Dan, Kate, and The Dog are enjoying a warm, late summer evening on the deck. Let’s listen in, shall we? Maybe they’re fighting, or using a bunch of swears!
Dan: ::looking wistful:: Do you remember that time I wanted to join a motorcycle gang?
Kate: Imsorrywhat?
D: You remember. We went to the Harley Davidson Museum and we saw all of that cool motorcycle stuff. The badass bikes, the “Easy Rider” culture… the leather jackets and motorcycle chains…
K: I thought your favorite part was the AMF-era scooter? I don’t think the Hell’s Angels would let someone in the gang with a sea-foam scooter. ::waves ala Audrey Hepburn in ROMAN HOLIDAY:: Ciao.
D: I did like the scooters… But I would have manned up to get a Hog so I could join the gang and we would roll into town causing nothing but trouble. ::Makes loud VROOM VROOOM sounds. It’s just sad, really::
K: Whatever, Brando. That was easily one of the dumbest ideas you’ve ever had! You hate road trips, you hate open spaces, and you hate camping. Also, adventures? Not so much.
D: Oh, yeah. I frigging HATE those things. Especially the part with the outside. And the part with the dirt? Yeah, hate that, too. Also, not fond of the camping part. I tend to like my road trips on the page. Then I can enjoy adventures and indoor plumbing AT THE SAME TIME.
K: Like the new SALLY OF THE WASTELAND comic, perhaps? This looks to be the exact kind of adventure you don’t want to have in real life, but would love to read about (while enjoying indoor plumbing).
D: Writer Victor Gischler starts the adventure in SALLY OF THE WASTELAND in southern Louisiana 82 years after The Fall. A (rather hilarious) timeline in the back of the book details The Fall and the eventual kinda-rise of mankind. Needless to say, the world went to shit and now it’s every man for himself.
K: Things are looking rough, tough, and extra dirty. Everyone comes to the Bottom Feeder saloon, and it’s at the Bottom Feeder that we meet Sally. She’s runs the mop at the saloon, and also is quick with her favorite shotgun, Bertha. As if keeping the floors clean and the clientele’s glasses full weren’t enough, she’s also busy keeping the ladies away from her (clueless) guy Tommy. He doesn’t really know that he’s her guy, but that’s because he’s clueless. Sally does things her way and her way isn’t always the most conventional. I like her.
D: Of course you like her. She says “Poop”.
K: ::giggles:: poop
D: You’re forgetting about the mysterious woman that shows up at the Bottom Feeder. Kat had traveled to Louisiana from Nebraska. Her travels with her tech salvage team forced them to cross a barren area called the Bandit Lands, where it’s all Mad Max-y and she was the only one to survive. Listen up: here’s where the Big Adventure comes in.
K: Big Adventure!!! There’s a signal calling out from before The Fall, and if Kat can find it, they could use that tech to help speed along the growth of the new civilization. She needs a new team to help her get to New Orleans and the gang at the Bottom Feeder might just be the team she needs. Or they might be the only team available. But they have access to a boat and that is just what Kat needs. So Sally, her guy Tommy, and the Bottom Feeder gang load up the boat and head towards the Big Easy.
D: Of course, getting there isn’t going to be easy. Crawgators.
K: Yup. Crawgators. ::shivers::
D: This book is pure Gischler. Drawing from bits and pieces of pop culture, Gischler mixes in the obvious Mad Max, the not so obvious Thundarr the Barbarian, and even his own Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse. The premise is quickly established, and then the action just GOES.
K: Let’s not forget the humor. There are tons of grins to be had. If a saloon covered in giant fish guts isn’t your thing, then Sally guessing the secret item Kat is carrying may be filled with pie. Because she likes pie. The humor, like the action, comes fast here.
D: The very capable Tazio Bettin joins Gischler on the art side of things. A name that is new to me, Bettin more that meets the demand of Gischler’s script. He gives us giant fish (and fish guts), saloon shenanigans, and pretty girls with (and without) their clothes. That’s a wide, wide talent set.
K: All this post-apocalypse goodness is bound in four-color glory by the new Titan Comics, a division of the wonderful Titan publishing. These folks are producing a very good-looking line of books. Printed on high quality paper, they are definitely on our radar.
D: I’m in. I wanna see what else Sally shoots with Bertha.
K: And you know she ends up with Tommy. She BETTER end up with Tommy!