Writer: Marc Guggenheim
Art: Justin Greenwood
Colors: Dan Jackson.
The story begins with a hostile alien invasion which forces the earth’s inhabitants to seek shelter underground – or on the run – where they survive for almost 10 years. When the alien battle heard outside suddenly ceases, people begin re-emerging into what is left of the world: a barren wasteland, the remnants of civilization obliterated and rendered alien after so many years of occupation by a race of “bugs”.

After the departure of the bugs from the world, the survivors discover new antagonists. Our now dwindled group of characters find their latest fears manifesting not only in the form of road agents: they can also be their own worst enemies. They also come to realise that the long forgotten government of the Old America has been made obsolete, with a sinister new form looming in the destroyed capital, Washington D.C.

The latest release in the series is issue 5, which answers a question that followers have been pondering since issue 2 – what is in the bank! It also aids to develop a main character further by revealing part of his past, a key piece of information that lends clarity to a small event from an earlier issue. Another feature of this issue is a small side story called “Resurrection Tales”, added at the end of the comic, of which there are previous (but unrelated) instalments in issues 2 and 3.

The reader is exposed to the story from many points of view. It is told in a flash-back/ flash-forward style, compelling the reader to weave together the fragments and snippets painstakingly offered throughout each issue. Guggenheim takes advantage of the bombshells that he plants at key points in each issue, leaving the reader breathless and gasping for more.

Guggenheim uses very intense dialogue to put across the harshness and brutality of his post-invasion reality. He centres the action of the comic on a few individuals, some who have a link to each other which is revealed later in the series. This intensity coupled with the authoritative style in which Justin Greenwood has drawn makes for a compelling and confrontational read. It will be interesting to see where Marc Guggenheim will take these characters further into the series.
If you liked TV series’ such as Lost and Battlestar Galactica, or comics such as Y-The last man, then this is for you.