A Last Goodbye Review
Post-apocalypic comic from Ben Humeniuk and Travis B. Hill Filled with Humanity
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Since the first people began to congregate in groups larger than a tribe, humanity has been obsessed with societal collapse. Prophets are always foretelling it, often correctly. The oldest narrative we have, Gilgamesh, opens talking about a temple which "dates from ancient times… which no one can equal."1 There is something about looking at past, fallen civilizations and thinking about how our society might join them that teaches us something about the world we live in today. These thoughts are brought to mind reading A Last Goodbye, co-created by scripter Travis B. Hill and artist Ben Humeniuk, and published by Band of Bards. They were able to provide me with an advanced review copy. It is out for release this Wednesday in comic book shops or from the Band of Bards website.
The world has gone inhospitably hot. Unable to live on the surface without the aid of insulation suits, America as we know it is gone, leaving only buildings behind. Our protagonist journeys with his dog from the remnants of New York City towards the midwest, his purpose initially unknown. His obstacle? The mutant cultists who prey on the surviving humans. As we learn more about the quest via flashbacks to the before times, we readers are forced to confront questions of what love and care for each other means in a dying earth.
I want to begin by talking about the art. Humeniuk has the scratchy and cartoony style common to many truly independent artists. Unlike many, however, his art is both kinetic and clean. Even in the middle of intricate action set pieces, the characters and spacial geography is not just clear and coherent, but engaging. I'm also a big fan of the way A Last Goodbye is colored. Eschewing mere literalism, this book is primarily black, white, and one other color. Scenes in the hot, post-apocalyptic present are an earthy red, orange, yellow, or brown. Flashbacks, by contrast, are all blues. In addition to creating clarity as to the setting, these colors create a great sense of mood. This culminates in the final page. I'll refrain from spoiling things, but it is absolutely the most beautiful page in the whole book. It is the emotional and narrative finale, and Humeniuk goes all out with it.
Looking at the structure, A Last Goodbye is your classic Western but with a sci-fi setting. A man with no name on a solo quest has to protect the beautiful civilization on the edge of society against the forces of violence and selfishness. You could replace the mutant cultists, Morlocks by another name, with indigenous Americans and you'd end up with something like Bone Tomahawk. By the nature of this type of story, the mutants are uniformly evil and one note, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. We all want to see our hero and his dog engage in righteous violence, and the purely evil villains allow us that vicarious pleasure. I do think that the penultimate set piece feels a bit disconnected from the rest of the narrative. It's necessary for the finale, but I wish it was more integrated to the main chunk of action.
I would definitely recommend people check A Last Goodbye out. It's a complete story from a truly independent team. Putting the post-apocalyptic framework over the western story brings into focus the themes of love, civilization, and solidarity without some of the complicated real-world historical baggage. One thing I will spoil: people worried about if the dog dies can enjoy this story without fear. Ask your local comic book shop about A Last Goodbye.
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