What's The Furthest Place From Here? Vol. 2

What's The Furthest Place From Here? #10-13

by Matthew Rosenberg, Tyler Boss (Artist)

The bestselling post-apocalyptic coming-of-age series continues. This is the story of a group of kids getting lost in the ruins of America and the things they find there. Sometimes you have to fight for what matters the most—your life, your loved ones, and your record collection.

Collects WHAT'S THE FURTHEST PLACE FROM HERE? #10-13

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Dystopia, Horror, Fiction, Comic Book

155 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 23, 2023

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

"I haven’t always been a writer. My parents are writers and my brother is a writer, and I resisted that as long as I could. When I was 17, I hopped in a band’s van and I went on tour for a summer, and that was it, that was what I wanted to do. I ran a record label for 10 years, a small indie punk label. I did everything in music that you can do that doesn’t involve having musical ability. Eventually the music business, probably in a similar way to comics, will just start to break your heart, and I realized one day that I kind of hated music. I was resigned to thinking, if I’m going to be involved in music forever, I’m going to hate it for the rest of my life. I just stopped. I stopped having any sort of business with music, any involvement.

I read comics my whole life, so I just naturally fell back into another medium that is marginalized and hard to make a living in."

Source: http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles...

Writer of comics WE CAN NEVER GO HOME, SECRET WARS JOURNAL, OUR WORK FILLS THE PEWS, 12 REASONS TO DIE, & MENU.

Reviews

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Volume One was confusing, but intriguing. Volume two sails off the rails and into the stars. What is even going on here? There are multiple timelines (I think?) that (maybe?) converge at the end and see some of the characters we (might?) know from the previous volume go...somewhere.

if you liked the weirdo kid cults from the first volume, there are a few more of those here. The art feels sketchier. Ultimately, this volume made absolutely zero sense to me and lacked any of the intrigue of the first volume.

[Rob Hewlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Completely weird. Yet it draws you in and you believe in the characters. Brilliantly written, very deep. Drawing is fantastic.

[Estibaliz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of continuity after the first volume, but I'm happy to say I actually enjoyed this even more than the previous one.

Shorter in extension, that seemed to somehow have helped the story, with less mindless wandering around, and a more plot focused pace. I also enjoyed the alternated points of view, and the fact that we did get answers to some of the questions presented in the initial instalment.

And yes, there's still a lot of unknowns, but I personally am satisfied with the better character development that we get in this volume, and having enough of a fun ride to be reading the next one in the near future.

[Xroldx · Rating 5 out of 5]

This second volume both fills in some black holes from vol 1 and continuos the story of some of the characters. Rosenberg and Boss created a great world and know how to tell an engaging story.

[Cadillac Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much slower paced following the frenetic worldbuilding of volume one, volume two zeros in on the scattered members of the Academy dealing with the fallout of their journey as they're scattered across the neighborhoods. It's great to spend time with the individual characters, especially after the much more macro perspective of the first volume. Boss and Rosenberg are a fantastic creative duo with a unique, enthralling voice and I can't wait to see where the story goes.

[Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like this volume brought up more questions than it answered. At this point, it's been 4 months since I finished this, so I can't even write a decent review of it. I remember liking it though. I'll update this when I re-read it.

If anyone else was wondering what happened to issues 7-9 like me, rumor has it that they will included in volume 3.

[Jakub Kvíz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was genuinely confused and am starting to get lost in the characters and timelines. I will probably have to re-read this at some point.

But it's still an exciting read, and I am looking forward to getting some answers.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a big shift in the narrative with this volume, but I think it served for a more intriguing story. Still don’t really know WTF is going on in this weird world they’ve invented, but somehow I’m still curious to see where it is heading.

3.5/5

[Ruben · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the artwork style of Tyler Boss.

The story is growing on me.
Reminds me of Sweet Tooth and of Middlewest.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This second volume is weirder and more confusing than the first. A problem probably not helped by the odd choice to not include several of the issues in the collection for some reason.

In this volume, which is not holding my attention well enough to keep very good track of the iffy plot, and characters I don't care about, there are two timelines.

Timeline One is basically the same timeline as Volume 1, except we're focused on what Sid was up to and where she was going. We see her get a three-legged dog, and escape from the Bold Folks. There is also a reveal of the Strangers - they don't actually appear to be the missing Elders like I'd thought, they are these sort of weird mutant people with spiky teeth and way too many eyes.

We skip over where Sid was when she gives birth, but she show up in Timeline Two with a baby.

Timeline Two basically picks up where Volume 1 left off. We see Alabama and Lafayette locked up in the zoo. (The Keepers are weird, because they should also be kids/teens, but they are drawn much more like adults than, say, the teens in the Bold Folks Home). And we see Sid, her baby, and Oberon reunite in the woods where Oberon has taken up with the Wilds.

Based on some shenanigans Alabama and Lafayette get up to, and some things the Keepers say, I'd expect this group to also reunite. HOWEVER, there is an escape plan that goes awry that leaves the fate of Lafayette somewhat up in the air, and I had to read the last 2 pages, 3-4 times before I finally realized it had been Lafayette's journal the whole time (that transition point was really confusing to me).

Also, the tone of the story just shifted in a way that feels a lot bleaker, maybe because we kept losing members of the Academy? But this also resulted in duller, more muted - and thus substantially less interesting - illustrations.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Instead of continuing with the current narrative, this volume flashes back to fill in some gaps, checking in on Sid for an issue or so before splitting the focus between the other kids that were separated at the end of the last book.

These issues do feel dense, even after the last volume that had like nine issues worth of content in it rather than the usual six because half the issues were double-sized. And while we don't get much in the way of answers, we do get some glimpses as to the greater world and how it all works, as well as a tantalising look at the Strangers at last. Plus Boss's art is still wonderful - the Bold Folks look creepy as fuck, even now.

There were a few issues between this one and the last, but those aren't collected here - I think they're side-stories, or perhaps perspective stuff, which presumably will be collected later.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

A huge improvement over Volume 1, both because Rosenberg gives the individual chapters more time to breathe and because he focuses on just a few characters. The in-depth looks at these characters are that much more compelling, especially because of the interesting ways that they interweave. And, if Rosenberg's world is still weird, at least it's consistent and suggesting there's something deeper here.

[Rahul Nadella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though it does end on a pretty sour and depressing note, it's a compelling read all the way through. The adventures continue and more, more, more of these kids are deciding to grow up. I'm excited to read more and follow the story of Alabama and Lafayette further, I truly hope that somehow they are both able to stay alive and find a way out of the zoo. Matthew Rosenberg continues to knock it out of the park. This is an excellent indie series and I cannot recommend this series enough.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a very strange series, but with daring writing and engaging art, Boss and Rosenberg tell an ongoing compelling story of found family and connections formed and lost in an overturned post-apocalyptic world. Spinning out from the fractured ending of the first volume, the world gets bigger here even as the characters gradually find themselves spread further apart.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the first volume, but few comics are. They've done the table setting, not we're settling in for the long haul. I'm here for the ride. The story is still original and I love the fluctuations in the quality (level of detail) in the art. The more detail, the slower I read. It's a really effective approach to the pacing.

[Jake Kilroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This thing's wild and it keeps getting wilder—all while remaining quite playful and goofy. There's a real delight in the telling (and reading!) of these stories, as the youths that make up the gang/crew/family known as The Academy are spread out, making their way, and just trying to survive a strange, colorful, and violent world.

[spoon · Rating 3 out of 5]

too fast, nothing really set in for me. a different beast than the first one -- tried to be more character driven, but too fast for anything to settle. seems to be a bunch of different stories in one. I liked the first vol for the ambiance, but that's not as strong here.

[Alex Sarll]

You know when you pick up a second volume having forgotten how much the first annoyed you? Yeah. It's only grown more diffuse with the Academy scattered, plus apparently the collections skipped three issues, which was never likely to help. Does contain a really good map, though.

[Andres Pasten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tendre que leerlo todo de nuevo, para entenderlo mejor.

[The Poor Person's Book Reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just got trapped into another series, I need to find out what happens

[Mee Too · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hope this isn’t one of those series that just fizzles out and disappears cause now I’m invested. 😂

[SassieMolassie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Getting better, branching out, and meeting more interesting groups and people. So far I'm into this.

[M.i. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is crazy, but I love the way it explores a crazy world where the rules are as foreign to me as the characters are.

[Julie Boudreau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beaucoup aimé le premier. Moins certaine d'où l'histoire s'en va avec le second.

[Peter Derk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one's better in that it's weirder, but weird will only take you so far. A hard life lesson that I've learned many, many times.

[Patrick Penner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This reads better as a collected edition than reading it month to month.

Interconnected stories that follows the Academy after the results of volume 1.

[Benjamin Wallin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The carnival scenes are creepy and great reminder of never going to one.

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still jumbled as hell but we learn a little more about this world.

[Matt Potter · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a story that had potential, but that started to meander and then really went off the rails. Seeds that are planted never come to fruition, and some plot lines simply dry up. I think this could’ve benefitted from less world building and more plot.