones that accompany the tale. An experiment that could have easily backfired if handled poorly, its success will hopefully open this series up for more experiments of this sort in the future.

WASTELAND is an epic in the making, and one of the few pieces of new fiction - in any medium - worthy of that label. Fans of good science fiction who enjoy thoughtful writing with tense action will want to pick this book up. Each chapter reveals something new about this harsh world and the people inhabiting it, and leaves one wanting for more. And repeated readings expose hidden facts and connections that may have gone unnoticed before, but mean so much more in the broader context of the series as a whole. Johnston also includes prose pieces at the back of the book, only a page long, that delve into the history and culture of this strange new world more fully making for a richer, more satisfying experience. Cloaked in stunning covers painted by the incomparable Ben Templesmith, Antony Johnston and Chris Mitten are providing their audience with the best work of their respective careers, and the reward for fans is that rare merging of artists that produces an amazing piece of art to be enjoyed on many different levels.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Chris Beckett was born in Down East Maine – the real “Down East” not that advertised one falling somewhere in the middle of the state – in the year Nixon was re-elected. With such an inauspicious beginning, things looked bleak for the boy. But, growing up within a five-minute walk of Canada offered him opportunities unavailable elsewhere, such as the enjoyment of ketchup flavored potato chips with lime rickey soda and mastering the proper usage of the term ‘eh.’ He eventually went on to college, received a degree in elementary education, and lived on a small Atlantic island for two years before putting his higher learning to use as a sports retail manager in the greater Bangor area, home to Stephen King. In his spare time he enjoys reading, writing, (though not ‘rithmetic), and playing hide-and-seek with his two sons, Tristen and Colin – the center of his world. His wife – second and final – tolerates his idiosyncrasies and pleads with you to contact him at chris_writes@hotmail.com so that she might finally gain some free time for herself.

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