Longtime, critically-acclaimed comic book and video game writer William Harms (The Mafia III) debuts his next comic series White Sky in February, and it’s a top-tier post-apocalyptic first issue.
If you’re new around here, you’ll know all about how much we love a good dystopian comic; we’ve written about them extensively. Suffice to say, when we heard award-winning Mafia III writer William Harms was bringing a dystopian comic our way, it was very exciting news indeed.
Published by Image Comics, White Sky sets up an interesting premise from the outset. At its core, it is a ghost story, but rather than the ghost activity taking place in paranormal hotspots, it asks the question: What if the entire world is haunted?
The series is written by William Harms (two-time BAFTA nominated Mafia III, International Horror Guild Award finalist Impaler) with fan-favorite artist JP Mavinga and colorist Lee Loughridge (Standstill). The publisher cites the series as ideal for fans of The Last of Us, The Walking Dead, and 28 Days Later. Those comparisons set up huge expectations, but they’re absolutely vindicated.
White Sky tales place 5 years after an apocalyptic event that saw the sky turn white… and not long after, the world ended. Now Violet and her father, David, are driven from hiding and forced to cross the desolate remains of America toward the shattered ruins of San Francisco, chasing a grapevine rumour of refuge. However, traversing a land haunted by the dead, nowhere is safe for the living.
Issue #1 waste’s no time in getting stuck into the story; it takes place long after the outbreak, where the United States is already a desolate wasteland. The issue reads fast, utilising its post-apocalyptic imagery to tell the story rather than speech. Dialogue is kept to a minimum, and it works. Narratively, it shares similarities to Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, which again, is absolutely a compliment. The story is simple but compelling: loving father David and his daughter Violet are just trying to survive. The threat of the ghosts is very real. Naturally, given the nature of comics, where you don’t have sound to build tension, the ghosts in this comic are visible. Their design is chilling.
The issue drip-feeds lore. For instance, a circle of salt appears to keep the paranormal forces at bay. When action sequences happen, it’s thrilling. Series artist JP Mavinga brings the horror, from both paranormal threats and human evil. And on the side of sentimentality between the father and daughter protagonists, it delivers raw emotion.
Perhaps comparing this comic to The Last of Us is doing the comic a slight disservice. Not because The Last of Us is bad (quite the opposite, it’s phenomenal), but White Sky offers something completely unique. It’s a post-apocalyptic ghost story where ghosts aren’t restrained to certain paranormal hotspots, but they’re rampant everywhere. It’s a fascinating concept and a subversive take on the traditional ghost story.
For fans of post-apocalyptic survival fiction, this is an outstanding beginning. It takes a winning formula, adds a little originality, tweaks some things, and delivers on all fronts.
White Sky #1 launches in comic stores on Wednesday, February 18. This is one to add to your pull lists, folks!
