Once Upon a Time at the End of the World Vol. 1: Love in the Wasteland
Jason Aaron, writer; Alexandre Tefenkgi, illustrator; Lee Loughridge, colorist; with Nick Dragotta, illustrator and Rico Renzi, colorist
BOOM! Studios, 2023
There are dystopian stories, and then there's the End of the World. The story opens with our heroine Mezzy sailing through glaciers of melted plastic, fields of green glowing ice, and above wild infernos raging in the deep (complete with a sea scabbed with ash and pockmarked with geysers of gushing black fire). Nothing living, which was good news apart from the food problem. But when her boat springs a leak she is forced to seek refuge in a skyscraper. Our hero Maceo almost uses his defenses against her but decides to save her from attacking mutant creatures instead. He tells her he is alone in the tower, and gives her a tour.
She turns down his invitation to stay and exits via the back door. But before long he comes afer her, loaded down with a huge backpack full of supplies and an endless supply of chatter. At first he needs a lot of looking after–it is his first time out in the world, after all–but soon he begins to demostrate useful skills. He really is an inventor, capable of incredible feats using scrap parts. Gradually the two come to care for each other, and their love story is the core of the story.
But there are other parts to the narrative that hint at a larger narrative. The first are the "Years later" flash-forward sequences, which shows a future with an aged, battle-hardened Mace, who has apparently become estranged from Mezzy. The second is the Wasteland Rangers, the survivalist cult than Mezzy escaped from. They have been after Mezzy, and when they catch up with the pair at the climax of this collection everything changes.
What a great beginning to the series! Alexandre Tefenkgi and Lee Loughridge's art fits the narrative perfectly, from surreal creatures and environments to character designs. The flash-forwards feature a contrasting expressionistic style from Nick Dragotta and Rico Renzi. It will be fascinating to see where the story goes next. The collection concludes with several Script to Page examples and Character Designs.
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