Writer: Jason Aaron / Penciller: Alexandre Tefenkgi (Issues #1-#5) / Nick Dragotta (Additional Pages, #1, #3, #5) / Colour Artist: Lee Loughridge (Issues #1-#5) / Rico Renzi (Additional Pages, #1, #3, #5) / Letterer: AndWorld Design / Collects: Once Upon A Time At The End Of The World #1-#5 / Trade Paperback / Boom Studios
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Review by Paul Dunne
17th June 2023 (Released: 7th June 2023)
The Pitch: A Post-Apocalyptic Fable Told In Three Parts For Fans of Saga! In this decades-spanning post-apocalyptic tale, Maceo and Mezzy have never met anyone like each other, and they'll need all the help they can get to survive a planet ravaged by environmental catastrophe. "Love in the Wasteland" kicks off the first arc of this epic trilogy that spans a lifetime as the dark mysteries of a ruined world and their own stark differences tear at the threads holding Mezzy and Maceo together. As they endure the horrors of plastic tornadoes and frozen sludge, Maceo proves to be more than just a burden, and they make an unlikely connection. But to their peril… they might not be as alone as they thought… New York Times bestselling, Eisner and Harvey Award-winning writer Jason Aaron (Thor, The Avengers, Southern Bastards) launches his most ambitious original series to date with three distinct artistic partners - Eisner Award-winning artist Alexandre Tefenkgi (The Good Asian), acclaimed artists Leila del Duca (Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed, Sleepless), and Nick Dragotta (East of West, Ghost Cage) - to take on a vision of the end of the world that's brutal and nostalgic, whimsical and grounded… and ultimately, timeless.
Rejoice, dear reader! Time again for another review where The Chief (for that is I), talks about the end of the world and how it is in fact, already ending. And this book knows it too. We're in a giant rubbish tip that it is thinly recognisable as the modern world, or at the very least, the world after the World. Into this rows Mezzy, once a 'Ranger', now adrift in a world of shit. She meets Maceo, a boy who has everything he needs. Except for a friend. Together, reluctantly, but together, they go wandering through the wasteland...
Rowing through a world of shit.
OUATATEOTW is a strange book. You might feel you're in a version of the real world, the world as you know it before the end comes raining down. But there are often nods to an almost alternate world, or at least one poisoned by radiation. Imagine if Mad Max was only populated by mutants and the kids from Beyond Thunderdome, who just happened to have some of the smarts of The Goonies. Picturing it? Good. You're close to what this book is. But underneath ll this, another animal stirs. The biggest enemies here may be structure, organisations... Civilisation. The book speaks to the culty nature of those organisations and 'official' bodies as the Wasteland Rangers pursue Mezzy and Maceo, attempting to impose on them a structure and veneer of normalcy that at its core, may have nothing to do with living but solely surviving. And there is a difference. Throughout their journey, Mezzy teaches Maceo to survive, whilst he teaches her how to live and enjoy that life. Such as it can be in a wasteland at the end of the world, but hey, fun is where you find it. Maceo is an irritating protagonist, but one that grows on you, the way he grows on Mezzy.
A character that grows on you.
By the time you hit #3, all semblance of reality starts to fade as an older Maceo reveals some nasty tricks up his sleeve. In the Nick Dragotta-pencilled addition pages that feature in the odd-numbered issues, we see Maceo as a much more dangerous proposition, with a different set of ideals from his earlier incarnation. By the time we reach the end of the arc, we see how much of Mezzy has rubbed off on him. The book is largely about finding love and companionship even as the world ends around you. And how clinging to those shreds is the last chance you have to be your own person, the last bit of humanity that may be left in you. That's important. Especially because there's an old-school judgment and prejudice running through many of the characters. The apocalypse in OUATATEOTW is almost biblical, with rats, rivers of blood, and seas that boil. No wonder there are so many cults. Did the biblical nature of the people arise from the apocalypse or did they make an apocalypse to suit their god-like judgments? The Wasteland Rangers live under the illusion that the things men my age might call wokeism are what ruined the world. Well, that and processed foods so they're not all wrong. One of the most interesting things about the book are the things it doesn't do: It absolutely doesn't attempt to explain how the world went to shit in any whatsoever. You don't see the panic as seas boil, as the earthquakes, as the sun burns you. You just have to live with what's left, the same as the characters. You also don't see any attempt to save what's left. At best, the characters are just moving against the landscape, picking at it like magpies. There's a touch of Ballard, with Maceo holed up in his tower, but as I mentioned earlier, this feels more like a slower-moving Fury Road, with the Immortan Joe substitutes not catching up with Maceo until many years after the story we're wrapped up in has ended. With new comics set before, after, or during the apocalypse hitting the shelves every week, this helps distinguish his story and that makes it all the better. As with today, there are characters who want to stamp out any kind of otherness, any kind of sexuality, and especially sexuality that tilts away from the norms.
The end of the world remains a mystery.
Aaron has written an interesting piece, due to play out in three acts of five issues a piece, each drawn by a different artist. It's a nice concept and one that means we'll actually see the books on time, as scheduled. He creates an unbelievable world on the one hand, with its mutants and monsters, but on the other, it's a glimpse of where we're going. Our world, full of minor cults, burning up, laid to waste day by day. He handles the meet-cute, rom-com aspects surprisingly well given the darker creator-owned books he's written before. He resists the urge to spill the beans on the central mystery, leaving you wanting more. Tefenkgi creates a cluttered panel, never giving the characters breathing room. The detritus of the world chokes the frame. His line is fast, creating movement and dynamic energy even in the book's quieter moments. There's detail there, too. But just enough to give you the picture and move you on. It's a busy book. Loughridge creates a really good palette for the comic, really selling the burned, blown-out days and cold nights the story takes place over. In the additional future pages, Dragotta brings the horror, the world worse than it was before, and genuinely disturbing. The colours by Renzi embellish the grotesque nature of these pages. AndWorld's letters are great, making you feel like you can hear the barely broken voice of Maceo and the hushed, steady tones of Mezzy, accentuating her cold, killer nature. If this is how the world ends, I'm strangely looking forward to seeing what comes next, with Aaron's next collaborators. The struggle for love and survival goes on... for some of us at least!
Once Upon A Time At The End Of The World Book 1: Love In The Wasteland (TP) is available now. Buy the complete set of the first five issues here.
