Dust: Withered Earth

by James Ninness, John Narcomey (Illustrator), Steven Hoveke (Foreword)

This trade paperback collects the complete DUST saga, previously released by Semantink Publishing and Keyleaf Comics - issues zero through six. DUST is the story of two travelers, Jim and Deborah, making their way through a post-apocalyptic world full of cannibals, mutants, pirates, mercenaries, and more, as they travel from Mexico to San Diego in an effort to change the harsh conditions of their reality.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

176 pages, ebook

First published September 1, 2012

About the author

James Ninness is a writer of fiction.

After getting his degree in English: Creative Writing from Cal State University Long Beach in 2007, James married the love of his life and the two of them made three babies (not all at once) and adopted a couple dogs.

He usually writes comic books, but dabbles in short prose, film, and a few other sorts of things. When He isn't writing all that, he's working in advertising as the Sr. Copywriter for a digital marketing agency in Newport Beach, CA.

James and his family reside in Orange, California. They play together a lot.

Reviews

[Bradley Farless · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. I'm not a fan of westerns but I love post-apocalyptic stuff.

[Tony Laplume · Rating 1 out of 5]

There's really not much to say about this other than how crude it is. Crude art. Crude writing. Crude storytelling. Even the use of digital lettering is crude as used in conjunction with the crude art. It's hard to imagine that anyone thought this was a project in its current state that was worth completing much less releasing. But people tend to do that a lot. (Hey, it is easier that way, right? Sometimes you can forgive creators. Sometimes you absolutely can't.) Above and beyond all that, it's a Western, so it should be crude, right? But crude in Westerns is Deadwood. This is just inexcusable. And the worst thing about it is the cover. Don't judge a book by its cover, right? That cover looks far too refined for what's to be found within. But a lot of creators do that, too, right?

Basically, run far, far away.

[watson387 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dust: Withered Earth is a gritty romp through a post-apocalyptic, old-western style dystopian society. Delusional loner Jim rescues Deborah and agrees to be her guide from Mexico to San Diego as she tries to save the world with science. James Ninness's story is great. The sheer brutality of and depravation the absence of plants and food inflicts on the inhabitants of the world is expressed well. John Narcomey's art is very dirty which fits well and adds depth to the story. Dust is definitely an enjoyable read.

James Ninness states in the Afterword that he is thinking of revisiting the Withered Earth for future books. I'd love to see what more he does with it as there HAVE to be more stories to be told from this sick, sick world.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting dystopian Western tale with plenty of action and violence. John Narcomey's rugged art style works well with the James Ninness quest/redemption story of Jim, a strange drifter who agrees to accompany a woman named Deborah through the desert. You've got a man with no lips as a villain, which sounds pretty cool until you get frustrated trying to figure out exactly what he's trying to say. Worth a look for Western and dystopian fans.

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dystopian, very violent Western, with interesting main characters and some of the weirdest art I've ever seen in a comic--the actual draftsmanship is pretty poor, but the excellent use of colors sort of saves it.

[Doreen · Rating 3 out of 5]

10/4/13 Review tk.

10/28/13 http://www.iwantmytwodollars.com/2013...

[Stephanie Griffin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Violent. Bad artwork. Objectifies women. A real stinker.

[Patrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

The characters look like they were drawn by Napoleon Dynamite.