Post Americana takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, in what used to be the United States, some generations after the bombs went off. The comic opens with the terrifying sight of a buff Reagan-type President giving a speech as two rebels try to escape in a stolen jet amid explosions. It’s a lot of action, a lot of characters—we know there’s something wrong with the future before the rebels set off their explosives (from the President’s speech plus some visual indicators). Creator Steve Skroce does a fantastic job on the intro, but it’s nothing compared to what’s next.
What’s next is the wasteland, with a reluctantly reformed cannibal trying to flirt with the new mercenary in town, Carolyn. Carolyn’s going to be important, even though she doesn’t say a lot on her introduction. It’s more about establishing the setting and the important supporting cast members for the issue. There’s the cannibal (Rudy, who’s hilarious) and the big boss, The Flying Fuck. He flies around in armor stuff, which is important later but without any warning. F.F. doesn’t trust Rudy around Carolyn (probably because he’s going to eat her) and eventually they go to investigate the shuttle from the opening crashing.
We get a wild crash sequence, with Skroce going for absurd and gory in just the right combination, then we get the two story threads coming together and a big twist for the finish. Even after the big twist, Skroce makes time for another big action sequence and it’s outstanding. Such a good sense of detail and movement in Skroce’s art. It looks so good.
There’s a big cliffhanger and the promise of a great resolution—turns out Carolyn’s the best at what she does, which includes coming up with funny nicknames for her new sidekick (one of the escapees). So it seems there will be lots of great Skroce action.
Post Americana’s off to a super start.
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