If you look back to our review of News From the Fallout #1, you’ll find that while we enjoyed it, we weren’t blown away. However, with the arrival of issue #2, the series is starting to show its genius.
News From the Fallout is published by Image Comics and created by the esteemed team of writer Chris Condon (That Texas Blood, Enfield Gang Massacre, Ultimate Wolverine) and artist Jeffrey Alan Love (The Last Battle at the End of the World, The Thousand Demon Tree). The series is set in 1962 Nevada after a nuclear bomb test goes awry unleashing a contaminate into the atmosphere that turns people rotten. Otis Fallows, a private in the U.S. Army who is present for the test and is the only known survivor, flees the secret army base in search of a safe haven—but does such a place exist?
Issue #1 was very much an origin story for the fallout. By the end of the issue, he sought relative sanctuary in a diner. Issue #2 takes place almost entirely inside the diner, as tensions rise and paranoia sinks in. The gloomy art adds a sense of claustrophobia as Fallows ardently tries to make the locals believe they’re about to be attacked. Cliquey and festering in his own ignorance, local and hot head “Mad Rob” Collins taunts Fallows. This issue has the same effect as a box episode. It has very little space to breathe — which is a great benefit.
There’s something very Walking Dead about this story; it’s psychological; it’s intense fighting between people rather than the monsters outside. And when the monsters do arrive, the outcome is as emotionally devastating and brutal as you’d imagine.
Sure, there paranoia elements are incredibly cliche, but there’s not really any hiding from them in a story like this. It’s tense, suspenseful, and claustrophobic — made even more breathtaking by the gorgeously gritty and stylistic black and white art from Jeffrey Alan Love. Honestly, the eerie, haunting and atmospheric artwork is some of the best I’ve seen in the comics medium for quite some time. There’s only so many superlatives I can use.
After what I found to be an average debut, I was blown away by this issue.
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
