Review - The Devastation #1

"There's still a lot to live for in the name of discovery."

Coping with the end is never easy. In The Devastation #1, coping requires all manner of reaction. "Dead Planet" is written/lettered by Sam Clevesy and illustrated by Boris Pecikozić. "After the Fall" is written/lettered by Clevesy, illustrated by Edison Neo and lettered by Dan Inselmann. "The Next World" is written by Clevesy and illustrated by Pecikozić. "Inferno" is written by Eran Freuhauf. "June 24" is written by Blake Soder. "Of Wolves and Fire" is written by Yevgeniy Peregudov. "The Ripper Pt. 1" is written by Arch Stanton.

Darkness has engulfed the world, and those who are unfortunate enough to live, struggle to survive. From politics and anarchy to monsters, demons, and the dead walking among the living, the world has become Hell. There is no peace or serenity in this world. In this world there is only famine, war, conquest, and death. The Horsemen have arrived.

As far as anthologies go, there's usually some thread tying all the contained stories together and that's no exception in The Devastation #1. The writers here are all focusing on picking up the pieces after a major event that's thrust the characters onto new planets and into new scenarios. In "Dead Planet," Clevesy writes of a man haunted by his past and on the brink of making a bad choice, only to be pulled back by the potential for more discovery. The script in "After the Fall" is very much reflective of the current political climate, in that a country is torn apart by the government and everyone chooses a side. Each of the stories on their own seem to echo one another as they attempt to hammer home messages of isolation when unity is demanded.

The artwork throughout the issue is relatively inconsistent across the stories. The characters all look very basic and aren't very expressive despite the world falling down around them. There's really not much in the way of background detail, as all the characters are depicted as the focus of the panels to ensure the reader's eyes are drawn to them. The colors throughout the issue are bright, yet somehow there's a dinginess to them that could be because of the shaky linework throughout the issue. There are points where the illustrations seem to move between dramatic and somewhat cartoonish.

The Devastation #1 is an anthology that seeks to explore the human condition when its backs are against the wall. All of the players involved seem to be reacting to the same cataclysmic event and are tied together by the fact that they're in the anthology together. Each of the stories is fairly basic in its scope, relying on dialogue that seems to repeat itself across panels at times. The artwork throughout the issue doesn't really have a cohesive feel to it, relying instead on the reader's imagination as to what space-travel and a post-apocalyptic world would be like. The Devastation #1 is an anthology that's seemingly ambitious, albeit a little rough around the edges.

The Devastation #1 is available now.