Post-apocalyptic science fiction is certainly in vogue in
comics right now, with a number of titles featuring this subgenre, such as East of West, the new Tank Girl series, the on-again/off-again
mini-series Zombies vs. Robots, and
the epic Wasteland, which is swiftly
approaching its conclusion. It seems
that, as the subgenre becomes more popular, people are looking for more ways to
make their post-apocalyptic fiction stand out, leading to bizarre imaginings
and oddball stories, both good and bad.
Dust: Withered Earth
collects issues #0-6 of the comic DUST,
telling the Western-inspired tale of two people travelling across the American
southwest in an attempt to get to San Francisco and save the world. Jim is a loner, who travels along with his
imaginary friend, while Deborah is part of a scientific group hoping to
re-establish crops in the area and provide food for the starving. Their journey takes them through desolate
land, dealing with larger than life vagabonds, crazed cannibals, and multiple
solicitations of prostitution.
Dust: Withered Earth
isn’t a bad story by any means, but its quirks seem less central to the story
than just a way to try to stand out from the pack of post-apocalyptic comics,
and the writing successfully tells the story without really ever gripping the
reader. The art, too proves to be a
little lackluster. The book could have
succeed if one of those two elements was better, but without that it just doesn’t
make itself worth going out of your way for.
Readers who are interested in the post-apocalyptic Western
may want to seek this out, but even in that sub-subgenre there are better
comics to seek out.
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