Wasteland (comics)

Last updated
Wasteland
Wastecomic.jpg
Publication information
Publisher Oni Press
ScheduleMonthly
FormatOngoing series
Genre
Publication dateJuly 2006–April 2015
No. of issues60
Creative team
Created by Antony Johnston
Christopher Mitten
Written by Antony Johnston
Artist(s) Christopher Mitten
Ben Templesmith

Wasteland is a monthly comic book series written by Antony Johnston, drawn by Christopher Mitten with covers by Ben Templesmith, and published by Oni Press. It debuted in July 2006 and ended in April 2015. [1]

Contents

The series is set one hundred years after the Big Wet, an unspecified disaster that destroyed modern society and, it is assumed, changed the world's coastlines. The story takes place somewhere in America, now a barren desert and dustbowl without modern technology. The seas are poisonous, and subsistence farming with small amounts of livestock appears to be the norm.

The book also has theme music, composed and performed by Johnston, which can be downloaded from the official website.

Format

Each issue of Wasteland is 32 pages long (with the exception of issue #1, which was a special double length premiere) and contains 22 pages of comic story, one episode of the prose serial travelogue Walking The Dust, a letters column and preview page for the following issue. The remainder of the pages are taken up by ads, normally for other series from Oni Press and/or by Wasteland's creators.

The letters column sometimes contains pieces of submitted fan art, and Johnston himself often answers the letters.

The Big Wet

The most-seen explanation for the apocalypse comes from the Sunner religion, a sect that worships Mother Sun and Father Moon. According to their legend, the Big Wet was a retribution on the people of A-Ree-Yass-I for shunning the 'gifts' Mother Sun and Father Moon offered them. It seems as though this mythic place's name is a play on words by the author, and a linguistic contraction in-world, for "Area 1/I" (or perhaps "Area SI" = Area 51)—a military base/lab where the bomb was created.

Storylines

Thus far, the comic has established two distinct storylines. The first follows a scavenger named Michael who roams the wasteland, trading what he can salvage. His life changes forever when he finds a machine that talks in a forgotten language, supposedly giving directions to the fabled land of A-Ree-Yass-I, where mankind's downfall began. Michael tries to trade the machine at a small town of Sunners called Providence, and his fate becomes intertwined with the town's sheriff, Abi.

The second storyline follows the political machinations of a large city known as Newbegin, where the city's leader Marcus (aka Lord Founder) is oppressing the Sunner population, most of whom are slaves.

Sunner beliefs

Sunners have been shown to hold the following beliefs:

Collections

Oni are releasing trade paperback collections on an ongoing basis.

#TitleISBNRelease dateCollected material
1Cities in Dust ISBN   978-1-932664-59-1 March, 2007Wasteland #1–6
2Shades of God ISBN   978-1-932664-90-4 December, 2007Wasteland #8–13
3Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos ISBN   978-1-934964-08-8 December 2008Wasteland #15–19
4Dog Tribe ISBN   978-1-934964-17-0 June 2009Wasteland #21–24
5Tales of the Uninvited ISBN   978-1-934964-29-3 November 18, 2009Wasteland #7, 14, 20, 25
6The Enemy Within ISBN   978-1-934964-30-9 November 16, 2011Wasteland #26–31
7Under the God ISBN   978-1-934964-94-1 September 19, 2012Wasteland #33–38
8Lost in the Ozone ISBN   978-1-620100-13-4 July 16, 2013Wasteland #40–44
9A Thousand Lies ISBN   978-1-620101-18-6 March 19, 2014Wasteland #46–51
10Last Exit for the Lost ISBN   978-1-620101-31-5 June 18, 2014Wasteland #32, 39, 45, 52
11Floodland ISBN   978-1620101483 August 11, 2015Wasteland #53–60

The series was afflicted by serious delays after issue #26. Issue #27, originally planned for July 2009 was delayed to January 2010, mainly due to Johnston's involvement with Dead Space, Dead Space: Extraction and other projects. [2]

As of July 2009, Oni are also releasing hardcover collections.

#TitleISBNRelease dateCollected material
1The Apocalyptic Edition: Volume 1 ISBN   978-1-934964-19-4 July, 2009Wasteland #1–13
2The Apocalyptic Edition: Volume 2 ISBN   978-1-934964-46-0 October, 2010Wasteland #14–25
3The Apocalyptic Edition: Volume 3 ISBN   978-1-620100-93-6 September, 2013Wasteland #26–39
4The Apocalyptic Edition: Volume 4 ISBN   978-1-620101-70-4 October, 2014Wasteland #40–52
5The Apocalyptic Edition: Volume 5 ISBN   978-1620102763 October, 2015Wasteland #53–60

Awards

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References

  1. "Wasteland #60". 6 April 2015. Archived from the original on 8 April 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  2. "Blog posting from 24th Dec 2009".

Interviews