Bad Timing
A review of Post Americana #1
I don’t know if I’m going to pick up this book again. Part of me really doesn’t want to out of fatigue. After only the first issue.
After the attempted coup on January 6, I’ve had it with American dystopia Mad Max rip off stories where all the heroes look cool. This would have been perfect if it had been done earlier, like the 1980's.
That’s not sarcasm or faint praise either. This is a fun book to look at on the surface. Writer/artist Steve Skroce is getting his Geoff Darrow on, and the pages have shades of Darrow’s collaborations with Frank Miller, coupled with hints of Miller’s Martha Washington series with artist Dave Gibbons.
And then there’s this far more blatant nod to Miller.
Post Americana is almost Americana in and of itself. Sadly, that doesn’t help it enough.
I was able to tolerate the dystopia of Billionaire Island because it was more rooted in the real world and didn’t glorify the suffering and violence. I didn’t mind the violence in the Dark Knights: Death Metal books because it was too cartoony and ridiculous to be offended at. Skroce’s book doesn’t touch either of those opposite poles enough to feel relevant or fun enough.
Maybe Skroce is also being a little too Jacen Burrows for my tastes. Especially with this pinup page of cannibals.
And it wouldn’t be a 80’s 90’s throwback comic without a joke about political correctness using cannibalism.
Times have changed since I first read trashy post-apocalyptic literature. Today I don’t want to see an survivalist American dictatorship because, y’know, too soon. Given how I’ve seen many military personnel behave at The Capitol, I now think it’s too much of a stretch to think military would be capable of holding it together throughout a famine. And I don’t want to go through a dozen issues just to find out that humanity is no better than Crossed-type cannibals. I kind of gathered that going into the book.
Skroce is a very talented writer and artist. With projects like We Stand On Guard with Brian K. Vaughan, it’s clear he enjoys creating these futuristic war comics. Even if it’s a little tone deaf and not really rooted in anything going on today, no one could have known the nuance this book would have needed in a new America. Too bad.
