Thursday, December 23, 2021

Comics Review: White Ash and Radio Apocalypse

I don’t want to write this . . . again.  Yet here I am writing about being disappointed by a couple of Indy comics for what seems like the umpteenth time.  This may truly be the end of this experiment in comics diversity.  It’s bad enough paying high prices for a comics, reading said bad comic, and then feeling compelled to write about the bad comics.  It’s self-flagellation on top of self-punishment. 

 

I was at Zia Comics looking for a couple of Archie Christmas comics that were solicited for this week on the Archie website.  Given that I’ve been disappointed several times looking for Archies at the shop, I went down on a Wednesday still hoping for the best.  They didn’t stock them.  I officially give up.  The new Wonder Girl was there, but they weren’t drawn by Joelle Jones, so I passed on it.  In lieu for that and without finding any interesting trades, I picked up a couple comics with the most interesting covers.  It’s a poor strategy for finding quality comics. 

 

Before going to the comics store, I went by the used bookstore to find a couple of books for dad for Christmas.  I found a big book on painting instruction that he was asking for and a large photobook with landscapes for him to paint.  These books were heavy enough to qualify as an upper body workout for carrying a long distance, which was what happened as I’d walked there from work and back.  The cost of those two huge used books with store credit was nearly the same as these two comics.  After reading these comics, I’m now writing about them to complete the torture.



Radio Apocalypse #1

Heck of an eye-catching cover, you have to admit. 



The artwork inside is also dramatically punk, if not perhaps best described as drastically punk.  The character designs are almost indecipherable at times in their very loose, sketchy style.  I think this is an artistic choice rather than a lack of skill.  (If I were drawing this comic, I know it would be from a lack of skill.)  What makes the artwork appealing, even in its roughness, is the dynamic color palette.  If you were a colorist, this could be inspirational material.

 

As for the story, it’s the apocalypse again.  Survivors are living in a shanty town surrounded by a multitude of dangerous creatures.  There’s a radio station broadcasting to the wastes run by an old man.  He takes in a thief, who had attempted to raid his compound, as a helper.  A lesbian couple (because what other kinds of couples are there in comics these days, unless it’s a hetro-mixed race couple?) is trying to make it to town, but one is left behind.  The girl meets the old man in town, and he plays a song for the other girl in a dramatic ending.    



I’m not going to say it’s trite, but it’s nothing terribly original to this point.  There is lots of emotion in the story.  There are stakes set in a desperate struggle, even inside the town.  It’s hard to say where this is going, but it seems unlikely I’ll be getting another issue. 

 

It’s not bad.  It is interesting looking and the story and setting aren’t terrible.  Really I question if the store will carry another issue or will there be another issue, so it’s hard to get too involved.  It was a longshot I’d be getting my $4 out of any comic to begin with, much less an obscure Indy title.  The publisher, Vault, lists several trades of other titles in the back.  They seem to be pitches for movies or TV shows, which describes most Indy titles.

 



White Ash Season Two #1

This is a Scout Comic.  I’ve bought one of their kids comics before.  This comic was noticeably thicker than a standard comic, which explains the $5 price tag.  There are more pages in it, but much of the bulk of the comic may come from the cover.  It is the thickest cover I’ve ever encountered on a comic.  This thing might stop a bullet. 

I wish this were Season One #1, because I have no idea what’s going on in this.  This issue assumes the reader has familiarity with the characters and the setting.  There’s no recap page even any backtracking to explain the previous “season.”  It’s set in the real world, but there’s an elf girl and a half-dwarf guy.  There’s a clan of dwarf miners and something like trolls hunting in the woods.  There’s a murder mystery going on maybe?  There’s some romance.  I don’t know how any of this fits together.

 


The artwork is in an appealing cartoony style.  It’s Darwyn Cooke-inspired.  The inside artwork isn’t as polished as the cover though.  The coloring is excellent.  While I couldn’t quite make sense of the story, at least the visual storytelling flows well.  The “Mature Readers” tag may refer to a single use of the F-word or some suggestions of sex.  There’s no nudity.       

 


This was just disappointing.  This page was literally almost all of the action in the comic.  I’d so hoped it would be fun and adventurous, especially for the extra price.  The cover was so promising.  Even if I was familiar with the material, basically nothing happens in this issue.  It just sets up future issues.  Unlike the other comic, the stakes of the conflict in this one aren’t clear.  There’s nothing enticing enough in the issue to make me want to get another. 

 

Once again in the back, there’s plenty more trades available from the company.  These comics are considered cheap pilots or proof of concept for movies and TV shows.  Much like the Indy publishers, who keep hoping one of their titles turns into a hit (i.e. Walking Dead), I keep hoping one of these Indy purchases will turn out to be a good read.  The chances of either happening are very low to this point.

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