The Massive, Vol. 1: Black Pacific

The Massive #1

by Brian Wood, Kristian Donaldson (Illustrator), Garry Brown (Illustrator)

In this first volume of Brian Wood’s new, sprawling postapocalyptic epic, follow the crew of the Kapital from the flooded remnants of Hong Kong to Unalaska, with stops in Antarctica and Mogadishu, as post-Crash ethics and economics are explored across a broken world.

Collecting issues #1–#6 of the series, plus three eight page stories from Dark Horse Presents.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Fiction, Post Apocalyptic, Graphic Novels Comics

176 pages, Paperback

First published April 2, 2013

About the author

Brian Wood's history of published work includes over fifty volumes of genre-spanning original material.

From the 1500-page future war epic DMZ, the ecological disaster series The Massive, the American crime drama Briggs Land, and the groundbreaking lo-fi dystopia Channel Zero he has a 20-year track record of marrying thoughtful world-building and political commentary with compelling and diverse characters.

His YA novels - Demo, Local, The New York Four, and Mara - have made YALSA and New York Public Library best-of lists. His historical fiction - the viking series Northlanders, the American Revolution-centered Rebels, and the norse-samurai mashup Sword Daughter - are benchmarks in the comic book industry.

He's written some of the biggest franchises in pop culture, including Star Wars, Terminator, RoboCop, Conan The Barbarian, Robotech, and Planet Of The Apes. He’s written number-one-selling series for Marvel Comics. And he’s created and written multiple canonical stories for the Aliens universe, including the Zula Hendricks character.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s another dystopian, post-apocalyptic nightmare from Brian “The Future is gonna suck” Wood, author of DMZ, another the-future-is-going-to-Hell-in-a-handbasket series.

In this one, severe climate changes wreak havoc on the world’s ecosystem, economy and governments. The story follows the crew of The Kapital, formerly an environmentalist ship, as it navigates the oceans looking for its sister ship, The Massive and trying to find a purpose in this gutted future. It’s shiver me timbers and blow me down as the Nautical sails the high seas avoiding pirates, rogue vessels and an angry Aguaman.*

Many of the crew have their own “AGENDAS”, and it’s the character development that makes this a cut above DMZ. The story line can get a tad confusing. It’s a flashback-apalooza and I’m not sure whether the panels depicting the present/future/recent past are blue tinted or yellow tinted. Maybe I’m color blind.

You never see or hear from the Massive. The ship is always just over the horizon or barely within radio range. They could have become zombies, pirates in bikinis, zombie pirates in bikinis… You know they’re out there and this amps the tension when they become the focus of the story, but at other times it’s whatever happened to The Massive.

If you like your crappy future on the half shell, this is recommended.

*This isn’t a super hero comic and mercifully Aquaman isn’t in this. Although if he was, he would be angry, but so what. Maybe next time, Fishboy.

[mark monday · Rating 4 out of 5]

compelling. Brian Wood returns to the place that made him famous: the near future. although I assume that this series and DMZ are not set in the same world, it's nice to see him back where his skills really shine. the world turning liquid and rushing down a giant sinkhole really brings out the best in him! I was impressed by his competence in creating a complex narrative, his ability to pull back and let the reader see the big picture, the intriguing characterization for a unique set of characters who could have been over the top but remained recognizably human, the realism despite the semi-post-apocalyptic subject matter, and the genuine seriousness of his themes. The Massive's story line concerning a pacifist ship full of environmentalists and ex-mercenaries traveling a drowning world in search of its sister ship while trying to keep its crew safe and healthy never became ponderous or melodramatic. I love seeing an intelligent, confident artist do their thing.

he's well-matched by art from Kristian Donaldson and (to a lesser degree) Garry Brown. Donaldson in particular does wonderful work using a limited palette of subdued colors that change depending on the location and time period.

I'm looking forward to continuing this series!

[Sam Quixote · Rating 1 out of 5]

Set in the always-ominous near future, a series of disasters have taken place in a year bringing devastation to countries around the world. Luckily, our protagonists are in a boat - the Kapital - so don’t really give a crap about rising sea levels. They’re looking for their sister ship, the Massive. Anyone seen it? No? Anyone care about this rubbish plot? Nope! Onwards then! …. no….

That said, describing this first volume, Black Pacific, as having a plot is a bit misleading. The crew of the Kapital float around aimlessly, occasionally asking each other if they’ve seen the Massive, and then fight off some roving faceless pirates. That’s the whole book.

But don’t worry because we get to read about the hipster cast (a supposedly more active group than Greenpeace called Ninth Wave even though they don’t seem to do anything active besides dodging pirates - yeah, helping mother earth!) who’re all tedious environmentalists who grimly spout garbage about pacifism. Even though they’re attacked every other page, they’re not gonna use guns or nothing because that’s not what we’re about, maaan. Come on, pirates, kill these bozos already!

Brian Wood ladles on the misery by describing the natural disasters that’ve brought about this apocalypse. Giant tidal waves, earthquakes, enormous volcanoes… except none of those are brought about by climate change, those are natural disasters. There are man-made problems present but considering if we took away the natural disasters, the world would be in better shape, I’m not really sure what the message of the book is.

And it is a heavily political book like Wood’s other overrated series, DMZ (DMSea?), where none of the po-faced characters are at all likeable or interesting for that matter. The book trundles on as the Kapital floats from port to port - Hong Kong, Israel, Antarctica, Micronesia - searching desperately for a plot, I mean, looking for the Massive. Because, uh, we really care about it. Yeah… gotta… find that… boa… zzzz…..

An antagonist would’ve been nice. A point too. Anything than this “thriller” about a slow moving boat full of dullards listlessly searching for another slow moving boat of dullards! The flashbacks are handled really poorly too as the characters look the same in the present and the past with only a mere shading differentiating between the two.

Read the first half in a couple days, then had to pscyhe myself up for over a week to finish the second half. If there is a post-apocalypse coming and this is the only book that survives? Write a better book and read that instead. What a MASSIVE load of bollocks!

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every environmental catastrophe that could possibly happen has, one right after the other. The oceans are rising, economies are collapsing, wildlife is dying off in huge numbers, and America has gone off the grid. The environmental group The Ninth Wave (similar to Greenpeace) has lost contact with one of its ships, the Massive of the title. The other ship, Kapital, has gone in search of it.

The search for the Massive ends up, at least in the this volume, as a framework for exploring the world shaped by all of the disasters, which are described, in detail, and flashbacks. Is it realistic? Well, it felt like the world that would result from what's described, at least to me. And I liked how the characters have responded to their new situations. That, too, felt realistic. And I was completely absorbed, because I wanted to see where the story was going, and how the people would react to it.

The art is excellent. I love how much effort was put into the character design. This is not a book with one female face and one or two male faces, repeated endlessly. And I love how the colorist gave the flashback scenes a sepia tone. It instantly conveys which panels are in the past and which are in the present. It's just a great looking book, all around.

I'm definitely interested to see where this thing is going. There are some hints in the book that there might be some explanations in the not too distant future. Hopefully, that's true. It would be really hard to maintain the tension of the search for Massive for very long.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

After years of abuse, the Earth has reached its tipping point. A series of natural disasters referred to as The Crash has destabilized the global economy and presumably killed millions of people. We don't really know for sure just like the crew of the Kapitol. If you think about it, major disasters could happen all over the Earth and you wouldn't have any idea for months if you were deep at sea. This is all told through random flashbacks throughout the story. We follow around the crew of a Greenpeace like group of do-gooders called Ninth Wave as they ostensibly search for their sister ship, The Massive, who they lost contact with a year ago. In reality, they go searching for resources in this new barter economy. The crew is made up of resourceful individuals with dark pasts they are seeking redemption for. Most have become pacifists, sometimes to an unreasonable degree when they are being attacked by pirates and the like.

Different from Wood's other apocalyptic future comic DMZ, Wood has created a quite enjoyable and exciting book here.

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly got bored reading this one, which is a shame. I usually enjoy most of Brain Wood's work now.

It's basically about what if most of the world got drowned out by water. It's pretty interesting idea, it got me excited to try it anyway, but I couldn't get invested in the plot and especially the characters. They all came off as boring and I just never could get in to it. The idea is cool, art is solid, but the rest left me wanting more. A 2 out of 5.

[Gavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a big Brian Wood fan. DMZ was a phenomenal series, and Northlanders was epic. So when I heard that his next non-supes venture was about dystopian/post-apocalyptic/environmental crusaders, I was VERY excited:



What always impresses me about Wood's work is that it seems so very real, plausible in actuality. DMZ? Not that far-fetched. Northlanders? I don't doubt it was like that.
Reading The Massive, I felt the actual fear of wondering what my own role would be after that sort of catastrophic enviromental event. When I can actually picture myself in a situation, it means I've been fully immersed, that the writer has me in their world. (Same thing with movies and books, I don't think I'm the only one that feels that).

After 'the Crash' which seems to be the term for all of the earthquakes, waves, tsunamis, etc. as well as the socio-political fallout, the Earth is a totally different place, and we meet the Ninth Wave, an environmental group that makes Greenpeace look like pussies. (pardon my French).

They operate from a ship, The Kapital (yes, perhaps a little nod to Karl Marx, I like it. Minor detail but cool nonetheless.) roaming the oceans looking for The Massive which was their sister ship, they haven't seen in months. There's more of their crew/group/families on board, but things keep getting in their way of searching out the ship.

I haven't even got started on the characters yet, who are all individuals, easy to discern, drawn well, and fleshed out by Wood. Callum is their leader, a former mercenary (Blackwater style) who gave up on the life after a major changing experience. Mag is his unspoken Security Chief, a former Tamil Tiger and also ex-merc. Mary is a mysterious woman who's part of the team, and as the book goes on, we start to wonder more about her. Ryan is an American, university student who's in way over her head. There's more, but these were the main focus of the book.

Flashbacks can be awful if done poorly, but Wood and crew make great use of them, and are careful to let you know where/when they are showing you, and there's very few flashbacks that don't give us something useful. Even the artwork has a muted tone that differs enough from the present scenes that you know it's the past.

All in all, this is an engrossing story, and there's enough left unclear that you want to know more, but not so unclear that you get frustrated and give up. That's a very fine line, and good job to Wood knowing how to tread it. I like not knowing everything; it's no fun reading a book where you are told everything by the all-knowing editorial voice/internal monologue, and the character is in the dark. This isn't that.

So another great modern work by Wood, start of something I can't wait to get more of; Vol. 2, where are you? Library, don't let me down!

Get this review and more at:

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stripped down to the panel wireframes and pencil sketches of its storyboard, The Massive: Black Pacific is a classic odyssey tale - lost child seeks parent in dark scary wood. Our grubby child is the Kapital, a "conservationist direct action trawler", its missing mothership the titular Massive and the odyssey our plot's spine, such as there is.

Which just leaves Planet Earth as the dark scary wood. That we are far from some perfect Gaian equilibrium is made clear from the (literally) cold open, with the detail of how we got there retold in episodic flashback throughout. Earth has been rebooted here through a satisfyingly complex almost-but-not-quite-end-of-days chain of natural and human disasters. Instead of a Hollywood style single-serving armageddon, we have a complex, cascading breakdown of the global economy both after and during a series of mega storms, earthquakes, eruptions and tsunamis. As this catastrophe peaks the two ships become separated and the story begins.

This is, of course, a hugely ironic start point - what does one do with a boat full of tree-huggers AFTER the last baby seal has been comprehensively clubbed? The crew's attempts to answer that question is perhaps the most satisfying part of this graphic novel.

The Massive does have a "Season 1, Episode 1, feature length opener" feel, with lead players explicitly origin-storied one by one, but this enhances and layers the core narrative rather than disrupting it. Through a series of big-canvas, James Bond style locations - Kamchatka, Mogadishu, Antarctica, an evocatively flooded Hong Kong - the Kapital's struggles are neatly told.

As a reader COMPLETELY new to graphic novels, picking up the form's syntax, tropes and cadences took some time (balloon equals dialogue, rectangle omniscient narration). At first, I was desperate for MORE dialogue on every page, but, steadily, as the episodes unfold within the collection, the "reader" in me receded and I started to appreciate the storytelling subtleties, colour-coding and layered meanings in each art panel. The crash of a huge Red Cross Iluyshin IL-76 is perfectly rendered – every detail of its pointless demise communicated in just 3 widescreen panels over a single spread, without a single word of dialogue. Or, hiding from marauders in a fog bank, the scene's palette is rendered down to a minimalist, oppressive blue-grey - a single red flash permitted just for a key narrative marker.

And, for a medium whose prime demographic is first world teens soporifically suckled on mainstream media, its politics are surprisingly progressive - Mogadishu 1993 is referenced not as a Pentagon wet-dream "leave no man behind" deluded military fantasy, but instead in almost Chomsky-esque terms - the misguided actions of an post-imperial bully. Or, the incredibly depressing global trade in shark fins gets explicitly woven into the plot without the reader feeling they've just taken one to the temple from a Greenpeace-branded piece of rebar.

Occasionally, The Massive doesn't convince. In an otherwise nicely handled "do we arm ourselves?" scene, it's arguably a misstep to hand the "we need to respect these places, not bring more violence to them" POV to the vest and hot-pants wearing, pert-breasted woman, whilst the black t-shirt, buzz cut special forces cliche gets to do a 2nd Amendment riff.

The challenge going forward for The Massive franchise is if the over-arching narrative will attempt to keep the quested mothership ALWAYS just out of reach, which could be problematic. But, if the creators CAN pull off a "How I Met Your Mother, seasons 1-7" sleight of hand where readers happily live in the moment – backgrounding rather than forgetting the big picture, then this will be a satisfying series to dip into.

I don't think I'll ever become an episodic graphic novel fan, but I'll seek out and buy the second anthology when it arrives (hopefully in a better quality reading experience than a lo-res Netgalley PDF).

Politically aware and unafraid to run towards complexity, for a first read of a graphic novel, it seems that in The Massive: Black Pacific I have picked a thoughtful and idea-rich starting point.

Bechdel Test - PASS

Copy supplied by Netgalley, opinions are my own.

[Zedsdead · Rating 3 out of 5]

So-so soft-apocalypse graphic novel. A yearlong series of tectonic and climate-related natural disasters, known as The Crash, has decimated the world's food and water supplies, wrecked government stability, radically altered coastlines and sea levels, and ruined the world economy. Millions--maybe billions--have perished. In contrast to most cataclysm stories, The Massive doesn't knock mankind back into the stone age; technology persists. It's more about exploring global destabilization than clawing for survival.

The Ninth Wave is a "direct action" conservationist mission consisting of one ship with a crew of maybe twelve, led by an avowed pacifist ex-mercenary. Ninth Wave's chartered purpose has something fuzzy to do with protecting the world's oceans, apparently by sailing around pontificating and scrambling for supplies.

As a conservationist cautionary tale it's not bad. The author touches on locales all over the globe, showing how industrialization and corporate greed hurt different places in different ways. It seems intelligently written and well researched.

As an ad for the wisdom and benefits of pacifism it's just lame. The heroes refuse to arm themselves against an endless onslaught of piracy, theft and general murderiness, citing vague, impractical justifications like "We need to RESPECT the violent places, not bring more violence to them!" They survive through implausibly good luck and by finding hypocritically unconventional ways to kill bad guys. It's a mixed message.

Oh, and the title? "The Massive" is the name of the long lost second ship in the Ninth Wave fleet. The unifying plot thread is that they're supposedly trying to find it. By sailing randomly around the globe. It's only mentioned occasionally, to justify the name of the series.

Captain: "Any sign of the Massive?"
Navigator: "No sir, for some reason we still haven't managed to blunder into it by sheer utter mad coincidence."
Captain: "Okay, let's go hide from some more pirates. Gosh it feels good to be unarmed in the face of imminent rapey death. What a wonderful statement I'm making."

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Earth has suffered several catastrophic environmental disasters in the space of a year, resulting in mass deaths and a new political order. Two marine conservation boats, part of the group Ninth Wave, survive the chaos but become separated from one another.

Text in yellow boxes details the many ruinous events that led to environmental and societal collapse. In fact, some events truly changed the landscape with coastlines and islands being especially hard hit. In the face of this, Captain Callum Israel of the trawler Kapital searches for sister ship The Massive. Along with Israel, there is mercenary Mag, mysterious Mary and other idealistic but weary crew members. This small crew of hardy environmentalists question if they can keep to their no-violence pledge amid attacks from pirates, assassins and the dangers of changed ecosystems.

To be honest, not a lot happened in this first volume. Author Brian Wood, whom I’ve been reading a lot of, is busy world-building so the Kapital just seems to aimlessly travel around the world looking for any clues of The Massive’s location. Just when they seem to have found a signal from the ship, nope, they’re wrong. The repetitiveness got old and I’m questioning Mary’s origins. She seems too good to be true, and her background knowledge and ability to survive catastrophes seem suspicious.

The artwork has an extremely muted color palette, symbolizing the postapocalyptic new world, and has certain color schemes that represent the time shifts in the narrative. The stylized ways the characters were drawn took some getting used to, but I soon came to appreciate the design format and wondered why I found it problematic at first. There was welcome diversity in the crew and in the ports they visited, with a hipster vibe throughout.

While not bad, this story was underwhelming. Although I liked how Wood made this world seem plausible (except for Mary) and presented real ethical dilemmas, it didn’t grab my attention like much of his other work has. I don’t believe I will continue with this series. Actual rating: 3.5/5

This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2018/07/1...

[BellaGBear · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is not that impressive so far, but the art is so I call it even. I am very fascinating by this series thought because I get a strange pleasure out of reading about the big awesome natural disaster. Also the book's atmosphere is a bit mystical and not hopefull at all which is nice and fits well with the topic.

Let's see if the storyline gets better further in the series.

[Nuno R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good characters, like Brian Wood usually gives us. In a post-apocalyptic world, these eco-activists are complex, have very different backgrounds, and their mission is, in Zizekian terms, their common cause. In Matt Kindt's Dept H. we have a very original character dissection, done by the investigation of the lead character. Here the narrative feels more classical, and just as rewarding.

[Jesse A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Closer to 3.5 stars. Not a bad premise, interesting start. Slow going at times.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found myself getting bored reading this one. The post-apocalyptic setting is interesting, but not much happens after the first issue. It is mostly character backstory and running around preparing for what might come next. The writing and art are fine. I just didn't enjoy this enough to have any desire to read more of it.

[kaitlphere · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has a great number of flashbacks, but it does a great job at distinguishing them from the main narrative. The coloring is different from the main narrative, and if there are multiple flashbacks in an issue, their coloring is different from one another. The storytelling types are also different. While the main narrative is an ideal balance between dialogue and imagery, one flashback will be all imagery, while another will be heavy on narration.

The writing choices are pretty fantastic. The characters reference their backstories separately and together, and reference the current environmental and economic situation without being too expositional about it. The flashbacks only help to fill these references out and give more depth to the characters and relationships.

Also, while most of the economic, societal and environmental shifts mentioned in The Massive are predictable about what would actually happen in a similar situation, there are a few things included that I would never think about. Like the surface tension of water changing (yikes!).

While I really like most of the individual choices made regarding the storytelling and writing, I don't feel beholden to this story or these characters. I can't relate to any of them. Their backgrounds are fascinating, but the one character I feel like I might be able to relate to is really just a sidelined liability to the other characters.

Also, the art style feels pretty grungy to me. While that style is appropriate to some situations and flashbacks, there are others that I feel like should be brighter and cleaner and aren't. Maybe that was a conscious decision from the creators though, to indicate that the characters can never escape the new reality of the world.

I will definitely read the next volume. My decision to continue with the series will depend on how that goes.

[Hyzenthlay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last week my friend Ferny posted on my fb wall asking if I'd read The Massive cos he was thinking it would be his next comic read. I shamefacedly admitted that I'd not even heard of it, and felt even worse after looking it up.

I mean, I read and FUCKING LOVED Brian Wood's Northlanders series last year (burned through all the trades over a weekend, one of the best things about not knowing about comics til the run is finished) and even enjoyed his New York Four/Five Minx offerings (shame that imprint went under, can I get a what what for YA comics?) and I OWN a shitload of DMZ...I just haven't gotten around to them yet.

So, anyway. I thought maybe Ferny and I would read this comic together, even though we both got all Skwisgar and Toki with the "stops copies me" moments.

I read it and he didn't.

And I'm soooooo glad I did.

On the surface, The Massive is the story of Callum Israel, captain of the Kapital, member of the eco-warrior group Ninth Wave, former mercenary and his search for the missing ship The Massive.

I see complaints that the story moves too slowly, and I can understand that concern, but the semi-glacial pace gives us a chance to really explore this fucked up new world we're left with after Mother Nature got all drunk and started wrecking shit.

Maybe I'm a little drunk myself right now, but still.

I enjoyed this. The world building is exquisite and I'm along for the ride...even if I'm now waiting monthly.

Like I needed ANOTHER comic to read.

Shit.

[Donovan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is great. It's not my usual cup, being a more technical and almost spy-thriller action adventure approach to post-apoc, but Brian Wood writes it so damn well. The detail is staggeringly impressive, not just what's depicted but what the narrator tells us: guns, military tech, ships, coordinates (especially), geography, geology, ecology, nuclear weapons, global commerce. The issues pause and go, we're told this and that about the world, shown the effects, and then we enter the scene and watch the characters try to live in this bizarre and generally wretched world. And the characters are fascinating mercenaries, activists, scientists, of diverse and mysterious backgrounds. Especially Mary. How did she get off of that oil rig? Or swim from the borehole? There's something Brian Wood isn't telling us. And I gotta say, I want to know where the fuck the Massive is.

[Logan Young · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't understand the point of this book. It is entirely about these environmentalists whose names I never cared to learn on a ship looking around the ocean for their buddy environmentalists on another ship, and fighting off pirates. Ok... and it is clearly trying to be politically charged about the environment and climate change with the post-apocalyptic world and all, but Wood has most of the disasters being due to things like volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis, things that are NOT AT ALL related to global warming.

It is pretty well drawn but the coloring was really bland. Just like the story, so I guess it fits.

[Lenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Post apocalyptic story - the exposition about how the world ended, flashbacks with each character, and repeating the premise each issue slowed things down to the point of utter boredom. Also I'm not sure why we should care about the Massive, the missing ship the characters are fixated on finding. We have no idea who's on it and why it's so important when the rest of the world is burning. Being pacifists in the wake of the apocalypse sounds interesting but everyone is just preachy. Almost didn't make it but a surprising twist about Mary kept me reading until the end, but no answers in sight. Interested in volume two but not at the top of my list.

[Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this story for its inventiveness and the art is clean and inspired. This story has an unbelievably diverse cast of characters you simply have to know more about. You have here an ex mercenary gone good guy in a world so devastated he and his band of volunteers may be the only pocket of goodness left. This tale tackles environmental issues, corruption, a quest to find the lost ship The Massive and issues of loyalty and that blurred line between right and wrong. Cant wait to read the next installments.
This is a smart mature tale.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very smart and thought-provoking. Also one of the best post-apocalyptic futures I've ever seen. No single disaster, but rather a host of small ones all happening in close proximity have pushed civilization to the brink in some parts of the world. The crew of the Kapital are searching for her sister ship, the Massive. Both belong to the environmentalist group, Ninth Wave. The crew members all have their various agenda as they travel the new world in their search. Good stuff!

[Jake Rossman · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best written and plausibly real dystopian graphic novels, or fiction for that matter, that I've read in a long time. Wood cleverly nudges our current world economic, sociologic and meteorologic climates toward disfunction and concocts an intimate story of hope lost at sea. The first volume was a great introduction to the world and I can't wait to see where Wood takes this characters.

[Frédéric · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! And here I thought Brian Wood amazed me enough with DMZ... I would venture to say that this book is even better! Wood is definetely a master in this kind of near future prospective stories, creating impressive background to sustain them and real flesh characters to drive them.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this graphic novel. Sometimes it jumped around too much but I like the concept and storyline.

[Inga · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this post-apocalyptic environmental story about a team of activists who try to stay peaceful in a world that is anything but.

The main team are on a voyage to find their sister ship the Massive, which mysteriously disappeared. The narrative jumps between the present and the past, allowing the reader to get to know both the characters and the world they live in.

And boy what a world it is! Even though it's been done before, I think this comic captures the global warming afflicted earth pretty well. You have wonderful artwork accompanied by interesting social, political and economic concepts.

I also feel that the characters' behavior and motivation are well-developed and makes sense throughout the story. I found the Captain to be a bit of a cliche in the beginning (and a rather boring character), but soon he grew on me and I started admiring his pacifism.

One of the things that I'm not too crazy about is that midway through volume one the art style changes. I found that a bit distracting. Other than that, I'm looking forward to volume two!

[Nerdy Werewolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The planet's dying, Ryan. Nothing's fair."

This was a semi-strange experience for me. While I was reading this, I was really into it. Then, I got to the end and discovered I didn't really want to read more.

The premise and the world are bleak and have this air of hopelessness. The characters are interesting enough, but they are, I don't want to say 'lacking'...They are only focused on whatever is happening in front of them.

I didn't really see any of those little quirks I look for that make us unique individuals. Stupid things like a love of unicorns or dreaming about what chocolate might taste like when you haven't had any in a while. Red shoelaces on combat boots. Something. And I've just put into words why I feel the way I do. :)

I did enjoy the book altogether, though. It was an interesting and frankly, terrifying look at what our world could become. The protagonists being chosen as well as being pacifists was intriguing. While I'm curious about Mary's story more than anything else, as I said, this wasn't written for me.

[jenni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I acquiesced in my East of West withdrawals and dug my heels into a new (but actually old) speculative series that's about a cataclysmic global disaster fucked on all fronts that decimates and destabilizes millions of people, nations, economies, etc. etc. across the planet, while this aviator-wearing white dude captains the conservationist-turned-sort of-vigilante-anti-pirate-but-sort-of-also-pirate vessel Kapital along with his crew and his two most trusted veteran child soldier crewmates (one of whom just does stupid, improbable shit) as they amble across the super depressing, radioactive, violent oceans in pursuit of a mystically disappeared sister ship, getting stuck in all kinds of crossfires of madness along the directionless way. pretty good tho

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a highly enjoyable read that carries with it the post-apocalypse vibe along with threads that feel mystical to me. This sets a very cool tone, but I felt like this volume left me a bit dissatisfied. There was not a real full story here for me. That said, I'm excited to pick up the next volume soon, however, and hopefully we'll see where this leads.

[MonumentToDecency · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sorry to do this. Please don't hate me. I didn't enjoy this.

This was a slow burn. Preaching to the converted.
Near future, the environment is shot to pieces. Some people are fighting a very up-hill battle to, idk, make things better, or make things less worse. Maybe it would have been better if the premise wasn't so realistic. I mean, it's definitely not bad, just not for me.

I read Vol. 2 and it didn't get better. Vol. 3 and 4 are sitting on my table waiting for me to be bored enough to read, but I'd prefer to re-read Northlanders.

My rating: 3 not bads, but not perfects out of 5

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three stars solely for the beautiful art work. The story itself was very bare-bones