It’s an almost all-exposition issue, with Carolyn revealing a bit about her backstory—and apparently enough about the state of the world to her new companion, protagonist Mike (told you his name wasn’t exciting enough for the suspense)—but then Mike doing an exposition dump, Carolyn interrupting him because it sounds too much like an exposition dump, then Mike continuing the dump only with accompanying art instead of it just being dialogue.
It’s not a great move from creator Steve Skroce, who seems to not want to have to put a lot of effort into the art. After the first five or six pages, when Carolyn and Mike end up at the house of her old pals and caregivers, the art starts getting a little… bland. Still incredibly competent, but without Skroce’s usual enthusiasm.
Understandable since there’d nothing to get enthusiastic about in the issue. The humor seems forced and the new characters are incredibly flat. And given I’d just been saying the comic doesn’t rely on direct nods, the issue opens with an ED-209 reference from Robocop. It seems vaguely desperate.
There’s barely any action—the most excitement comes in the cliffhanger, which refers directly to something earlier in the comic because Skroce’s in a hurry. Instead of an action set piece, there’s a lot of talking on that set, then the surprise and cliffhanger.
Post Americana, even with rushed art, is a solid book. Skorce better end up having some real ideas though, as everything with Carolyn’s adoptive family kind of flops. They’re adorable old guys, got it, but there’s nothing else to them.
We also get the history of the new President of the United States as part of the longest exposition dump and it’s potentially compelling (twists abound)… but it’s all telling instead of showing, which makes sense with rushed art, I guess.
Post Americana is currently a six issue series, so it’s half done; hopefully Skroce’s got whatever he needed to get out of his system expelled here.
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